Living with a baby is fun, but it can also be difficult. Especially with newborns and babies under one year old, the timing of sleep and feeding can be unstable, and it is often difficult to understand why they are crying, leaving adults at a loss as to what to do. Add in the fact that the mother's physical condition and strength have not yet fully recovered, and there will be times when you will feel the difficulties. You may find yourself wondering, "What are other families doing?"
This time, let's think about the child-rearing circumstances of families with babies around 5 to 6 months old.

When do you feel stressed about raising children?

What kind of "parenting stress" do you feel when living with a 5- to 6-month-old baby?

1. Sleep duration

It is said that the average total sleep time for a 5-6 month old baby is about 13-14 hours. However, they do not sleep for a long period of time. Some babies sleep for 6 hours straight, while others wake up after 2-3 hours. This means that they will need to be fed or have their diapers changed, and parents will not be able to get a good night's sleep either, which can be a problem for many parents.

2. Breastfeeding and starting solid food

Breastfeeding or formula feeding will be done every 3-4 hours, and when breastfeeding, it is important for the mother to manage her health and diet. This is because, depending on the mother's physical condition, it may be difficult to produce breast milk or she may not be able to take medication such as headache or cold medicine. When feeding formula, hygiene management, such as sterilizing the baby bottles, is important. Furthermore, you may worry that your baby is not drinking enough breast milk or formula, or have difficulties such as not being able to do other things because your baby is constantly craving breast milk or formula.
This is also the time to start thinking about starting solid food, so you will need to study about solid food. It is important to feed solid food while keeping an eye on the baby's weight, physical condition, etc., so it may seem difficult for families who are not used to it.

3. Growth and health management

It is important to check your baby's growth and health as carefully as possible every day, including whether or not the baby's neck can be held up, whether there are any problems with reactions, whether the baby is gaining weight or height at a normal rate, whether vaccinations are being administered on a scheduled basis, whether there are concerns about atopic dermatitis or allergies, and whether the baby has diarrhea or constipation. This is also a time when you will need to visit the pediatrician frequently, including for regular checkups.

It is also important to limit outings to a level that is not too strenuous for your baby. It is also important to prepare a stroller, car seat, feeding and diaper changing supplies, and to do some research on travel and your destination.

In addition, life with a baby requires a lot more preparation than life with only adults, and on top of that, adults are required to properly care for the baby through play, holding, face-to-face interaction, and other activities. Because you have to keep paying attention to your baby, it's difficult to concentrate and get things done at once, and it's difficult to get a break yourself. For these reasons, it's particularly easy to accumulate stress when you have to concentrate on childcare alone.

Ranking of things that are difficult or tough when raising children

What do moms and dads who have experienced raising children find difficult or tough? We've compiled a list in ranking form.

1. Lack of sleep

Lack of sleep is a common part of childcare these days, with babies struggling to fall asleep, crying at night, and needing to be breastfed frequently. It would be great if you could get them to nap properly, but it's surprisingly difficult to time your activities to coincide with your baby's naps. You can't let housework pile up too much, and in the end, you can't get enough sleep, as many moms and dads have experienced.

2nd place: I can't have any time for myself and I have no peace of mind

It seems that many people have had to take a break from going to cafes, cinemas, hairdressers, and hobbies such as sports, reading, and sewing. As a result, we often hear people complain that they are unable to relieve stress. Many people also say that after starting life with their baby, they have realized how important their hobbies were. "How to secure time for yourself" is a very important issue when raising a child.

3rd place: It's hard to get them to sleep

There seem to be many difficulties in getting babies to sleep soundly, such as "Even when I think they're asleep, they wake up when I put them down on the bed," "They won't fall asleep unless I carry them around for hours," and "They wake up at the slightest noise." In such cases, each family seems to overcome the difficulties by using various methods, such as holding the baby while sitting on a balance ball, or going for a drive in the middle of the night since the baby sleeps best in the car.

If you're tired of raising children, don't suffer alone - seek advice

If you're tired of raising a child, don't forget to "talk to someone." Raising a child at this age can be lonely. Babies are adorable, but they can't talk yet, and opportunities to go out and talk to people decrease. Especially if it's your first time raising a child, you're not used to it, so you tend to blame yourself and wonder "why can't I do it well?". Since you're already in a state where you're sleep-deprived and easily mentally unstable, try to express your pent-up feelings in words.

Although family and friends are fine, we also recommend using local child-rearing consultation services and child-rearing support centers to get objective advice. Contact your local city or town hall. You can also check their websites.

In addition, online parenting message boards are also very useful. You can easily talk to moms and dads who have the same problems, and best of all, they are available 24 hours a day, which is a great comfort to you even in the middle of the night when you tend to feel lonely. You will discover a lot of new things by learning about the lives of people in the same situation.

summary

・Babies around 5 to 6 months of age have unstable sleeping and feeding times, so there are many things to be careful about in terms of their growth and health. ・At this age, parents have a hard time getting their babies to sleep, so stress can easily build up due to a lack of "personal time," leading to sleep deprivation. ・If you're tired of raising a child, the first thing to do is to talk to someone. ・Try using your local child-rearing consultation center or child-rearing support center, or an online child-rearing message board.

No one is good at childcare from the beginning. Childcare involves learning little by little and building a life with your baby from scratch, so it's natural that you'll make mistakes or things won't go as planned. It's very important to feel like you have to do your best, but if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to laugh with your baby. Get help from those around you and try to find better ways little by little. As your baby grows, you'll gradually have more opportunities to say, "I did it well!"

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