Sleep cues: Tired, ready to sleep or overtired? How recognising these signs can save your nap.

Sleep cues: Tired, ready to sleep or overtired? How recognising these signs can save your nap.

Heard about sleep cues? Knowing where baby is at on the tiredness scale can make all the difference to getting them down! It all comes down to being able to tell when your baby is getting tired, when they are ready to sleep and the part that we all want to avoid – the overtired signs. Here, Sleep Consultants Slumber and Sprout break it down for us!

You might already know about the importance of getting your baby down to sleep at the right time. Timing really is everything. And when we talk about timing a baby’s sleep perfectly it means taking into consideration their age appropriate awake windows but also their sleep cues. When we use those two things in conjunction with each other we can avoid the overtired baby. With the right timing most babies will generally go to sleep easier and sleep better. An overtired baby though with too much cortisol and adrenaline can become too upset and/or fussy making falling asleep and staying asleep hard for them.

The three stages of tired signs are:

Stage 1: Baby is starting to get tired⁠
⁠Stage 2: Baby needs to go down to sleep⁠
⁠Stage 3: Baby has missed their ideal sleep window and is overtired⁠

 

What things might you see in each stage?

 

Baby is starting to get tired

Baby needs to go down to sleep

Baby has missed their ideal sleep window and is overtired

Pink Eyebrows

Starts rubbing eyes

A very upset baby

Starts staring and zoning out

Yawning

Arching back

Loses interest in toys and people

Getting a little fussy

Difficult to settle and resisting sleep

 

Rubbing/pulling at the face/ears

Clingy and needing more comfort than usual

 

 

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⁠We hope the sleepy cues help to get your little one off to sleep more easily. If you unsure about your little ones sleep needs or what their age appropriate awake windows might be? The team at Slumber & Sprout have put together The Complete Guide to Baby’s Day. Grab a copy today.

 You can also grab our FREE Baby Sleep Guide! 

 


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