Signs of a sleepy baby

A baby will tell you what their needs are through various cues.

This includes cues when a baby is tired. It is their way of expressing themselves and their needs.

Taking advantage of understanding your baby and their cues generally contributes to a more content baby.

In terms of sleep recognizing and addressing the signs of a tired baby will reduce the challenge of trying to get a tired or over tired baby to sleep.

The more over tired they become to longer, and often harder it may be for the baby to go to sleep and often they will sleep for a shorter period.

A delay in acknowledging the signs may cause your baby to become agitated or distressed.

Alternatively, if you haven’t seen any of the signs then you may want to look at waiting a little longer until you try to place your child into bed as they are not quite ready to fall asleep.

A tired or over tired baby is often difficult to settle.

Knowing the general periods of being awake in relation to their age is beneficial. The actual amount of time a baby may tolerate being awake may vary but there are general time frames.

It means being able to put a baby to sleep when they are sleepy but not over tired.

Their eyes are open but they are showing signs of tiredness.

Commonly these are the periods:

0-4-month-old should be awake less than 45-60 minutes

4-6-month-old can be awake for 1-2 hours

6-12-month-old can be awake for 2-3 hours

12-18-month-old can be awake for 3-4 hours

18 months-2 years can manage 4-6 hours of awake time

• Yawning.
• Whining and fractious behaviour (tears and tantrums are good signs).
• Rubbing eyes.
• Thumb or finger sucking.
• Flopping to the floor.
• Lying around in a ‘daze’ or zoning out.
• Pulling their ears.
• Becoming clingier to their caregiver.
• Less social and less engaged.

• Fussiness and crying.
• Difficult to calm.
• Yawning.

Closely linked to knowing how long they can comfortably stay awake is the slight changes in the ages and reactions for a baby.

A newborn will display slightly differing sleepy cues than a baby over 3 months.

A newborn has limited control over their limbs and movements. Their movements are more influenced by reflexes.

Newborns are vulnerable to over stimulation. This is particularity relevant to a baby quickly and easily becoming an over tired baby.

An over tired newborn becomes intolerant of sensory stimulation such as nappy change, rocking, etc to try to soothe.

A a result a newborn’s behaviour will demonstrate their tired signs such as:

• Pulling up their knees.
• Jerking limb movements.
• Grimacing.
• Seeking comfort in sucking or feeding.
• Back arching.
• Fussing which turns into crying and further on to screaming.

When a baby becomes overtired there are some strategies to calm them and to relax to settle.

1. Swaddle them.
2. Once swaddled hold them close to your chest.
3. Feeding a baby can help to soothe them.
4. Gently rock or bounce your baby till they look drowsy.
5. Develop a good sleep routine.
6. Consistency.