As we know, it is essential for our little ones to maintain good sleep habits and get enough sleep, especially during the first months of life, when their physical and cognitive development begins. Do you know how to identify baby sleep cues? In this post, we tell you everything you need to know to identify baby sleep signs and give you the best tips to help them get the necessary hours of rest.
Identify your baby's sleep cues
In this section, we tell you what your baby's sleep signs are so you can identify their current state:
Early signs that they are sleepy:
- Closing their eyes or having a faraway look, as if staring into space.
- Turning their head.
- Slower movements, less energetic.
Immediate signs that they need to go to sleep:
- Yawning.
- Touching their ears.
- Starting to be irritable, complaining.
- Rubbing their eyes.
Late signs, they're overtired and have passed the point of no return:
- Energetic and jerky movements.
- Hysterical crying, often inconsolable.
- Arching their back.
- Becoming stiff.
A baby who is exhausted at bedtime will complain and cry; they will likely have difficulty falling asleep and experience more awakenings during the night. When they are overtired, it is harder for them to relax, so it is very important to pay attention to the sleep cues the baby sends us.
These signals are very clear, and it is important to pick up on them to know when it is time to put our babies to sleep.
How to help your baby relax when they are already overtired?
As we have seen, if your baby is sleepy but not falling asleep, they are overtired. We are not perfect, and it is possible that we overlook the baby's sleep cues, and when that happens, it is important that we know how to help them relax. Here are some tips!
- Swaddle them in a blanket or muslin; they will feel more comforted.
- Rock them; the gentle motion will gradually help them relax.
- You can use white noise (being continuous and without ups and downs, it often helps them fall asleep. For example, the sound of an appliance or a hairdryer) or classical music.
- Feed them; skin-to-skin contact will calm them.
- Comforter; many children need to touch a soft fabric with their parents' scent.
And lots of patience; babies go through sleep regressions and need extra cuddles.
3 comments
Hola! La cuña se coloca arriba del todo, justo pegada a la cremallera de la fundita del nido. En principio, así colocada no debería escurrirse demasiado, aunque hay bebés muy movidos que pongas lo que pongan acabarán donde menos te lo esperes :)
Hola! Si, la cuña se coloca arriba del todo y siempre debajo del colchón. Gracias!
Soy clienta vuestra y como no, tengo la cuña antirreflujo para el nido de mi bebé de 5 meses. Vengo observando que a pesar de que la cuña le va bien para el reflujo se escurre hacia abajo y duerme con las piernas dobladas, hasta el punto de tener que ponerleven la cuna porque el nido se le queda corto. La cuña que se coloca arriba del todo? No se si es que no lo pongo bien o para mi bebé quizás tenga demasiada inclinación. Gracias por vuestra atención.