It is important to identify baby sleep cues to help them sleep better. You will find it difficult to put an overly exhausted baby to sleep, or they might wake up more often in the night. A common mistake most parents make is waiting for the baby to get tired and fussy before putting them to bed, as they think these as the signs that the baby is ready to sleep. However, before hitting crankiness and crying, the babies give subtle cues to show they are sleepy, similar to the cues they show when hungry. So identifying and designing bedtimes based on these cues can make it easy for you to put your baby to sleep. Read on to know.
What Are The Common Baby Sleep Cues?
Here are some of the sleep cues a baby shows before they get overtired and fussy. When babies sleep after they are extremely cranky, they may not have a good quality sleep. The baby would wake up often or sooner and remain irritable or cranky.
How To Identify Your Baby’s Sleep Cues?
A baby’s sleep cues may go unnoticed in the early days. However, you will eventually learn to identify them. We give you a few tips to help you identify the cues and improve the baby’s sleep schedule.
Pay close attention to your baby to identify his or her behavioral changes. Most babies become a little silent and less active before getting fussy and cranky. Identifying the correct time will help you put your baby to sleep faster.
Notice the baby’s sleep pattern every day and understand their wake-time length. Most babies have a fixed schedule of the number of hours they can be awake and be playful before they feel sleepy again.
Document your baby’s sleeping cues. Make notes of how your baby reacts and acts when he/she is sleepy. It will help you remember the changes in the baby’s behavior and set sleep patterns accordingly.
Note down the number of hours your baby sleeps every day and also the time duration your baby can tolerate happily between two naps. Try to follow these leads to achieve a good sleep schedule for your baby.
If your baby shows sleeping cues, then it is recommended to put the baby to bed as early as possible to avoid extreme tiredness and irritability.
Tips To Put Your Baby To Sleep After Identifying Cues
Once you learn to identify your baby’s sleep cues, it becomes easier to decide the right time for the baby to nap. Following these tips might help you put your sleepy baby to bed.
Babies thrive on routine. Establish the nap time routine for your baby.
Dress the baby in comfortable clothes according to the weather.
If your baby is hypersensitive to sound and light, then keep the baby’s crib in a dark and quiet room.
You can either pat, rock, cradle, or swaddle the baby to sleep. Once the baby is older, you may encourage them to sleep on their own by laying them in their crib when they are partially awake and sleepy. This is very important to prevent habit formation where you as parent become the “it” for your baby to fall asleep.
Make sure that the baby’s diapers are changed, and the baby’s stomach is full before putting them to bed. It can help them achieve uninterrupted and longer sleep.
Try and establish a bedtime routine for them. Singing some nursery rhymes at bedtime might help the baby establish a correlation between the rhyme and sleeping. For older babies, bedtime stories might help them establish a routine.
