PARENTS will know it all too well, it seems that just when you have found a trick to get your baby to sleep, it all of sudden stops working.
It can be hard to spot when your child is getting sleepy and know what to do to help them fall asleep.
Luckily, mum Courtney Garland, who is also a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, Lactation & Sleep Consultant is on call to give parents a helping hand.
Courtney said in a video uploaded to Instagram under her account, mamalinc, that babies tired cues tend to change when they are around three-months-old, which may be the reason why you are having trouble getting your little one to sleep.
Courtney writes: “Once our baby gets over three months their mid cues change. Watch to learn more.”
Courtney breaks down tiredness cues into three parts; early cues are when babies are tired, mid cues are when babies are ready to sleep and late cues, which means the baby is overtired.
She goes on to say in the video that early cues of tiredness are; glossy eyes with bags under them, breaking eye contact and looking away, and a blank stare or zoning out.
The early cues stay the same for babies between zero to three months old, but the mid cues will change as they reach three months.
Babies who are ready to sleep and younger than three months old will shows signs they are ready by moving their head back and forth constantly, yawning and becoming fussy, as Courtney showed in a separate video.
Whereas babies at three months or older may show they are tired and ready for a nap by doing the following; yawning, rubbing their eyes, pulling their ears, becoming fussy, making jerky movements, being clingy and chatting and giggling a lot.
The late cues are you baby telling you they are overtired and at three-months-old these can include; pushing away from you, arching their back and hysterical crying (which may sound like they are in pain).
Whereas children under three months will clench their fists and make them rigid, arching their back or hysterically crying.
Courtney said these are cues you should look out for to avoid an overtired baby.
Parents found the video insightful but some asked for some more tips on knowing when cues may mean they are tired.
“Totally relatable to my 5 mo girl!” Said one user
Another user commented: “Is it just me or the overly giggly phase is so cute & funny sometimes I forget it’s gonna get ugly real soon haha.”
“Amazing! What about yawning after they’ve woken from a nap? Not long enough, or just still waking up?” Asked a user, Courtney reassured them in the comments that yawning soon after a nap just means they are getting oxygen flowing to the brain.
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