Signs of fatigue in babies

In the first month after birth, babies sleep almost the entire day, and putting them to sleep is not so demanding. They usually fall asleep while nursing, when we stroke their head, thanks to white noise, or sometimes they simply close their eyes on their own when they are tired. In the following months, the time they stay awake gets longer and they start showing signs of tiredness, which signal to us that it is time to go to sleep and help them fall asleep. What are the most common signs of tiredness and what should you do if you miss them and the child becomes overtired?

Common signs of tiredness in babies

In a baby, only some signs may appear, or there may be several, gradually following one another. Most commonly, these include:

• yawning,
• reddened eyebrows,
• rubbing their eyes,
• pulling at their ears,
• staring blankly,
• avoiding eye contact,
• grumbling,
• loss of interest in toys,
• crying.

Wake windows in babies

Some children may already be overtired according to the signs of tiredness described above, or they may show no signs at all. In this case, it is good to watch wake windows, meaning the period from waking up until the next sleep, and put the child to sleep during this time. Wake windows get longer with age, so each month it is necessary to stay alert so that we do not try to put to sleep a child who is still not tired.

Watch out for an overtired child

It has happened more than once to every parent that they did not manage to put their child to sleep in time and the child became so-called overtired. This is a very unpleasant situation for both the child and the parent. The child cannot be comforted, and the parent may lose control of the situation. You can recognize an overtired child by:

• crying that cannot be calmed - the child usually falls asleep only when they stop crying, but the sleep will not be as good as if they had fallen asleep in time;
• the child has trouble falling asleep, or falls asleep but immediately wakes up again and you have to put them to sleep all over again;
• the child, on the contrary, is hyperactive and cannot calm down;
• they cannot be put down from your arms or else they start crying immediately.

An overtired child may be helped by white noise, a dark environment (so there is not too much stimulation), contact with a parent (wrap or carrier), breastfeeding, and a calm parent who can endure this sometimes seemingly endless crying.

Sleep can really be alchemy with some children. There are children who fall asleep under the play gym or while eating, while others need a great deal of calming, a feeling of safety, and help closing their eyes. It might seem that it is easier with children who fall asleep on their own, but there are not many such children, or they only fall asleep this way for a period of time until their sleep develops and changes. It is natural that children need our help, and it is up to us to provide it for them for those first few years, because later they will no longer need us by the bed in the evening, and we might regret it. 

We cannot stop time, but we can change our approach to our children. We wish you peaceful bedtime routines with your children, and if it sometimes does not work out, do not lose heart — we all have it that way.