Few Signs Your Baby is ready to go to Sleep

The first few months with a newborn baby are full of crying and disrupted sleep cycles. For new parents, it’s hard to tell when their baby is sleepy, hungry, or unwell. I struggled with this for a while too. When my infant would start crying all of a sudden, I wasn’t sure of what he wanted.

Many parents deal with this common issue and it takes a while to start understanding your baby’s cues.  Eventually, I was able to tell if she was hungry or sleepy based on her actions. Knowing that your baby wants to take a nap is a great feeling. This way, you can give some time to yourself and do some chores around the house. From my experience, babies show a few signs when they want to sleep. To help you out, I’ve mentioned common signs your baby is ready to go to Sleep, along with a little guidance on how you can help them sleep.

Signs Your Baby is Ready to Sleep

1.      Your Baby is Awake for More than 1 ½ Hours

As a newborn, my child would fall asleep after every half an hour. This is common sleeping behavior in all newborns. Since their bodies are still adjusting to the environment outside the womb, you can’t expect them to do much else. Sometimes, babies may stay awake for longer than usual, which may concern you as a parent. When my baby would stay awake for longer than an hour and a half, I wondered if they were ready to sleep as I hated forcing my baby to sleep. It is best to wait for your baby to showcase baby tiredness clues before forcing them to sleep. When my baby was sleepy, she would show signs such as:

• Long constant yawns (which are adorable to look at)
• Excessively rubbing their eyes
• Long stares at a certain object or surface
• Soft repetitive sounds for e.g. grrr’s and mmmm’s

These were common signs my baby would show when she would sleep after long gaps. At the same time, these are general signs of sleepiness that your baby may showcase, regardless of whether they’ve stayed awake for long or not.

Other Common Signs your baby is ready To Sleep

Besides the signs I’ve mentioned above, your baby may exhibit a few other behaviors that it’s time for them to sleep. These other sleeping signs include:

• Keeping their small fists tight
• Sucking on their fingers, which is their way of going to Sleep
• Pulling their ears gently
• Making jerky bodily movements like arching their back, kicking with their legs, and arm movements
• Constant eye fluttering/blinking
• Crying
• Clinginess
• Not accepting food or breastfeed

Things You Can DO To Put Your Infant to Sleep

Creating a sleepy environment is a parent’s role to play to encourage the baby to sleep. There are a few things I do to stimulate sleepiness for my baby. Mentioned below:

• Switch off all the lights and keep a dimmer or lamp on
• Close all the curtains and blinds
• Play soft music to block and background noise
• Clear off the bed if there are any toys or clothes lying around

Conclusion

My baby’s sleeping journey was quite a task. Hence, it took me a lot of time to fully understand and tell signs my baby was ready to go to sleep or not.  If you’re still unable to make out what your baby wants and when he or she wants to sleep, don’t stress out. You will get there within time, but for now, check for baby sleepiness signs I’ve mentioned above.