Healthy Sleep Habits: Sleep Cues

Sleep cues are so very important when timing naps correctly. I have a post with my list of sleep cues and a post with the Baby Whisperer's sleep cues. Now time for Weissbluth's sleep cues.

As I have mentioned in the past, a baby will not display every sleep cue on a list. Also, your baby might have her own unique cue not included on any list, but my guess is among these three, you should be able to find what your baby displays. This list is found on page 63 and page 71 in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child:

Decreased activity
Slower motions
Less vocal
Sucking is weaker or slower
Quieter
Calmer
Appears disinterested
Eyes less focused
Eyelids drooping
Yawning
Less social (smiling less and a lack of engaging you)

The above list is a list of signs your baby is ready to go to sleep. Now for a list of cues that signal your child is overly tired:

Fussing
Rubbing eyes
Irritable
Cranky

If you study the three posts closely, you will notice there are things Hogg and I list as cues that Weissbluth lists as over-tired cues. You will also noticed Hogg says baby will get fidgety while Weissbluth says baby moves less. Welcome to baby life :) Your job is to figure out where your baby falls in these ideas.

My Children

Now for the sleep cues of my children.

Brayden: Brayden's sleep cue was easy and ever the same: fussiness. Newborn on up, it was fussiness. As he grew into a toddler, this moved into him being naughty when he was tired. He still at age five gets emotionally upset when he is tired.

Kaitlyn: Kaitlyn was one of those "cue-less" babies. At about two months, she dropped her signs. She was about a year before she started giving me hints again. So I had to judge her waketime on her naps. If the naps were good, I knew her waketime was right. Even today, she doesn't show any sign of needing sleep until she is very overly tired. She will be up 3 hours past nap time before any classic cue comes out. We have pretty much always had to be clock people with Kaitlyn's naps.

McKenna: McKenna had classic "seven-mile stare" described by Hogg. She would star off into space when she was ready for a nap. Now at 19 months, if she is ready for a nap, she comes looking for me and wants to sit in my lap.

Your Turn!

Please share the sleep cues you relied on for your children.

Related Blog Labels:

Baby Whisperer: Sleep Cues

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Here are some cues from Tracy Hogg that show your baby is ready to go to sleep (found on page 177). I have also listed additional cues found in The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (page 181):

Yawning.
Fussing.
Fidgeting.
Opening eyes wide.
Making sounds like a creaking door.
Sqeaking.
Turning head from objects or people.
Burying face in your chest.
Involuntary movements with arms and legs.
Rubbing eyes.
Pulling at ears.
Scratching face.
Less coordination.
Lose interest in toys.
Arching back and leaning backward.
Falling while walking or bumping into things.

This list moves from younger baby up through older baby.
Related Posts:

Reader Comments/Advice:

Emily said...
That is so funny, when my daughter is tired she'll pull her ear, fall a lot and cry when it actually didn't hurt (this is her best cue), or rub eyes. She was right on with my daughter!
October 2, 2008 1:46 PM
Plowmanators said...
Emily, thanks for sharing that. I think it is always good to get a list of cues from other moms so people can be more likely to recognize the cues in their kids.
October 6, 2008 2:57 PM

How to Know When Baby is Tired by Using Sleep Cues

A sleep cue is something your baby does that indicates he/she is tired and ready to go to sleep. If you are lucky, your baby will give you consistent cues to let you know when it is time to go down for a nap. Some babies and moms are so efficient at communicating these cues with each other that there is no need for a clock. For others, the clock/cue combo does wonders.

Let me reiterate the importance of getting the waketime length correct. Your baby will sleep much better if you get her down on time. Your baby will also cry least (if you are doing cry it out) if you get down at the right time. Figuring these cues out will really help you get it right. There are several posts on the subject if you need more convincing: see Easy Nap Fix.

Baby Sleep Cues List

Here is a list of some sample cues. I am sure there are many, many more out there:

Fussiness. This was my son's cue. He'd start to get fussy, I'd look at the clock, and sure enough. It was time for a nap.
Yawning. This was my daughter's nap cue for a while. For her, it was one nap. Some moms have said three yawns.
Red around the eyes. My son also had this for a while.
Rubbing eyes. My daughter has recently picked this one up.
Naughtiness. This is more a cue for older children. My son now will get naughty if he is overdue for sleep.
Hard to please. Some babies get impossible to entertain. This would be similar to fussiness, though baby might not be fussy.

You do need to combine these cues with the clock. Take your baby's age into account and also normal naptime. Around 2 months old, Kaitlyn dropped all cues all together until recently (11 months). So I had to go by the clock only.

For my kids, naptime is naptime. Their naptimes are at the same time each day. Brayden's (nearly 3) is the most concrete. Kaitlyn's can flex a little, but never vary by more than 15 minutes.
If you are having a hard time figuring your child's cues out, a log can be handy to track what you saw and the results of that cue. Good luck!

Reader Questions:

ProudMum said...
This is great blog. I think all problem of my baby naps lie in waketime. 1. when u say stay happily , it means if I play with her, she will create fuss? but I think she starts to play happily. I am so confused about her nap cues, which I think getting fussy. around 6 or 7 she wakes up for first feed then stay awake at bed for one hour and then sleep and she awake around 9:15. she sleep at night at 8:15. after 12 hrs sleep still she needs nap after 1 hour? As I put her down after 2 hrs and my whole days r bad abd baby is cranky. Do babies cry if I put them earlier for nap? she just sleeps for 35 mins for napand cries all day
July 12, 2008 1:42 PM
Plowmanators said...
1. Not totally. Some babies will fuss if they are bored with what is going on or if it is simply too much. But yes, after 12 hours of sleep, she still needs a nap after 1 hour. That will eventually lengthen out, but is totally normal right now.2 hours is most likely too long for her at this age. If it is too early, they usually play. If she is waking after 35 minutes, she most likely needs a shorter waketime. Try 1 hour waketimes and see how it goes.
July 14, 2008 10:56 AM