Sleepy Cues

How do you know your little one is ready to sleep?

When your child starts getting tired, he will start showing you signs that he wants to go to sleep. It’s his way of communicating with you that his melatonin started to kick in, and he is getting sleepy.

We all secrete melatonin when we are getting tired and ready to go to sleep. The thing is, with our babies they are secreting them more often, since they need more day sleep (and sleep overall). When they’ve hit their sleep window, they will secrete the melatonin, which is a calming hormone that helps their body calm down and get ready for sleep. 

A lot of times, we may miss the cue, so we have to be very careful to make sure we catch them at the right time, otherwise we will miss their sleep window, causing them to be overtired and making it harder for them to fall asleep. 

Some common sleepy cues to look out for are:

-       Rubbing eyes

-       Rubbing nose

-       Pulling ears

-       Red/droopy eyes

-       Yawning

-       Cranky and crying

Want to learn more about when your child should be showing sleepy cues? Contact me and we can talk about your child’s sleep windows.