Is my baby tired?

Very often we miss when our infant is tired and by the time we catch up with our little ones and try to get them to bed or to nap they are already overtired and are way more difficult to put down.  It is at this stage that we do anything we can to get our little ones to sleep – feed to sleep, rock, lie down beside them.   There is nothing wrong with doing this but if it’s every time our infant falls asleep then it can be a bit cumbersome.

We eventually get them to sleep but wonder why it was so hard…. well it would have been so much easier if we had caught them before they became overtired and got them to bed at this stage.  There are two ways to prevent overtiredness.  One way is to make sure that our little ones are not awake for too long.  For example an infant of about 6 months old should not be awake for more than 2 to 2 ½ hours – otherwise they become overtired.

The other way to make sure our little ones get to bed when they are ready is to watch out for sleepy signs.  Look for;

Yawning  • Fussing  • Fidgeting.  • Opening eyes wide  • Making sounds like a creaking door  • Squeaking  • 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.