Watch Out for These 7 Baby Tired Signs You Might Be Missing

Missing your newborn’s “window of opportunity” to sleep? Take a look at these 7 overlooked baby tired signs you might not be noticing!

Long before I was pregnant, I watched an episode on The Oprah Winfrey Show where a woman described different baby cries. Each cry, she said, would let you know what the baby needed, from food to sleep. The idea was to “catch” your baby’s signs of tiredness before, say, he became too tired to get much sleep.

This is brilliant, I thought, and pocketed this bit of useful information should I ever have kids.

Well… fast forward a few years later when I did have a baby, and I couldn’t for the life of me tell one cry from the next.

They all sounded the same, which was basically, “I’m so mad right now!” He seemed to go from happy to inconsolable with no baby tired signs in between. And as we all know, cranky babies don’t make for good sleep, and the cycle only continued on and on.

At one point, my little newborn was awake for a whopping 6 hours between naptime, unable to sleep. You can imagine that I had a harder time getting him rested after that.

Baby tired signs to watch out for

I felt horrible for not being able to identify my baby’s signals and took that as a sign that I had no idea what I was doing.

If your baby doesn’t show tired signs, you’re not alone. Perhaps you’re not picking up her “window of opportunity” to get her to sleep well. By the time you put her down, she’s already overtired and restless. You can’t seem to figure out these elusive signs everyone is talking about and swears by.

Well, three kids later, I got a bit more “practice” on picking up these signs, and listed them below.

If you’d like to see the signs—some common, many not so—that new babies tend to give, check them out below. The trick is to get your little one to nap once you see them and before she gets too tired.

1. Yawns (aim for no more than three)

The most common sleep sign is perhaps a baby’s yawn. Like anyone ready to sleep, she might yawn when she’s tired. A good way to keep track is to put her down for a nap before she yawns three times. Any more than that, and she might be too tired for a restful nap.

Free resource: Do you struggle with getting her to sleep? Her wake window might be affecting how well she sleeps or not. Join my newsletter and get One Mistake You’re Making with Your Baby’s Awake Time—at no cost to you. Don’t make the same mistakes I did—help her get better sleep with this one simple trick! Grab it below:

2. Facial expression

Observe your baby and note how he looks when she’s alert and playful. Then, watch out for when he starts to look a bit more… dazed. Where it looks like he’s staring off at a distance. He might avoid eye contact or even close his eyes when you’re talking to him.

When do newborns get easier? Learn the milestones here.

3. Your baby’s lack of interest

Beyond your baby’s face, take a look at her energy and engagement. A lack of interest is one of the signs indicating she’s ready to sleep.

What does that look like? She might slow her movements down—whereas she was batting at a toy minutes ago, she might now hold it in her hands. She also might not smile in return, even as you coo and smile at her. And her body “slumps” with zero energy in it.

Learn what to do when your 3 month old won’t nap.

4. Tired eyes

Your baby’s eyes are one of the best telltale signs to rely on. After all, it’s one of the most visible sleepy cues we’re asleep—whereas our nose or mouth may look the same, closed eyes are often a good sign we’re asleep.

The same is true for your baby.

Tired eyes might look like red eyelids or eyelids half-closed. His eyes can also seem heavy, watery, or slow to blink. He might even cover his eyes, whether with his hands or even outright close them shut, to block out the stimulation.

Take a look at these newborn sleep cues that can help your baby sleep longer.

5. Rubbing

Does your baby rub her eyes with her fists? She might be giving you a sign that she’s sleepy. It’s not only eyes, either. She might rub her eyebrows, so much so that they can turn red. Or she might reach for her ears or the top of her head and rub those parts, all indicating that she’s sleepy and tired.

6. Particular cries that show your baby is tired

Even though I couldn’t tell one cry from the next with my eldest, I learned to pick up tired cues when I had my twins a few years later.

For instance, your baby might cry in a “complaining” kind of way, sort of like “baby whining.” It’s her way of saying “I’m tired, I want to sleep” and might be frustrated that she isn’t.

Compare that to other cries that might indicate anger, fear, or meltdowns, for instance, and it’s usually a “mewing” kind of noise, as opposed to an outright yell.

Learn how to get an overtired baby to sleep.

7. Comfort-seeking actions

Sometimes the signs come out as your baby looking for comfort. After all, we all get comfortable before falling asleep—the same is true for our little ones. A few examples include:

Sucking her hand
Turning her head side to side
Nuzzling closer to your arm or neck if you’re holding her
Rooting for a pacifier

These actions are her way of trying to get comfortable or lull herself to sleep because she’s tired.

When all else fails…

I want to reassure you that nailing (or not) these baby tired signs doesn’t make you any better (or worse) as a parent. In fact, after a while, I threw my hands up and relied on my baby’s awake time as a surefire way to know when exactly to put him down to sleep.

So, if you’re done with looking for baby signs, it’s okay to “go by the clock” or at least use it as a gauge or even as a supplement to knowing when the next nap should be.

For instance, let’s say she was fussy when you put her down after being awake for 90 minutes. One thing you can do is shorten her awake time by 15-minute increments, so that the next time she wakes up, you only keep her up for 75 minutes before starting your next nap routine.

Newborn awake for 3 hours? Here’s what to do.

Conclusion

As a first-time mom, following tired signs can feel like a strange language we’re not equipped to understand. But sometimes it takes observing and doing the best you can to help your baby sleep well.

To recap, a few baby tired signs to watch for include:

Yawning
Facial expressions
A lack of interest
Tired eyes
Rubbing
Particular cries
Comfort-seeking actions

And if all else fails, going by the clock helps as well. If anything, never feel bad because you can’t tell one cry from another—they sometimes all sound the same to many of us.

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