Recognizing signs of an overtired newborn

Presented by Nanit

Our kiddo is two months old now, crazy! We hope you are finding this information helpful - sharing it raw and as we experience it for your benefit. One of our subscribers said it best: They had gotten tired of advice coming from parents who raised their kids six or more years ago.

Remember to participate in today’s poll! Almost everyone shared a bedroom with their baby for 6-12 months but a few said six weeks! One reply resonated with us “I also felt like I had to follow every form of guidance I’d digest from professionals, so I didn’t think I could move her until 6 months. With my second, I’ve been much gentler on myself and am open to moving her when it feels right.” - Thank you for sharing Sara!

Fussy babies and how to better understand their different cues and signs

Gassy and overtired: Signs of a gassy baby and ways to get an overtired newborn to sleep

TL;DR: Navigating the maze of baby cues can be a bewildering experience for new parents. From conflicting advice on hunger cues to misconceptions about overtiredness, the challenge of accurately interpreting your baby's signals is a common struggle. Even two partners may see different signs and these discrepancies in observations can further complicate the deciphering process.

To provide some clarity, let's delve into key terms and insights:

Overtiredness

Understanding that baby sleep patterns differ from adults is crucial. Contrary to common beliefs that prolonged wakefulness leads to swift fatigue, babies thrive on good sleep. The release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline during an overtired state can trigger challenging behaviors often mistaken for gas or fussiness. Recognizing overtired cues, such as pulling knees to the chest, arching the back, and intense crying, is vital. An overtired baby or toddler may take short naps, wake often during sleep, wake up frantically screaming, or fight sleep altogether. This disrupted sleep can create a cycle of overtiredness. To break the cycle, there are a few things you can do:

• Understand sleepy cues and respond to them quickly. If your baby yawns after feeding, is staring away from you, or has eyes closed - it is a good idea to put down your baby and get them to sleep or nap.

• Build sleep consistency by following age-appropriate wake windows. Making sure your baby gets enough daytime sleep is critical, remember, a well-slept baby will sleep better.

• Adjust your baby’s bedtime and maybe develop a routine. We love massaging our baby nighly with a little bit of coconut oil.

• Lastly, make sure your baby is getting the required calories during the day. This can be harder to do with a breastfed baby but you can use a scale before and after feedings to get an idea. A well-fed baby will sleep better at night for longer stretches.

Read our post about nighttime feeding to help with sleeping cycles. Most parents discover that they simply need the tools to prevent an overtired newborn.

Active Sleep

Newborns undergo two distinct sleep cycles: quiet sleep and active sleep, dividing their slumber time evenly between the two. While active sleep resembles REM sleep in adults, a significant departure sets them apart. Unlike adults, whose skeletal muscles are immobilized during REM sleep, infants retain their mobility. Even during their slumber, babies may move around, and let out grunting noises and cries, even occasionally with their eyes open. In the early months, your baby's brain and body are still learning even during sleep, doing things like digestion. That's why you'll see your baby moving, grunting, occasionally moaning, or crying during active sleep. It is important to identify active sleeping and avoid responding. Use the “Le Pause” method and before you respond, simply stop and observe. Give your baby a minute and determine if they are actively sleeping. We have found that resetting the swaddle without moving the baby works wonders to disrupt the crying while allowing the baby to return to sleeping quickly. Taking Cara Babies has examples of babies in active sleep if you want to see more.

Gas or Colic

The term “colic” just refers to a healthy baby crying a lot without any obvious reason. Gas is a normal by-product of digestion, but babies can also become gassy by taking in air from crying over other issues, for example, you could have an overtired baby that cried for a while and took in so much air that they became gassy afterward. Pro tip: a super snug swaddle will help prevent this. The signs of a gassy baby are very similar to an overtired baby - arched back, squirming, pulling knees to chest, and frequent crying. The best way to confirm your baby is indeed crying due to gass is if they respond to movements that immediately relieve a firm tummy with sometimes audible toots. Those movements include bicycle peddling, knee pumping to the chest, hip rolls side-to-side, and the frog hold - scrunching legs in an upright position. All babies will struggle with bowel movements for a while because they are using their intestines for the first time. After a few weeks, they may continue to struggle because SIDS safety requires us to keep them on their backs. This makes it very hard for baby to bear down and use their diaphragm to move things through. We often also attempt the rainbow or “U” massage moving from left to right, stroking baby’s belly while baby is active-sleeping or struggling during sleep. This worked for us to provide relief without waking the baby. Just remember, that babies letting out cries experiencing gas are not believed to be in pain, they are learning how to use air to help with pushing and sometimes it is let out as a cry. Some solutions for gas are Simethicone Drops during feeding to prevent future gassiness, Probiotics Drops once a day to help break down lactose and Gripe Water can be used between feeds to help calm the baby.

Reflux

Babies under two months of age are still working out how to keep fluids down and the muscles (the esophageal sphincter) can sometimes be still developing. All babies are born with an immature esophageal sphincter and the contents from the stomach can be pushed up into the esophagus. For most babies, there is no reason for concern. These babies are sometimes referred to as “Happy Spitters.” However, for some babies, the acid from the stomach can cause pain in the esophagus. This is called Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Babies with GERD need to be seen by a doctor for the appropriate diagnosis and support. Some signs to seek advice are refusal to eat, poor weight gain, acidity in spit up, and forceful vomiting with crying.

We hope this context will help you better understand the signs and ways to properly respond. Now that you have all this information, let us know how you are feeling in the poll below.

Introducing the all-in-one smart baby monitor

The Nanit Pro stands out among other baby monitors with its impressive features. It provides a high-quality HD video feed directly to your phone for a clear view of your little one. The two-way audio feature lets you communicate with your baby when needed.

What sets the Nanit Pro apart is its continued video records, pre-edited clips, and sleep tracking and guidance based on your baby’s unique sleep patterns. This feature helps you understand your baby’s sleep habits and offers insights on improvement over time. Being able to review what happened just before we woke up really did help us understand how best to respond. It also was essential for co-parenting without needing to leave notes for our partner so they knew what happened just hours before during the night.

Using your phone as the monitor is made easy with settings that keep the app’s audio running even while your phone is locked and in sleep mode. The breathing alarm is like an emergency notification, very loud, and also plays a loud tone in the nursery. Every Nanit Pro now includes a breathing band for your baby to wear while sleeping. The camera detects breathing motion through the band's pattern and sends audible alerts if necessary.

Nanit also offers smart sheets that use the camera to measure your baby’s height and growth without the need for additional wearables. The app then creates a digital growth chart for easy progress tracking.

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