Making Drowsy but Awake Work for your Babe.
Drowsy but awake….as a new mom I kept reading this everywhere that I looked when it came to how to successfully get my newborn to nap and sleep. But when it came down to it, I honestly had no idea what it even meant or how to execute it successfully.
So here’s the deal. Drowsy but awake CAN work, particularly with newborns. But, it’s likely something that will be hit or miss.
Want to try drowsy but awake when it comes to laying babe down for sleep? Try this!
Try drowsy but awake for babe’s first nap of the day. At this point in the day, they should not have banked much overtiredness, therefore setting you both up for success!
Keep an eye on how long babe is awake before their first nap. Newborns and babe’s up to 3 months of age are only able to handle very short awake times in the morning. Generally between 45 [newborns] and 60 minutes [3 months].
Pay attention to early sleep cues. Be on the lookout for babe starting to stare into space, getting pink brows, looking away from you, calmer and slower movements, being less chatty.
When babe starts to show these early sleep cues, start a short 5 to 10 minute nap routine. This can be something a simple as diaper chance, into jammies, read a book or sing a song, sleep sack [or swaddle!] & sound machine on!
Rock babe until they start to have heavy eyelids.
Place them down in their sleep space feet first, while still rocking them gently.
Place their bum down next and finally lay their back and head down and slide out your arm.
If babe stays asleep, success!
If babe wakes, place your hand gently on their chest and rock babe side to side or try to gently wiggle their bassinet.
Once babe has settled, success!
If you or babe are having trouble nailing drowsy but awake for this nap, call it. Try again at the next nap, tomorrow or even next week!
The length of newborn naps is something that many mama’s find difficult because there is little to zero consistency.
Sometimes babe will have a power snooze for 15 minutes, other times babe is out for a solid 2 hours.
Helping Babe to Extend Short Naps.
If babe has a nap that is less than 1 hour - you can spend between 10 and 15 minutes trying to extend babe’s nap.
This can be by snuggling, going for a little walk, or simply rocking in the rocking chair. If after attempting to help babe back to sleep, babe is still awake, call that nap and move on.
Should I Wake a Sleeping Babe?
In short, yes! There are a couple of reasons for this.
Babe should be eating every 2-3 hours during the newborn period. This is important in ensuring that they are maintaining a sufficient caloric intake during the day.
Too much sleep is actually possible! Between the newborn period and 3 months, babes will be sleeping between 4 [3 months] to 6 [newborn] hours during the day, going significantly over can lead to increased night wakings - since babe has fully topped up their sleepy tank!
So, wake that babe after 2 to 3 hours and be mindful of how much sleep babe is getting during the day if you have a particularly sleepy babe.
Why Drowsy but Awake Works Best for Newborns.
Many mama’s find that drowsy but awake works well for their newborns and then gradually it becomes less and less effective.
There is a reason for this!
Newborns have very different sleep cycles than adults and older babes. Rather than cycling through 4 sleep cycles, newborns go back and forth between quiet and active sleep.
Newborns enter into quiet sleep first, this is a stage of sleep where they are not easily awoken and the biggest reason why drowsy but awake works so well!
One Day, Drowsy but Awake May Stop Working!
Around the 3-4 month mark, your babe goes through some massive changes both physically and developmentally.
As far as sleep goes - this is when parents may see sleep as regressing even though babe is going through a permanent progression [hello 4 month sleep regression!].
Why did drowsy but awake stop working?
This has to do with babe’s new sleep cycles!
Unlike their first stage of newborn sleep - your babe’s first state of sleep is actually when they appear to be drowsy in your arms.
This means that when they are set down they either instantly wake up, or will wake when they transition sleep cycles around the 45 minute mark.
In both instances - babe will usually cry out! This happens because babe woke somewhere different than where they fell asleep, along with needing the missing piece of their back to sleep equation, meaning rocking, nursing or bouncing back to sleep.
How to help babe and mama cope with this shift!
Have a think for a minute as to how your babe is falling asleep. When they go into their sleep space are they awake? Drowsy? Or fully asleep?
If babe is fully asleep, and working towards having babe happily fall asleep on their own is a goal of yours then start to slowly put babe down slightly more awake each day.
Begin with nighttime sleep and gradually bring in daytime naps.
Work towards having babe stay awake during their feeding sessions. This can be such a game changer!
When babe wakes from their nap their sleep pressure has been reset. While they are awake between naps they are building up sleep pressure.
When babe dozes off during feeding, they are dumping little bits of sleep pressure out, meaning that when you try to put them down for their next nap after they have been awake for 60 minutes or so, they’ve already snuck in a sneaky catnap already!
If independent sleep is a goal of yours, try these tips for a week and see what kind of progress you see for our babe!
Sweet dreams,
Elyse
