Tired but not overtired window

[SylvesterTheCat]

I see when my 5 month old shows tired signs but because she takes so long to rock to sleep, she misses this tired window and becomes overtired, resulting in her becoming restless and me rocking her for an hour or more (my biceps are like steel now!).
If I try to start the sleepy routine before the tired signs appear it seems worse.

I've been pacing the nursery for 90 minutes already and she still isn't asleep

Ah yeah. I feel your pain. Its like i have to start before he is even tired. People keep saying 'oh but he has only just woken up' but I know how long it takes to get him off!!!

Could the rocking actually be keeping her awake? I think some babies find being rocked too stimulating. My little girl used to cry and claw at me when I tried to rock her to sleep. So I started to just give her a cuddle, dummy and soft toy then put her down in her cot. At first I would sit by her holding her hand till she fell asleep but eventually I could just leave her to it. She might cry a bit first but if she was crying in your arms anyway, does it make much difference?

If after 30 mins sleep hasn’t happened, I stop and try again later.

Have you tried rocking until calm and then putting down? If they start really crying then of course pick up, but once calm put down again. This is how I stopped rocking my 5 month old. It took a few weeks, but now once he’s put down it takes about 10 mins max for him to fall asleep, and I never left him to cry more than about 30 seconds. Also I know he can’t stay awake more than about 1.5hours still, so always keep an eye on the time.

He also has his dummy and I sit next to him while he’s falling asleep still.

Thank you so much.
Really interesting thought that the rocking might actually be keeping her awake! I've tried in the past putting her down when she is sleepy but she just kept waking fully, eventually crying a lot. But maybe I'll try again. I keep forgetting that they're changing so much all the time so technique that didn't work previously, might just be the perfect thing now.

@Loops81 DD claws me too! (Note to self: chop nails!)

@SylvesterTheCat It's charming isn't it! You're only trying to give them a nice cuddle before they sleep . I was quite put out that mine didn't generally want to be held to fall asleep but it turned out to be a blessing really, she's 14 months now and goes to sleep easily by herself for naps and bedtime and only needs a bit of help if she's ill/teething.

I read once that you have to get them in the cot after the 2nd yawn. If you get to the third yawn you've had it and they're overtired. It absolutely worked for us but did result in some comedy rushing up the stairs when we spotted the second yawn!

Im having the same difficulty with my 6 week old. It takes so long to get him to sleep once I notice the tired cues that he then becomes overtired. It’s so hard :(

@IHeartKingThistle Possibly. Although I'm convinced they make up rules like that just to drive parents mad. There's no science to it, babies are all different and you just have to figure out what works.

Just to make us all go extra loopy, I read recently also that if they're rubbing their eyes and yawning they've already reached the overtired stage. We just can't win!

Certain rules might work for certain babies...