Getting to know your newborn baby
Did you know that your baby will cycle through a range of different activity levels many times every day? These are called baby or infant states. Most people focus on the crying state or the quiet sleep state, but when you can see all the others, it helps you to begin to understand and respond to your baby more appropriately as well as perhaps finding that parenting is more enjoyable.
I think you will recognise that you also go through similar states during the day, although not as quickly as your baby.
There are 6 states I would like you to watch for:
Quiet sleep, is when your baby is in a deep sleep. We all look for, and love this one. Your babies breathing is usually slow and steady, skin changes colour, sometimes going a bit paler and their body is quite limp and relaxed. In this state your baby may startle or move a little, and sometimes even make sucking movements with their mouth, but their eyes are usually closed and quite still.
In this state a baby( and adult) is often very hard to wake, and it is a great time to cut those little nails. Many parents of young babies wait for this state before transitioning their baby to bed, especially if they have been having trouble getting them to sleep. Babies only stay in this state for a short time( around 30-40 minutes) and will then move into more active sleep. We adults have short periods of quiet sleep too, but these last for 1-2 hours.
by Janet Rourke
Active sleep is the time when your baby will become more active in sleep. They are more likely to wake if disturbed during this time. Breathing becomes more irregular, eyelids begin to flutter and the baby will squirm around. Some babies even begin to make fussing / crying noises. This time is known as REM sleep and is when you are processing all the information from your day and storing it away in those filing cabinets of the mind. This state can last for 20-30 minutes as well for babies and longer for adults.
As adults when we come into this state we will turn over, move our pillows and simply readjust our positions. If all is well, we will then drift back into another quiet sleep cycle unless it is time to get up. Babies are the same … however, if something has changed during your quiet sleep cycle, you are more likely to fully wake up and check out what is going on.
Drowsiness is the state that comes before being fully awake. We have all experienced this time between sleeping and waking. It is almost a self-hypnotic state, where you are aware of what is going on around you but not fully present to it. You feel groggy, often open and close your eyes a few times, stretch and decide if you really want to wake up or return to
sleep. Babies are the same. If you think your baby is due for a feed, you may help them waken fully at this time, if not, you might just watch and support them and see if they go back off to sleep again. This is when the issue of sleep cues / sleep associations really becomes important.
Quiet alertness is the next level of alertness and this is when your baby is in the best place to be able to learn. You will notice that your baby’ s eyes are bright and open, and that they are able to easily focus on faces or objects around them. This is a great time to talk and play gently with your baby, to enjoy some quality time interacting and learning about each other. As an adult we would recognise this time as being really awake and interested in something, being able to focus / pay attention and take in information. Great for learning and socialising.
Active alertness is when your baby is getting more fidgety. It is a sign they are becoming tired, and they are often more sensitive to noises and lights. When you see this it is time to start getting baby ready for bed.
As an adult think about a time when you have been sitting in a lecture or waiting for an appointment. Initially we
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