During the course of each day your baby moves through different levels of sleepiness and wakefulness which are called ‘STATES’.
Learning how to read your baby’s states will help you know how to best respond at different times.
Deep sleep
Your baby is in a deep sleep when:
- Breathing is steady and regular
- Eyes are closed
- Baby is still (although sometimes startles, jerk or show sucking movements)
- Hard to rouse
Light sleep
Your baby is in a light sleep when:
- Eyes are closed or fluttering
- Rapid eye movements under the lids
- Some body or face movements
- Sucking or smiling movements or brief fussing or crying sounds
- Easy to rouse
Drowsy or dozing
Your baby is in this sleepy state of wakefulness when:
- Eyes are open but glazed, heavy lidded or closed with fluttering eyelids
- Shows occasional mild startles
- Body movements are generally smooth
This is a pre-waking state. Baby may fall back to sleep again from this state so wait a little while before fully waking.
Offering something to touch or suck may help you to see if baby is waking or settling back to sleep.
Quiet alert
Your baby is ready for action in this state when:
- Wide eyed, with a bright face
- Able to focus on and be interested in a face, voice or moving object
- Shows little body movement
This is the time when your baby is ready to play or feed. Take your time and be prepared to allow them time to rest and look away from whatever you are doing with them.
Active alert
You will know your baby is in this state when:
- Show lots of activity often thrashing movements of arms and legs
- May fuss
- May be more sensitive than other times to noise
Babies in this state need a change of pace. You need to slow down or change what you are doing.
Crying
You will know your baby is in this state when:
- Show lots of body activity
- Grimaces and cries intensely
- Difficult to get through to them