https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 15 May 2026 03:55:17 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2850803 Thu, 11 Oct 2018 21:58:16 +0000 ALV91711 2850803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Littlebit7: This us a good reference. </p> <p>With my first I was kind of clueless about baby sleep I've since read a lot and learned for my second. So far at 6 weeks he is a better sleeper. He seems to be ok with drowsy but awake at night but not yet during the day. Although for day sleep I do need to move him out if the living room. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2850780 Thu, 11 Oct 2018 18:58:57 +0000 ElbieKay 2850780@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>“Drowsy but awake” never worked for my singleton but so far it works for my (almost 12wo) twins. I think it depends on the kid.</p> <p>We swaddle them with muslin blankets. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2850661 Thu, 11 Oct 2018 12:29:24 +0000 SweetiePie 2850661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ineebee: i just saw this update 3 months later 😂 glad to hear it and hope it’s still the case. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2830737 Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:57:01 +0000 ineebee 2830737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A month after posting this, "drowsy but awake" is NO LONGER A MYSTERY! Thanks to the Merlin Sleep Suit, I can rock DS for a minute or two, then put her down DROWSY BUT AWAKE and eventually she falls asleep! So of course I had to update this thread! :D It sometimes requires a bit of my intervening (shushing, a hand on her arms or chest), but most of the time, she falls asleep on her own at 2mo! Amazing amazing amazing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824979 Sat, 26 May 2018 15:43:01 +0000 periwinklebee 2824979@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I really like Ferber's book, and he makes a couple of points that I found really helpful, in terms of not letting managing my child's sleep become an anxiety trigger for me: 1) rocking to sleep, etc aren't necessarily a problem, some babies do fine with it. If it's not broken, then no need to worry about fixing it just because it is important for some others, 2) if it does become a problem for your family, baby sleep habits are learned (and unlearned) much more quickly than adult sleep habits. Just because a six week old doesn't sleep well, doesn't mean the same child can't be sleep trained fairly straightforwardly at six months... </p> <p>My LO loves being cuddled - including while sleeping - and we enjoy cuddling him. He only does sleepy but awake in the swing. We will sleep train when we feel like it's a good time for him and for our family, and we'll enjoy all the cuddles we can with him in the meantime, even if it is a bit exhausting. :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824955 Sat, 26 May 2018 07:51:39 +0000 Littlebit7 2824955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’ve posted this a few times but I like this from a schedule aspect. Ignore the nightwaking stuff if you want. I bookmarked it from my first when I realized I was keeping her awake too long (I had no idea)<br /> <a href="https://community.babycenter.com/post/a51116617/sample_sleep_schedules_faq" rel="nofollow">https://community.babycenter.com/post/a51116617/sample_sleep_schedules_faq</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824953 Sat, 26 May 2018 06:46:54 +0000 looch 2824953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I spent a ton of time holding my son while he was sleeping. I had a whole system I would do after he woke up from his too short nap. I don't regret a single second of it, I honestly don't think it was something I could have trained out of him, it's just how he is wired. I obviously only have a sample size of 1, but the kid is a cuddler. At the age of 7, he still asks to be held before bed. </p> <p>I couldn't figure out drowsy but awake either but one thing that did help was to recognize the awake times by age. I was always keeping my son up too long between naps, particularly in-between the morning wake up and first nap. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824951 Sat, 26 May 2018 05:48:11 +0000 SweetiePie 2824951@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: yes this too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824943 Fri, 25 May 2018 21:54:28 +0000 Grace 2824943@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It totally depends on the baby!!! My first never did it. She would howl herself to sleep every time. There was no drowsy but awake. My second, though, LOVES his bed. If he is the appropriate amount of tired, he will snuggle in my arms for a bit and then when he is relaxed, I can put him in his bed AND HE WILL GO TO SLEEP!!! It is amazing. So just know that if it’s not working, it’s probably the kid, not you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824785 Fri, 25 May 2018 08:51:53 +0000 JennyPenny 2824785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I remember the biggest thing that helped me was when I read that once you see signs of being tired (yawns, rubbing eyes) its too late. So I would keep track of how long it took to get to that point at different times of the day and then do my drowsy but awake routine about 20 min earlier. It worked well for both my kiddos though it did take a lot of time to get right. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824755 Fri, 25 May 2018 07:18:38 +0000 bhbee 2824755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ineebee: I have one kid who was awesome at this as a baby (still a good sleeper, has her moments of course) and one who was awful at this (still hard to get to sleep). I do wonder if it’s something about how they naturally go to sleep? The first (6 now) drifts off slowly and can relax easily once tired and be still. The second (3 now) is one of those totally awake to totally asleep kids. Like frequently falls asleep mid sentence or still playing with toys in his bed or laying the wrong way in bed - no relaxation stage. So no great advice but you’re not crazy to think some kids struggle with this! I do think it’s worth trying to fix whenever you’re ready though because it probably won’t get better without some direction from you (based just on my personal experience - we eventually sleep trained). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824746 Fri, 25 May 2018 06:06:11 +0000 SweetiePie 2824746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HappyBaker: Yes this. Drowsy but awake to me means that perfect time when you know they’ve reached their max awake time but aren’t overtired yet.<br /> Also, I did read in all of my crazy sleep studying that “drowsy but awake” doesn’t have to mean eyes are open. You can rock them to the point where eyes have just closed and then put them down. You just don’t want to rock to deep sleep. </p> <p>For me, personally, it has worked with both kids (3.8yo and 3mo). But I just never rocked them to sleep or held for sleep except for rare cases and circumstances. So day 1 in hospital, I didn’t hold them to sleep. At home, never held him to sleep. 95% of the time they both went/go down drowsy but awake.<br /> Wait for drowsy signs (early on 45 mins, these days more like 1h - 1h15min) then take to dark room, swaddle, white noise, hold and cuddle for a minute or two, set down, give a kiss and say night night and walk out. </p> <p>I’m sure some kids do drowsy but awake easier than others. 100%. But I’m also pretty sure that people hold their babies a lot from day 1 (either out of desire or necessity) and I personally (no science behind this) don’t buy that you can’t spoil a newborn :-) Maybe spoil isn’t the right word, but I think they can become used to certain sleep crutches sooner than we think and it’s just much easier to do it from day 1. Sometimes it sucks and there’s a lot of going in over and over and some fussing may be involved. But I do believe in it. </p> <p>And if you didn’t see my post yesterday...blackouts made a huge difference for us in improving nap quality! Like went from broken 45min naps to 2-3 hour naps 2-3x a day. Magical. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824744 Fri, 25 May 2018 05:29:21 +0000 lilyofthewest 2824744@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Agreed. Not for all kids. Mine had the problem that “drowsy” was a max 5 second window. He has always made a near instantaneous transition from alert, wriggly and obviously refusing to ever sleep again...to completely out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824743 Fri, 25 May 2018 05:24:24 +0000 HappyBaker 2824743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As soon as the appropriate wake time for their age has passed, I swaddle and put in the pack and play with white noise and a pacifier. This usually works for the first couple of naps of the day but is less successful as the day goes on! But it didn’t work with my first at all so I do think some babies are just more into it than others! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824738 Fri, 25 May 2018 00:21:20 +0000 ineebee 2824738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kitty: Ugh, thank you!!! I feel like there should always be a disclaimer “*may not work for all babies” or something. My pediatrician recently said I should try putting the baby down “drowsy but awake,” and I couldn’t hold back my incredulous scoff, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824737 Fri, 25 May 2018 00:19:14 +0000 kitty 2824737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You aren't crazy. It's unfair that some media makes it seem like this is an attainable thing for everyone, whereas some babies are just easier sleepers and some like cuddles. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-understand-drowsy-but-awake#post-2824736 Fri, 25 May 2018 00:15:19 +0000 ineebee 2824736@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Second time mom here. In all of my reading about baby sleep, I’ve never understood how putting your baby down to sleep “drowsy but awake” works. Is it just my babies for whom this doesn’t work? It just seems like this unattainable goal that all sleep experts seem to say we should strive toward! But some parents seem to make it work, but how??</p> <p>LO2 is 6w, and I do often try to put her down drowsy but awake, but then she cries and will not go to sleep this way, ever. LO1 was the same way. Both of them need/ed to be rocked completely to sleep. Drowsy but awake never worked for us! Can someone tell me what I’m not getting?? </p> <p>(I ended up sleep training LO1 at 5.5 months to great success and he’s been a great sleeper since, and I plan to do the same with LO2.) </p>