Does a yawn always signify tired?

[lauri]

I wonder this because my LO yawns when she's just woken up and all throughout the day, but I have her on the 4 hour EASY and she sleeps less and less....

Just wondering..

[samijoe]

Around 3/4mths of age, this yawn (which once indicated lo was already tired) can NOT mean sleepy.  But, it can definitely mean boredom.  I would try changing activities.  If you think about it, there are some days where you can't stop yawning, but aren't always tired.  Although, we are mommies and probably are tired, lol!

Why don't you post your routine...how long lo is sleeping for etc and what times approx??

Let's see if we can spot something and help you a bit.


sami

[baygirl66]

I think it depends too on the type of baby like Angle vs spirited. I atke the cues if they are more in a sequence. I work in a daycare and this one will yawnand touch one side of his head then his upper eye gets heavy.

My question is do the cues ever change ??

[vadensmommy]

My lo is now 6.5mo old and her cues have definitely changed.  She rubs her eyes, hardly every yawns anymore (and when she does it is when she is waking up - have read that it is an effort to get more oxygen to the brain so that is probably necessary when waking as well).  She rubs her eyes and her nose, and the skin right under her eyes gets slightly pink -maybe from the rubbing, not sure.  She also tugs on an ear and pulls at what little hair she has - especially on the back of her head.  If I see the ear pulling and hair grabbing I know it is time to go down for a nap.  Good luck reading those cues!!

[Mom_to_L&S]

Iīve been wondering the same thing re. my 6 month-old DD. She does the earpulling and hair-touching too as well as the occasional yawn but she does it too when an activity bores her or there isnīt enough to see from where she is sitting/lying. She also rubs her eyes when she gets annoyed.
These days, I go more by the clock than go by her cues since she has very little actual sleep-cues anymore.

Sophie

[lauri]

hmm, it sounds difficult. I have noticed as well the eye-rubbing, but I also tend to watch the clock as that way I am sure it MUST mean tired!

My routine is a bit off-kilter as I am staying with my parents, who just love to get her out of bed as soon as a peep is heard, so I need to resort to "baby bootcamp" once back home and get those naps back on track!

7/8 am - breakfast (180cc )
8/9 am -  back to bed - could this be too soon? Its usually me who really wants to go back to bed again 

11/12 - feed 180 cc
between this feed and the nexy (3 or 4), she will stay up quite a bit, sometimes even the whole way...
This is when I need to run my errands and I need to take her with me, no other option

15/16 - feed
17 - sleep till 19

19 - bath & bottle with cereal
20.30 -  bedtime

23 - DF

sleep until 7 or 8

Could she just need less sleep because she is sleeping more during the night? I have posted an earlier question about shrieking, as lately she is starting to shriek (some call it enthusaistic highitched singing...) which I dont know if its from overstimulation or becoming more awake??

Lauri

[vadensmommy]

At your lo's age our "ideal" routine would have looked something like this:

E 6 ( I work part time so our wake up has to be early, but you could adjust for you needs)
A 6-8
S 8-10

E 10
A 10-12
S 12-2

E 2
A 2-4
S 4-4:30 catnap

E 4:30
A 4:30-6:30
S 6:30 for the night

DF at 10:30

Now again I will say that was an "ideal" schedule but rarely happened because I work.  Most of the time dd's second A time of the day was REALLY long because about the time she needed to be going down for her pm nap (around noon) is when I was getting off work and coming to pick her up from the sitter's house.  Many many days her second nap doesn't start till 1 or 1:30, so a lot of times I will feed her a little before the nap so she'll be full enough she won't wake in the middle of the nap hungry, and then just finish off that bottle - whatever is left after she wakes up.  So she usually has a long pm nap, and many times skips the catnap and I just try to put her to bed a bit earlier.  So I don't know if that helps at all, but that is what we've been through!!