05/27/2026
Drowsy but awake can be such a great tool... for newborns...😮💨
Often, past the newborn stage, it ends up being more disruptive than helpful. Why does this happen and what can you do?
🧑🏻🍼Assisting your baby to drowsy, just like assisting your baby to sleep, can be something they rely on at any natural wake during the night. That’s totally reasonable. Mom or dad helps them get really sleepy at bedtime, and then when they wake between sleep cycles and are fully awake, they want that same assistance to get sleepy again.
👀It can also tamper with their sleep pressure before bed. Maybe you’ve tried to get them really drowsy, lay them down, and then they pop right back up seemingly more awake than before. It’s likely happened to you before as an adult. You’re on the couch, watching TV, and feel sooo so sleepy... maybe you even doze off for a second. You then get up, go lay in bed, and you’re just laying there staring at the ceiling. It’s frustrating, right? The same thing happens to our little ones.
So now what?
☝️If you want to keep assisting your little one, and they’re sleeping well, you can assist them fully to sleep, if you’d like.
✌️If you’re assisting your little one and they’re *not* sleeping well, putting them down fully awake is your next step. This hands them the reins of falling asleep, and makes it less likely they’ll want or need your assistance to get back to sleep overnight.
✍️Extra note: If drowsy but awake is working for you, you DO NOT need to change it. Some kids have more flexible temperaments and this works just fine for them.. that’s great! That doesn’t mean it works for every baby/kid, and for a lot of kids it’s really disruptive. Do what works for your family. 🫶🏻
Drop a 💤 in the comments if you want to chat more 👇
And follow .sleep for more realistic sleep tips that feel good to your heart. I do a free Q&A on my stories every Monday if you get stuck.
