Signs of a sleepy baby?

The twins are falling into some habits I would like to try and call a 'routine' but at 10 weeks Im leary... my question is...what are signs they are ready for bed.
The twins are sleeping in thier own cribs and I put them in drowsy but awake and 70% of the time it works, they will sleep in thier own bed till about 1:30am when they wake for a bottle and diaper change, the other % of the time it seems like I have missed the window and for that there is hell to pay in regards to screaming babies (for hours) with two other kids running around I feel like its SO easy to miss something that may be so obvious of a sleepy sign, what do your kids do prior to bedtime?
The twins go down between 4pm-7pm this is a HUGE window for a guessing error and Id like to see if I can catch some pre-sleepy signs before they go off the deep end. HELP?!

 

At that age our twins napped after every feeding. They usually weren't awake for more than 90 minutes at a time, and between 4 and 7 there would likely be at least one, if not two naps. I can usually tell by their eyes, and if they start blinking less or slowly. Also if they start to fuss for no apparent reason and aren't hungry then I usually rock them for only a minute or two before they start to drift off.

We eventually just picked a bedtime (7:30) and worked toward that. It took at least a week to get into that routine but they've been doing really well with it. Most nights they are ready for bed closer to 7:00 now.

 

The signs for us were really subtle. They'd just get a little quieter.. by the time we got to the classic signs of eye rubbing and yawning it was wayyyy too late and they couldn't be calmed. I would time it.. see how long after eating they are "in the zone" and try and get them ready 10-15 minutes before that happens.

 

At that age, we went by the 90 minute rule - they should be sleepy approximately 90 minutes after they wake up. Once they stopped eating at night (around 3.5 months), we got on a more consistent schedule with wake up, feedings, and bedtime and bedtime became about 7:30 with a dreamfeed at 10pm.

 

Quieter, rubbing eyes, yawning, slapping face with backs of hands, rubbery/sandbaggy feeling, glazed looks... these were signs to put the bb in bed. Wait too long after these cues, and all heck breaks loose. Good luck!

 

I agree with the earliest sign of sleepiness being staring off into space and getting very still. Mine are 4 months (2 adjusted) and they still can only stay awake for 60-90 minutes at a time. I can time it like clockwork. They fall asleep so easily in their cribs if I just put them down right at 1 hour to 1 1/2 after waking.

 

Like the PPs said mine would get quiet and less active. I was putting them down every hour and 15 min and that age and it seemed to work really well. It is so hard to see the signs sometimes and even now if I miss the 'window' they take forever to settle and fall asleep.

 

Our big one was that glazed eye look and our rule was up only 90 mins during the day and 2 hours before laying them down for the night. I say that but it applied for us at more like 4 or 5 months. At 2 mos they were just eating, a few mins of awake time, and sleeping all day long - we always put them down after feeding them first at the 60-90 min mark. As they got more like 7 or 8 mos for us it wasn't obvious. And I would put them down seemingly fine after 90 mins - 2 hours and they would go right to sleep. Seeing yawning or eye rubbing meant we were doomed.

 

I didn't care for signs. Until now I still put them down after 90mins-2hrs awake. My girl shows sleepy signs: rub eyes, yawn,..NOT my son. He can plays plays play and laughs laughs laughs and just in a second he screams because of being tired and sleepy.he shows no sign at all.so I always try to put them in bed 5-10mins before they get tired

 

I def see the glazed look... off into space. I will have to see the 60*90 min time frame, In all honesty I cant even keep the days straight let alone the hours as they pass :drown: so I may start just keeping a timer, for each. Thanks ladies. :hug:

 

A timer is a great idea! I know what you mean about not being able to keep track of the hours as they pass! But, since I have been really paying attention, it has helped shape a nice routine for the babies and I :good:

 

This made me think of my Grandmother....she had 9 kids and at least one egg timer on the go at all times. She said whenever the timer would ring she knew it was time for something, lol! One day the one she used all the time broke and she called my Grandfather at work (something that you never did back then unless it was a true emergency) and told him he had better go out and get her a new one right away or she would have no idea how to get through the day. She was a smart lady so I say go get a timer, or two!!!!