Look for These Cues When Playing with Baby in the NICU

There are many cues to know about when interacting with baby that let you know if they’re engaged, need a slight break, or if they need the interaction to stop. We’ve broken these cues into three categories: Go cues, Slow Cues, and Stop cues.
Go cues tell you if baby is engaged and can continue the interaction or massage. In this state, baby is typically happy and ready to play. Look for wide eyes, a happy face, and open hands.
Slow cues signal that baby is disengaged and needs a slight break from the stimulation. This can be done by slowing down, or briefly pausing. Some signs are frowning, yawning, shutting eyes tightly, or refusing eye contact.
Stop cues indicate that baby is disengaged and needs all stimulation to stop to give them time to adjust back to a calm state. These may include crying, whining, or fussing.
Watch this video to see these cues play out and how the caregiver reacts to them.
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00:00 Baby and their cues
00:06 “Go” cues
00:17 “Slow” cues
00:30 “Stop” cues
00:45 Drowsy state to quiet alert state
00:51 “Go” cues in action
01:00 “Slow” cues in action
01:40 How to react to baby’s cues
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