Below, you'll find the signs your baby might show when her sympathetic nervous system is dialling up.

• No baby shows all of these signs, but you might also find baby does show quite a few of them as he dials up.

• Parents respond by experimenting with their two superpowers (frequent flexible feeds or sensory nourishment), as they do their best to help him dial back down.

• You don't need to worry that these are signs of a medical condition, like reflux, allergy, or gut pain or dysbiosis, even though you might often hear that. (If you have concerns about your baby's health, please see your GP.)

• You can find out about babies who cry a lot here.

• You can find out why a dialled up sympathetic nervous system interferes with easy baby sleep here.

Signs baby is slightly dialled up	Signs baby is moderately dialled up	Signs baby is very dialled up
Grunting and groaning sounds	Grizzling sounds or crying	Crying and screaming
Back arching (that is, her lumbar spine is hyperextended with high muscle tone, sometimes referred to as a 'banana' back)	Back arching	Back arching
Stretching or writhing motions	Muscle tone increases further with body movements, draws up knees	Tight muscle tone, knees pulled up tightly towards tummy and fists clenched
Pulling a face	Face shows unhappiness and flushing	Flushed face screwed up tight with open mouth
Eyes may still be closed as he surfaces up out of sleep	Eyes open or closed	Eyes screwed up tight
Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes)	Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes)	Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes)