Preventing Overtiredness

If there’s anything that can send your child’s sleep off the rails, if there’s an archenemy for sleep training, it is, without a doubt, the dreaded condition of overtiredness!

Kids, as with all people, have a natural rhythm when it comes to sleep. Our bodies secrete hormones to keep us up and functioning throughout the day, and we produce different hormones to help us rest at night. Hormone production is dependent on a variety of factors, timing is the most important factor.

What happens when your little one stays awake past the time when these natural cues to sleep are activated? Well, the body assumes there’s a reason that it hasn’t been allowed to go to sleep, it assumes there’s a need to stay awake and reacts accordingly by producing those daytime hormones again. This is when the trouble starts!

Once those signals to stay awake get fired up, they’re tough to shut down, and your baby is already tired. So, less sleep leads to more daytime hormones, and the cycle perpetuates itself.

The best way to prevent this situation is to get your baby to sleep before that window of opportunity passes. Unfortunately, babies, and especially newborns, can send ambiguous signals when it comes to letting you know they’re ready for sleep. However, if you know what to look for, it can help you to assess the right time to put your baby down.

Some telltale signs indicating a sleepy baby include ear pulling, rubbing of eyes and nose, back arching, and turning his/her face into your chest.

Now, those are all strong signs that your baby is ready for bed, but they’re also easily mistaken for signs that your baby could be hungry, so it’s best to make sure you are also watching the amount of time your baby has been awake.

Newborns can usually only handle about 45 minutes to an hour of awake time in a stretch, so make a note of the time when they wake up and set a reminder or make a mental note that they need to be headed down for a nap around 45 to 60 short minutes after that.

Photo by @karatinsley

They’ll be able to stay awake for longer stretches as they get older but err on the side of more sleep, not less, to prevent them from getting overtired.

On the subject of toddlers, they have their own quirky little habits when they get overtired. The sudden influx of those daytime hormones can actually make them quite manic, so they might seem to be super happy and giggly for a while; just the opposite of what you would expect from a child who needs to get to bed. But you’ll see before long that their mood will take a big shift into crankiness, and then you’ve probably got a bedtime battle on your hands.

I know that this schedule can sound a little rigid for parents who aren’t used to it. After all, an hour is barely enough time to get a diaper changed, get the baby fed, and get a little bit of playtime in before your baby needs to be down for another nap!

Not to worry, I assure you, no client I’ve ever worked with has come back to me after implementing this method and said, “I have a feeling that my baby is getting too much sleep.”

So, give it a try for a couple of weeks and see how it works. I can guarantee you’ll be seeing a happier baby!

If you ever have any additional questions or are looking for some further support, know that Mountains of Sleep is here for you! Book your free 15 minute consultation call today