An Overtired Baby: The Signs and Signals

THAT Word: Overtired!!

Overtired. If you’re a parent, it’s no doubt a word you’ve come to fear!

An overtired baby is one who is too tired to sleep, and who will fuss and cry. And then, when sleep finally does come, an overtired baby will likely wake too soon, and have a hard time falling back to sleep.

Getting a baby to sleep under the best of circumstances can be tricky, but when your little one is overtired, it can be even more difficult. When a child becomes overtired stress hormones – cortisol and adrenaline rise making it more difficult to wind down for sleep and stay asleep. They will often sleep only intermittently and wake up more often throughout the night.

Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it?

That’s why it’s so important to understand what overtiredness is, to recognize the signs of it, and to be proactive about preventing your baby from becoming overtired.

What Is Overtiredness, and Why Does Your Baby Get Overtired?

When your baby is overtired, it simply means that her body is past the point of being ready to sleep. When your baby is overtired, they are so fatigued that the body’s stress-response system is activated. Once your baby is overtired, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline flood your baby’s bloodstream, making it even harder for your baby to relax and calm down. This tends to be a cyclical pattern; the more overtired your baby becomes, the harder it is for your baby to relax and fall asleep, which makes overtiredness even worse, etc. etc.

How can you tell if your baby is overtired? Here are the signs, plus tips on how to steer your baby toward better sleep habits.

Signs of A Tired V’s  Overtired Baby

Tired:
Baby may:

• rub eyes or face.
• move their face away from stimulation becoming less focused.
• Become less vocal, quieter and calmer
• Show decreased activity and slower motions
• Appear disinterested
• Less smiling and interaction

Overtired:
Baby may:

•  yawn, hiccup, or sneeze often.
•  fuss and whimper; eventually, the fussing may spiral into full-blown inconsolable crying.
• become clingy making it impossible to put down for sleep.
• grow increasingly physically active and “wound up” as the awake period wears on.
• have short naps
• wake multiple times overnight
• be very difficult to settle

How to prevent your baby from being overtired?

Even better than dealing with over tiredness, when it crops up, is preventing your baby from becoming overtired in the first place. Simply put, you can prevent over tiredness by being mindful of age appropriate awake windows and sticking to them, whenever possible.  Making naps and bedtime a priority will make everyone’s life a dream.

Overtiredness can be tough to beat, and sometimes, preventing overtiredness can feel like an impossible task.

If you are struggling with a fussy, overtired baby or toddler, booking a consultation with Precious Slumber can help you get your overtired baby to sleep! 

We can design a personalised sleep plan for your little one and walk you through every step of sleep coaching and schedule-making, and provide detailed answers to your most pressing sleep training questions.