Here is a situation that most parents call relate to - your little one (especially a toddler) is full of energy and even entertaining the room with their charm. You are enjoying the spectacle and thinking that he is clearly not tired, even though it’s 8 pm. So you let him stay up a little longer.
That’s when the trouble begins and bedtime becomes a battle. The meltdowns start and getting him to sleep is a hot mess. Your baby is now overtired.
Why Is Overtiredness a Problem?
We all have a natural rhythm when it comes to sleep. There are many factors at play, but timing is a huge one. Our bodies secrete hormones to help us get to sleep and others to keep us awake and alert.
If a child is kept up past the point of his natural sleep rhythm, hormones are released to keep him awake and alert. This, in turn, makes it very challenging for him to settle and drift into sleep.
It’s about staying awake long enough to feel tired and ready to sleep, but not to the point of no return when the release of hormones takes over.
What Is Sleep Pressure?
Sleep pressure is the brain and body’s need to fall asleep. While an adult is building sleep pressure all day long and is ready for sleep at the end of the day, a baby can only stay awake for a short time before their body needs to sleep.
Building Sleep Pressure Without Overtiredness
How do you find the balance between being tired enough and not being overtired? It’s a combination of knowing your baby’s sleepy cues and paying attention to the clock. You need to know your child’s appropriate wake window in conjunction with signs that they might be tired. Guess what? A lot of sleepy cues are the exact same as hunger signs. So don’t forget to look at the clock.
Here is a breakdown of wake windows by age:
Newborns - 45-60 minutes
11 weeks to 3.5 months - 1.5 hours
5 to 7 months - 2.5-3 hours
8 to 13 months - 3-4 hours
14 to 3 years old - 5-6 hours
Give it a try for a few weeks. None of my clients have ever complained about their kiddo getting “too much sleep.”
If you have any questions along the way, you can ask them during my Instagram Stories Q&A every Tuesday.