Hello!

106 Comments

Overtiredness is one of the most commonly occurring causes of sleep struggles and is relatively simple to rectify, that is, once we see it.

Many parents KNOW the feeling of overtiredness only too well; when you finally get to bed for that much anticipated sleep and it doesn’t happen as easily as it seemed it would. The human body, unfortunately, cannot just maintain a state of tiredness. IF sleep isn’t forthcoming the body continues to change and tiredness rapidly becomes overtiredness.

When you experience that tired feeling, it means your brain is telling your body it needs sleep.  Most parents know what overtired feels like, but just to jog your mind, this is the time we usually see the characteristics of our temperament a little more clearly. Some adults become very quiet and passive, while others can be quite the opposite! Some become jittery and twitchy and a bit reactive, some just stare blankly while others become irritable and grumpy.

Babies are just as susceptible to overtiredness as adults, if not a little more and they can have great difficulty calming to prepare for sleep.

Avoiding overtiredness means picking up early on what your baby looks like when they are first starting to become tired. Babies show much the same tired signs as adults, if you look closely. Tired signs start subtly, but as the baby becomes increasingly tired they become more and more evident.  Often early tired signs can be as subtle as just a moment of unfocused gazing, or readily becoming bored with an activity. As the brain prepares more and more for sleep, the signs become increasingly obvious and darkened areas under the eyes are seen, movements become jerky and they may become irritable and are often easily overwhelmed. As time passes, the baby’s window of opportunity to drift to sleep will begin to close.

When a baby is yawning, crying and rubbing their eyes repeatedly, overtiredness is very close. When they become overtired, babies experience much greater difficulty drifting to sleep and require much more assistance. The key is to prevent your baby becoming overtired by watching for early tired signs so you can have your baby ready for sleep before that window of opportunity for calm sleep, passes.

Safe Sleep Space www.safesleepspace.com.au

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • I used to ask my son this question A LOT when he was tiny. He just didn’t like sleeping, I was amazed at his ability to keep his eyes open for so long when all I wanted was sleep

    Reply

  • it is really amazing when children refuse to sleep but it is beyond obvious that, that is what is required

    Reply

  • My son does not sleep this was very helpful

    Reply

  • Sleep is so under-rated. We chose to do Save Our Sleep with our first born at age 1 and loved it. With our next two babies we started them on it from the moment they were born. We are truly thankful to Tizzie Hall for sharing her techniques.


    • Have never heard Save Our Sleep, thanks for sharing, will look this up to get further information.

    Reply

  • The tireder they get, the harder it can be to settle them.

    Reply

  • Nothing worse than an over tired bub, it’s better for all concerned if everyone gets their rest when they need it. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  • Thanks for sharing I think all of us can relate to this

    Reply

  • thank you sharing this article good read

    Reply

  • This is a very information article

    Reply

  • thanks for sharing was a great read

    Reply

  • So hard to catch the right ques when as a mother you’re tired too.

    Reply

  • i dont miss the screaming late nights! at least my toddler can use some words or point

    Reply

  • Interesting article – thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Thank you for the great article

    Reply

  • Interesting read, thanks for sharing

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join