With all the talk about wake windows you might start to think that a baby being overtired or under tired shouldn’t be an issue? It is important to note that wake windows are just ranges and differ for every baby. It really is just a place to start. When your baby drops a nap, hits a growth spurt, or you pick your child up from daycare without any clear information about how they napped that day. You might wonder what the signs are for an overtired or under tired baby and what should you do in either case?
Where do you start? Do you add time to their wake window or do you reduce the wake window? Knowing the signs of overtired and undertired can help in deciding what your baby needs.
What are the signs of an overtired baby
An overtired baby is the most common issue I come across. The younger the child the shorter the margin of error, 10 minutes could result in complete nap refusal. While some babies have very clear signs before they become overtired and other infants have subtle cues.
In an infant or toddler they can look like this;
- Hard to settle at nap/bedtime
- Early morning wakings
- Short naps
- Frequent night wakings
- Waking from a nap crying of fussy
- Waking shortly after bedtime also known as false starts
- Less able to handle pain or frustration
- Prone to meltdowns in older babies/toddlers
- Falls asleep at random times, car ride under 20 mins, in a chair eating etc
What happens when your little one doesn’t sleep enough? They end up having a stress response, an increase in adrenaline and cortisol in their system. This makes it almost impossible for them to fall asleep by themselves.
So what some parents do to avoid this is the complete opposite and over compensate. Place them in their crib early only to have them play and chat with no intentions of falling asleep. Ugh!
Signs of an under tired Baby
The crazy thing is over and under tired look very similar. Except for just a few traits
Here are some signs of an under tired infant or toddler
- Split nights – waking during the night and staying awake for hours
- Short naps, but waking content
- Waking shortly after bedtime or several times in the first part of the night.
- Protesting hard at bedtime, taking a long time to settle. Or not settling with the usual techniques
- Staying alert during the whole sleep routine without any signs of typical wind down
- Toddlers not staying in their beds
- Frequent night wakings
- Early mornings
The signs of over and under tired can be confusing because they are so similar. Keeping track of your child’s wake window and knowing your little ones sleepy cues can help decide to add or take time from your child’s wake window.