Over or Under Tired?
- Laura Thompson | 4th February 2022 -
Deciphering whether your child is over or under tired can become a bit of a minefield! With all the information out there it is easy to panic over hitting that sweet spot for your child’s naps and bedtime and when it doesn’t go to plan find yourself analysing every little thing to work out why.
But was your child over or under tired? They look so similar … let’s delve a little deeper.
What Does An Over Tired Child Look Like?
If your child is over tired you may find the following things;
Crying hard when trying to settle to sleep and difficult to console
Older children may appear hyperactive or ‘wired’
Babies will be fractious during awake times and toddler may be more prone to tantrums
Children may take short naps
Your child may have a false start at bedtime (waking 45 minutes after first falling asleep)
Your child may wake frequently throughout the night and will usually wake upset and crying
Your child may wake very early in the morning
What Does An Under Tired Child Look Like?
Your baby may appear very alert when trying to settle to sleep, staring and looking around.
Your toddler or older child may start pushing the boundaries, getting out of bed, stalling or chatting.
Your baby may be calm in the cot at first but then becomes upset or agitated
Your child will be generally content during awake times
Your child may nap well but find settling at bedtime very difficult
Your child may fall asleep well at bedtime but wake a few hours later and take a long time to resettle
Your child may take short naps
Your child may wake frequently over night
Your child may be awake for long periods over night
Your child may wake very early in the morning
Your Child’s Sleep History
As you can see there are some big similarities between over and under tired children so a big factor to look at is your child’s sleep history.
If your child has been sleeping generally well over recent months, napping well and sleeping well over night it would be a fair assumption that their sleep needs have changed and they are now not quite tired enough at bedtime. Their nap schedule or bedtime may need to be adjusted to reflect this.
If your child’s sleep has been challenging recently, they have not been napping or sleeping well over night I would err on the side of caution and assume your child is likely over tired.
What Now?
You may still not be entirely sure which side of tired your child is and that’s OK. Hopefully you have a slightly strong feeling one way or another so start experimenting in 5 minute increments. Bringing bedtime 5 minutes earlier for suspected over tiredness and 5 minutes later for suspected under tiredness until you hit a sweet spot! If you find that you have pushed things by 25/30 minutes with no change (or perhaps things are even worse) I would start shifting things the opposite way!
You don’t have to do this alone!
If you would like to talk this all over and get some support to get your child’s sleep and schedules back on track why not join my free Facebook group or book a free call to talk about getting tailored 1:1 support.
