The experience of an overtired baby is the worst dreaded experience by parents. It upsets both the child and the parent. It makes it hard to understand your child and may be frightening at times. Babies behave differently and it is the need for each parent to understand their kids. However, you should note that sleep is a perfect way to deal with tiredness and that children sleep differently.
Signs of an Overtired Baby
Stage 1 of Fatigue
At this stage, an overtired baby is not yet ready to give in. It will thus apply measures that will help it remain awake, which include avoiding sleep stimuli and rubbing the eyes using their fingers.
Stage 2 of Fatigue
This stage is after the signs in the first stage have been ignored. The baby now finds alternative signals that are both self-consoling and loud or destructive enough to catch the attention of the parent. They will in most of the times look for dummies or suck their fingers.
Stage 3 of Fatigue
In this stage, the signs are so conspicuous and clearly show an overtired baby. These signs are mostly involuntary and the baby cannot control them whatsoever. The signs include quick breaths, sweaty palms, sneezing, hiccups and blueness of the mouth. The last one is mostly for very small babies.
Final Stage of Fatigue
In this stage, babies get frightened and fight sets in. This leads to the production of stress hormones. In new-born babies, they will seem to be in great pain and will make unexplained cries, pulling of legs and back arching. In older kids, they will throw tantrums and behave miserably. They will try to fight sleep but won’t want to feed and will cry uncontrollably.
Though young children may not be able to talk, they have unique ways of sending messages when tired and need to sleep. It is easy for a parent to note as the child's behavior change. Most of the time they will get slow in activities, loose interest in people and play and have other involuntary actions like sneezing and yawning. If they do not get to sleep in their sleeping window, a hormone related to stress will be released, overstimulating your baby and make your baby wired and restless.
How to Get an Overtired Newborn to Sleep
Step 1
Having a bedtime routine for your kid is a good thing. It will help them to get through the stress of baby overtiredbehavior and get sleep easily. A good routine may include a bath, last feed before sleeping and storytelling or lullabies.
Step 2
It is of great importance to give a baby a good sleep environment. This includes a cool room but at the same time keep your child warm. Babies should be dressed lightly and should be covered with wearable blankets when necessary. You can avoid SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) by making sure that you do not cover them with heavy blankets and quilts.
Step 3
It is important to turn down the lights when your child is asleep or taking a nap. Ensure that your child adapts to dark rooms as it responds well to an overtired baby who is over stimulated. However, the room should not be completely dark. A dull soothing light from a small lamp will do perfectly.
Step 4
Babies who are faced with baby overtired signs need to have something to soothe them to sleep. Things that work well for an overtired baby include slow moving objects, a bedtime story or low, soothing noise from a music system or toy.
Step 5
Note that young ones were already used to womb environment that is so cramped up. They will thus be more soothed by swaddling. It will be more effective if the baby is covered with a blanket that is specifically designed for swaddling. This blanket allows you to slip your hands under the blanket and gently rub the baby’s body without interfering with the breathing.
Step 6
Sometimes we need to trick on how to get an overtired newborn to sleep.You can play with your baby in a rhythmic mode. You can also walk him around or place him on a baby swing. Others will buckle their babies in the car seats as a trick. These tricks should, however, not be very involving as this may keep your child awake for longer than intended.
Step 7
It is normal for an overtired baby to wake up during their sleep. The parent should only tend to the baby if the cry seems upset. In most case, you will have to soothe your baby into sleeping again. However, if a baby cries in a faint rhythmic manner, there is no need to panic. You need just to watch her and she will be asleep again.