If there’s anything that can send your child’s sleep off the rails it’s the dreaded condition of overtiredness. Kids, as with all people, have a natural rhythm when it comes to sleep. Our bodies secrete hormones to keep us up and running during the day, and different ones to help us rest at night. They depend on a variety of factors, but timing is the most prevalent.
So what’s happening when our body naturally cues us to sleep but your little one stays awake beyond the time limit? Well, the body thinks there’s a reason that is hasn’t been allowed to get to sleep, so it assumes there’s a need to stay awake and fires up those daytime hormones again. And now you’re back to step 1. Once those Stay-Awake signals are switched on, they’re tough to shut down, and baby’s already tired. So the lack of sleep leads to more daytime hormones, and the cycle goes around and around. The Solution? WATCH SLEEPY CUES & WAKE WINDOWS!
Sleepy cues are the human body’s way of saying “I am ready to rest.” They often go overlooked and underestimated! Notice these cues and take action; when she starts yawning and rubbing her eyes, it is time for a short naptime routine (ex. change diaper and read a book) and into the crib she goes to fall asleep on her own.
Wake Windows are the amount of time you have from one wake to the beginning of another sleep. Fill this window with lots of fun stuff! Eating, playing/running, reading, fresh air; all things to get your baby’s brain and muscles activated and then fatigued, ready to rest by the end of the window. About 10 minutes before the window closes, you should start to pick up on some sleepy cues! When you’ve gotten a few of the golden signals, it’s go-time! Begin a short nap routine that you follow consistently.
A shortened naptime routine might look something like… feed, change into fresh comfy clothes, fresh diaper, lights off, sing a song as you walk and shush, a few rocks in the chair, and lay baby down awake. Tell them where they are and that it’s sleepy time. After feeding, the rest of the routine should only take about 15 minutes; remember, we already caught them in the perfect sleepy stage and don’t want to waste any minutes.
If you’ve tried to pay attention to wake windows and aren’t seeming to get it right, let me know! I can take a closer look at your schedule and make some tweaks for a more comfortable nap/bedtime schedule for baby AND you.
Click here to book a FREE 15-min call at a time that works best for YOU