What can I do if my baby is overtired but still doesn't want to sleep?

Newborn babies spend almost the whole day sleeping, as this is necessary for their physical and mental development. Getting enough sleep is therefore essential in allowing babies to learn new information and facts throughout the day.

However, babies often have problems falling asleep, as many new parents know. Sometimes, they can’t sleep properly through the night, which leaves them cranky and overtired the next day. So, what can you do if your baby is overtired but doesn’t want to sleep? We’ll explain that in this article. In addition, we’ll give you a few helpful tips and strategies on how you can create the optimal sleeping environment for your child so that they get a good night’s sleep.

 

What does sleeping through the night actually mean for babies?

In the first months of their lives, babies do not yet have a regular day-night rhythm, as their sleeping behaviour is still adapted to the conditions in the womb. The sleep phases of babies are shorter than those of adults and are evenly distributed throughout the day and night. Most babies go through about five to six sleep phases a day, the duration of which can range from a few minutes to several hours.

Because your baby’s sleep patterns are partly due to their genes, they vary from baby to baby. Some children have no problem falling asleep straight away, while for others it can take a little longer.

In the first month, babies sleep about 18 hours a day and wake up every three to four hours. From the second month onwards, the hours of sleep gradually shift further into the night and the phases during which they remain awake during the day lengthen. For most children, a clear difference between day and night becomes noticeable around the sixth month. From then on, they only need naps twice during the day, for about one to two hours each time. By the end of their first year of life, a baby's nap is about one hour and is taken twice a day.

 

What do I do if my baby cries and doesn’t want to sleep?

Babies’ sleeping behaviour differs from ours in a general sense, but the individual sleep phases that they go through during the night are also different in important ways. Just like adults, babies also have a REM or light sleep phase/dream sleep phase and non-REM or deep sleep phase. However, the distribution of these phases differs quite starkly in that babies stay in the light sleep phase much longer than adults.

Adults go through five phases of sleep, with the dream sleep phase accounting for about a quarter of all sleep. For babies, however, this phase comprises almost a third of their sleep time. This means babies rarely sleep deeply and are awakened by such needs as hunger, full nappies or feeling lonely.

If your baby wakes up at night and cries, you should try to soothe him or her through physical contact and to satisfy whatever needs made them wake up. Most children usually go back to sleep all on their own afterwards. After a while, you’ll even notice that the tone of crying or screaming differs according to the degree of need your baby has. This will help you to find out what is wrong with your child and what you can use to calm them down more quickly.

 

What to do when your baby is overtired

Babies get overtired when they’ve gone too long without sleep or have been overstimulated for too long. The lack of sleep or overstimulation is stressful for your baby; their body reacts to this stress by releasing stress hormones, which in turn prevent the baby from falling asleep. The signs of overtiredness in babies are as follows:

• The baby seeks more physical contact and becomes unusually clingy.
• It often reacts irritably and whines more than usual.
• The baby's mood often changes and it starts crying for no reason.
• The baby is over-excited and difficult to calm down.
• They don't want to eat and drink as well as before and whine and fuss more.

 

Your baby is overtired but doesn't want to sleep?If you have an overtired baby on your hands, it becomes all the more difficult to calm them down and get them to fall asleep. If you notice that your baby's behaviour is changing, you should pay more attention to the signs that they’re tired.

 

How do I get an overtired baby to sleep?

Babies give us signals when they’re getting tired. In the first month, the newborn's sleep window opens about every 90 minutes. If the sleep window is exceeded and the babies don’t manage to get any sleep, the next sleep phase does not occur again for about an hour. As already described above, babies become active again after the sleep phase has passed and it becomes difficult to calm them down.

For this reason, it is especially important to watch for the signs of sleepiness and put the baby to bed as soon as possible. Of course, these signs can vary depending on the child, but some of the most common are:

• The baby yawns often and rubs their eyes or ears.
• They seek closeness to their parent(s) and want to be carried.
• The baby's facial expressions change: they frown more often or open their eyes very wide.
• Their mood changes: for example, they startle at loud sounds or become cranky.
• They suck more on their pacifier or thumb.
• They clench their little hand into a fist.

 

How do I create the optimal sleeping environment for my child?

Optimise your child’s sleep environment if you want your overtired child to fall asleep faster, as the right sleeping environment plays an important role in their being able to fall asleep and sleep through the night. An unsuitable sleeping environment can lead to your baby waking up and crying at night. Note that the right sleeping environment includes not only the bed and bedding, but also the right clothing.

Newborns sleep best in a cradle or bassinet. For the first twelve months, you should avoid using pillows and baby blankets; doctors recommend using a sleeping bag instead. Sleeping bags can help keep small babies in a safe supine position.

The temperature in your baby's bedroom should be between 16 to 18 degrees; they shouldn’t be dressed too thickly, either. Generally, nappies, underwear and a thin body or pyjamas under the sleeping bag are enough. You can tell whether your baby is too warm or cold by touching the back of their neck. If it feels hot and sweaty, remove a layer of clothing.

 

Creating the perfect sleeping environment with products from Zizzz

Sleeping bags have proven to be the safest clothing for newborns and babies. This is due to the fact that sleeping bags make it harder for newborns to roll over onto their bellies, thereby keeping them in the safe supine position. In addition, baby sleeping bags distribute heat evenly over your baby’s bodies; unlike blankets, they can’t be pulled over your baby’s head at night, which reduces the risk of SIDS. Despite the slightly limited mobility, sleeping bags don’t prevent babies from moving their arms and legs at night.

Our baby sleeping bags are made from carefully selected natural materials to guarantee the safest sleep for your baby. These materials are GOTS-certified organic cotton, which is grown entirely without the use of any chemical fertilisers or pesticides, and pure virgin Swiss virgin wool from the sheep raised in the Swiss Alps.

Our baby sleeping bags are available in four different sizes and can be worn by babies aged 0 to 6 months, 6 to 24 months and 24 to 48 months. Furthermore, we offer children's sleeping bags that your child can wear from 4 to 6 years. For those warm summer nights, we offer summer sleeping bags made from one layer of organic cotton that will keep your child comfortable even when it’s hot.

 

Conclusion

A baby’s sleep phases differ from those of an adult. Although babies need more sleep, the individual phases are only of short duration. In addition, light sleep predominates in babies and they wake up more often than adults.

To avoid overtiredness in children, keep an eye out for signs that your baby is tired and put them down to sleep once you notice them. Create the appropriate sleep environment to help your child fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.