Oh, tiredness
You know what it’s like when you’re tired, oh, of course, you do, I forgot, you’re a parent. Anyway, you know how hard things become; you drop something, and it makes you cry. Suppose you have to watch another episode of Caillou. In that case, you may remove the TV and leave it in the middle of the street (though you don’t really need to be tired to want to do that, bad example!). Or, read a headline of any newspaper whilst in line in Starbucks, and suddenly you’re in floods of tears.
Being tired sucks, but you don’t need me to tell you that.
Now imagine being tiny, really tiny and not really understanding the world too well and then suddenly you’re tired. The things you could do with ease now seem impossible. You struggle to do them, and when it takes a nano-second longer than it should, you lose it!
Unfortunately, most children will not just take themselves to bed when they’re tired. They don’t even realize they’re beginning to get tired, and tiredness can creep up on them pretty quickly. One minute they’re quite happily playing, and the next, they are struggling. Big. Time.
The time your child will have between happy and tired sad will depend on their age and personality. Honestly, personality plays the biggest part in this. The more intense your child, the shorter time you’ll have between tired and overtired.
If you, like me, want to avoid an overtired, overstimulated kiddo, there are a few things we can do, thank goodness.
Keep an eye on the time; most children will have a maximum awake period; again, this depends on your child’s age.
You can also keep an eye for some early tired signs. If you see one of these signs, take a look at the time; if it’s nearly naptime, you can get started with your relaxing nap routine. If it’s not near to a sleep time, a change of scenery can help, maybe change room or activity. Don’t overstimulate your child, though; you don’t want to throw lots of stimulation at them to keep them from fussing. This will lead to an even tougher time and then a short nap.
So, some early tired signs to look out for are;
- Either becoming chatty or the exact opposite and getting quiet.
- Eyes becoming glazed.
- Thousand-yard stare (just staring at nothing).
- Pulling on ears (yeah, this is also a sign of teething.).
- Frowning.
- Rubbing eyes.
- Yawning.
Your child may not show all of these signs, and they may not show them for long. You could blink and miss them.
So, don’t panic if you miss those tired signs and your child becomes an overtired mess. Give them the extra support they need that could be more help putting that sock on, building a tower, or eating a cracker. Good luck with that. They will not easily and happily accept this help. If that’s the case, do whatever you need to do to help them to sleep and give them the extra help there, that’s where they really need it.
