The #1 Sleep Issue I See As A Baby & Toddler Sleep Coach

If I had a dollar for every time a parent told me, “My child is a busy bee who has low sleep needs” or "My child never sits still and doesn't like to sleep" I’d be writing this from a beach somewhere ☀️ No seriously, I swear every message I get starts just like that... to the point where I said, I'm going to write a blog about this and here we are!

And don't get me wrong, there are cases where this is true but 99% of the time, the child is just experiencing overtiredness and after my coaching, the parents end up shocked at how much they sleep.

I too have experienced it myself as a parent and my kids are still chaotic little tornadoes who don't like to listen to me and won't sit still but man, they sure do love their sleep now. You can have both, believe me!

Have you ever heard the saying "sleep promotes sleep" and thought whattttt? Well what this means is essentially the less sleep a child gets, the harder sleep becomes.

👉 And yes, I've already said it... the number one cause is overtiredness!

Many parents are shocked to learn that babies can be too tired to sleep. But overtiredness is one of the most common (and misunderstood) causes of baby and toddler sleep problems - and it’s often the root cause behind frequent night wakings, short naps, early mornings and bedtime battles.

But when I say this to parents they look at me like "ok but how does a child who doesn't like to sleep, get more sleep?!" and today, I'm going to tell you how to troubleshoot exactly where it might be going wrong and how to fix it...

Why Babies And Toddlers Become Overtired

Overtiredness is extremely common — especially in the first few years of life — and it’s often not caused by “bad habits” or poor parenting. Here are the most common reasons I see as a sleep coach:

1. Awake Windows Are Too Long

Babies’ sleep needs change rapidly and being on top of those awake windows is a challenge in itself. Even stretching awake time by 15–30 minutes can push a baby into overtired territory and impact naps and night sleep.

2. Short Or Missed Naps

Life gets busy, it's so easy and often necessary with our lives expectations and responsibilities for babies to miss naps. Short naps are also developmentally normal, especially in babies under 6 months. But if awake time isn’t adjusted afterward, overtiredness builds quickly throughout the day.

3. Late Bedtimes

Again, busy lives can equal late bedtimes. Some parents assume a later bedtime will lead to sleeping in. In reality, late bedtimes often cause more night waking, early morning starts and increased bedtime resistance. An overtired baby usually needs an earlier bedtime, not a later one.

4. Overstimulation

Busy days, outings, visitors, screens, or lots of excitement can overwhelm a baby’s nervous system — particularly in the late afternoon and evening.

5. Developmental Milestones

Rolling, crawling, walking, talking, and teething all place extra demands on the body and brain, increasing the risk of overtiredness and disrupted sleep.

Essentially, all these reasons causes the body to fight back and release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline which make it hard to get to sleep, stay asleep and connect sleep cycles.

How To Tell If Your Child Is Overtired

As I said earlier overtired children are often mistaken for children who are overly active and require less sleep but in fact these are symptoms of being overtired along with:

• Fighting naps and bedtime

• Waking frequently overnight

• Taking short naps

• Waking early in the morning

• Appearing wired, hyperactive, very unsettled or labelled a "hard baby"

  
  

How To Fix Overtiredness And Improve Sleep

The good news? Overtiredness is very fixable with the right approach.

1. Follow Age-Appropriate Awake Windows

Appropriate awake windows are the foundation of good baby and toddler sleep. Play around with this, find out what's recommended and where your child fits and look out for sleepy cues (grizzly, yawning, red eyebrows, eye rubbing - don't wait until they are crying).

2. Use An Earlier Bedtime

An earlier bedtime is one of the most effective tools for improving overtiredness.

This doesn’t have to be permanent — think of it as a reset that allows your child to catch up. You can start small, pushing bedtime back by 15 minutes each night until your child is having the appropriate amount of night sleep, if your child is an earlier riser they will likely still wake at the same time. Once they have caught up on sleep, you can start pushing it back to an ideal bedtime. Early risers should start to push their wake time to a more reasonable hour too.

3. Protect Naps

When sleep is fragile, naps matter. Prioritising naps over errands or outings (where possible) can dramatically improve night sleep. Also don't mistake your child for no longer needing a nap, we want to encourage naps until at least 3 years of age so work on improving their sleep instead of accepting that they no longer need a nap.

If a nap is short, adjust the next awake window to prevent overtiredness from stacking. Don't be afraid to make up for short naps with their night sleep (an earlier bedtime), this is the best trick for combatting overtiredness.

4. Create A Bedtime Routine

A consistent bedtime routine helps signal to your child’s body that sleep is coming and I'm not talking your typical bath and book... I'm talking about sleep associations - things that happen every time a sleep is due. These can be closing a blind, putting on a sleep sack, having 5 minutes of quiet play and reading a story on the floor of their bedroom. When these things become a routine before going to sleep, they help a child to prepare for what's coming next and get to sleep easier.

5. Work On Self Settling

Unfortunately, a child who is difficult to settle is more prone to becoming overtired because they fight sleep and rely on certain people or techniques to get them to sleep and if those things become unavailable then they are no longer able to get to sleep.

Consider looking into self-settling and what that might look like for your family.

Final Thoughts From A Baby & Toddler Sleep Coach

If your baby or toddler seems exhausted yet struggles with sleep, overtiredness is often the missing piece. Sleep isn’t about pushing through tiredness — it’s about timing, rhythm and supporting your child’s developing nervous system.

With the right adjustments, sleep can improve quickly — and everyone in the family benefits 💛

If you need support implementing any of the mentioned techniques then please do not hesitate to reach out to me for a general supportive chat, a quick question or complete sleep coaching.

If any of the information you learnt here happens to improve your child's sleep then I would love to hear from you! It would make my week! Get in touch or tag me on Instagram @the.nightnanny

Here's to better sleep ~

Love, Danielle xx

👉 [Work with me for personalised baby & toddler sleep support]