Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can an overtired baby (10m) struggle to stay asleep?

10 replies

user242526 · 17/10/2024 23:05

Hi,

My baby didn't want to have her 2nd nap today (she's not been well recently) I tried multiple times and eventually gave up. Around 5:30pm I noticed she was getting really tired so took her upstairs to go to sleep.

She went to sleep but woke up shortly after crying non stop. I gave her milk and again she kept crying. Took me 40ish mins to settle her, gave her some Calpol as I thought maybe her teeth are hurting and then she went back to sleep. 2ish hours later she wakes up again and I give her milk, again she doesn't settle, cries non stop and gets herself into a right state. After another 40-50mins I finally get her to sleep again but it's just worrying me how non-stop her crying was and how she had already woken up twice.

Could it be she's overtired and finding it difficult to go into a deeper sleep as the wake window from her first nap to when she went to sleep finally was around 5+ hours long? Or should I be worried?

She's been unwell recently (started nursery in September) had Bronchiolitis, vomiting, a UTI and just been under the weather.

I keep imagining worst case scenario of tumours in the brain as I Googled it crying + vomiting is usually a sign of a tumour 😢. Her health recently is really impacting me as I feel like I just can't seem to make things better for her and that I can't take it all away for her and it makes me question my ability to mother her and I spend hours on Google everyday trying to figure out what's wrong with her.

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
user242526 · 17/10/2024 23:18

Bump

OP posts:
DinosaurMunch · 17/10/2024 23:19

More likely she's feeling a bit poorly and that's waking her up? It's a difficult age for sleep. I doubt you are doing anything wrong. Do you have a partner to share the load?
Or call the health visitor or GP tomorrow for some advice if you're worried.
Have you checked her temperature?

TashaTudor · 17/10/2024 23:22

user242526 · 17/10/2024 23:05

Hi,

My baby didn't want to have her 2nd nap today (she's not been well recently) I tried multiple times and eventually gave up. Around 5:30pm I noticed she was getting really tired so took her upstairs to go to sleep.

She went to sleep but woke up shortly after crying non stop. I gave her milk and again she kept crying. Took me 40ish mins to settle her, gave her some Calpol as I thought maybe her teeth are hurting and then she went back to sleep. 2ish hours later she wakes up again and I give her milk, again she doesn't settle, cries non stop and gets herself into a right state. After another 40-50mins I finally get her to sleep again but it's just worrying me how non-stop her crying was and how she had already woken up twice.

Could it be she's overtired and finding it difficult to go into a deeper sleep as the wake window from her first nap to when she went to sleep finally was around 5+ hours long? Or should I be worried?

She's been unwell recently (started nursery in September) had Bronchiolitis, vomiting, a UTI and just been under the weather.

I keep imagining worst case scenario of tumours in the brain as I Googled it crying + vomiting is usually a sign of a tumour 😢. Her health recently is really impacting me as I feel like I just can't seem to make things better for her and that I can't take it all away for her and it makes me question my ability to mother her and I spend hours on Google everyday trying to figure out what's wrong with her.

Thanks

Starting nursery is like working your way through the medical dictionary, it's brutal but she'll be OK in a couple of months and just have the random cough or snotty nose.
It's also a change in routine, feeling unwell means you don't sleep well or you can't sleep etc
She could also be transitioning to losing a nap, try not to worry x

Original poster
user242526 · 17/10/2024 23:23

@DinosaurMunch no temperature. I feel like the doctor will think I've lost my marbles as I've been going to the doctors weekly for the other things I mentioned in the original post.

I have a partner who drives for work and I try not to wake him up too much as I wouldn't want him to be overtired behind the wheel.

OP posts:
User37482 · 17/10/2024 23:23

Yes, when DD was overtired her sleep was extremely disrupted. But she can just be sleeping badly because she’s not feeling well too. She’s had a rough time of it and she’s probably still feeling bad.

Honestly I think we just ended up sitting up with her because she found it comforting to be held and she wasn’t sleeping anyway. I know it’s exhausting but it may better just to put her to bed with you for a while or just hold her while she takes micro naps.

forgotmypassagain · 17/10/2024 23:25

OP everything you mentioned in your post is a legitimate reason to take a child to the doctors so do not feel guilty.

babies are unpredictable and constant illness throws them right out of routine. Can you take her in next to you for some comfort?

DinosaurMunch · 17/10/2024 23:31

user242526 · 17/10/2024 23:23

@DinosaurMunch no temperature. I feel like the doctor will think I've lost my marbles as I've been going to the doctors weekly for the other things I mentioned in the original post.

I have a partner who drives for work and I try not to wake him up too much as I wouldn't want him to be overtired behind the wheel.

Ah that's tricky then. It feels like a long night when they are like this. I think sleep is very fragile for some babies at that age - the slightest thing can wake them. It doesn't mean anything major is wrong. One of mine was like this. Sometimes I resorted to taking him out in the backpack for a walk at 11 pm as nothing else would stop the screaming

No temp and drinking milk are both good signs. Unfortunately as a pp said it can just be a case of getting through it until they develop some immunity to the nursery bugs. . And learn to sleep better!

Please do go back to the GP though if you need to. They won't think you're mad. 10 months is very young, they are always happy to see under 2s if parents are worried. H V can be useful for general sleep advice as well - you can phone them up.

HiCandles · 17/10/2024 23:33

Yes, it's something about high cortisol levels from being very tired, or ill or stressed, which wakes a baby not long after going to sleep exhausted. Both of mine have had days/nights like you're describing. Just yesterday my toddler refused to nap, collapsed exhausted an hour earlier than normal and then woke crying and screaming at 10 instead of sleeping through to 6am.

Rest of the night might be normal or not but chances are she'll be tired tomorrow and nap beautifully.

I think the first 5.30 sleep was probably a really late nap and she might've wanted some awake time after that, rather than being encouraged to sleep. How are you trying to settle her? Could she have been getting annoyed/bored?
I don't think worrying that this could be a brain tumour was my first thought tbh. Baby sleep is frequently completely impossible to work out!

MattieandmummyandIs · 18/10/2024 03:05

Both of mine slept badly if overtired and also badly if unwell. Keep an eye on her, it could just be overtired or perhaps she's coming down with something new - babies are frequently tricky to work out in my experience.

Georgie743 · 18/10/2024 04:16

I always found the shitter their sleep is, the worse they slept. Lots of people think they'll sleep well/ for longer if really tired, but this wasn't the case in my house. The better and more regular sleep we got; the better sleep was over all.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page