Does anyone else’s toddler get very hyper and make lots of repetitive sounds when overtired?

[MoreTeaPls]

My toddler seems to get more and more hyper the more tired she is, especially at bedtime, and I’m wondering if anyone else’s child does something similar.

Her speech is actually quite advanced for her age, so this isn’t really about limited speech or not having words. When she’s very tired, though, the thing she does most is make repetitive, not-really-meaningful sounds or little chants over and over — things like “jokjokjokjok” or “eeh-roh-eeh-rooh”😅 I’d say this makes up roughly 70% of her vocalising at bedtime when she gets like this.

She does also do some little role-play/self-talk, for example “no no no, don’t don’t…” or “Ah! I’ll do this… do this… no”, but the repetitive sounds are much more dominant than the actual talking.

At the same time she is constantly moving. Her feet and hands are rarely still, she flips over and back again repeatedly, gets up and lies down again, moves around, talks or whispers, etc. This can go on for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before she finally falls asleep.

I usually try to help her wind down by massaging or patting her back. Sometimes she’ll settle quite quickly with that — maybe 10 minutes on a good night — but often she seems to be fighting sleep despite being exhausted. She’ll keep moving her feet, whispering or chanting, getting back up, talking again, then wanting more massage, and we can go through that cycle several times.

I’ve seen a few posts about toddlers talking to themselves before sleep, but most of the replies seem to be about actual chatting, singing or telling stories. I’m particularly curious about the repetitive sounds/chanting and the physical restlessness.

Does anyone else’s toddler do this when they’re tired? Especially the repetitive vocal sounds rather than normal talking? Did they grow out of it, and did anything help them wind down more easily?

Yes.

He is ADHD/ASD.

@FlerpOfDoom Thanks — did he do the repetitive sounds during the day too, or mainly when he was tired/at bedtime?

Just to add, she’s 2.5 now, in case that’s relevant.

Hyper yes, though not the sounds. They're ASD, though I didn't know it at the time.

Much earlier bedtime helped more than anything.

Also magnesium, iron & vit D supplements. You only want to supplement iron if you know they need it but practically everyone is low in magnesium & vitamin D.

Thanks, that’s really interesting. What did the hyperness look like for yours, and did it change as they got older?

When mine was younger, being overtired would quite often end in a meltdown rather than just hyperactivity. She also used to cry a lot before naps — even in the buggy or baby carrier she’d sometimes suddenly start screaming, then just fall asleep. As a baby she was a very fragmented sleeper too.

Now at 2.5 she gets increasingly restless/chatty and physically unable to keep still when she’s tired, but also has occasional intense meltdowns.

Did the hyperness eventually settle down with age, or is that still how tiredness tends to show up for them?

Mine is the same age and like a broken record sometimes, especially nap time. "Daddy... Daddy...daddy..." Until unconscious.

Haha yes, the repetition sounds familiar! Mine does some actual words too (more like a roleplay but slightly repetitive😅), but what I’m especially curious about is the made-up/non-meaningful sounds — more like little chants such as “jokjokjokjok” "dekedekedekedeke" or “eeh-roh-eeh-rooh” over and over when she’s tired. Does yours ever do anything like that as well?

You have described every toddler in the world. Decide on a routine and stick to it. No extra massages chats etc. Come out of bed you put back in no chat eye contact nothing. Repeat a million times
It work over time. Your child will realise its pointless as there is no reward

@MoreTeaPls Mine has worked out this week that they can make a sort of nonsense flobadob sound - I don't know how to sound it out, just silly sounds with their mouth. They are delighted by this, I'm mostly ignoring it.

Thanks — just to clarify, this is actually a temporary situation because we’ve recently moved. Before that she usually went to sleep independently after saying goodnight.

Even then, though, on tired days she would often lie there talking to herself and moving her hands/feet for quite a while before falling asleep. I can’t remember whether the vocalising was as predominantly non-meaningful then — possibly a mix of actual words and sounds.

So I’m less worried about the bedtime routine itself, and more curious whether other toddlers do the repetitive chanting/non-meaningful sounds too.

Ah yes, that sounds a bit closer to what I mean! Mine does seem to enjoy the sounds too, but with her they become much more repetitive and noticeable when she’s really tired.
Does yours do the silly sounds more at nap/bedtime as well, or just generally through the day?

Hi! Sorry I know this isn’t the point of the thread but what do you mean the noises are ASD? Could you elaborate on this? My 8 yr old son has ADHD but I sometimes suspect ASD too (but for various reasons we’ve not pursued diagnoses. I just don’t have enough time to write out his story but it’s always at the back of my mind he had ASD too).

My son makes ALLOT of repetitive noises (used to be pterodactyl noises over and over and OVER 🫠 now some other dinosaur that isn’t quite so offensive to my ears tbh). He makes these noises more when tired/ at home, def masks them at school.

My husband thinks it’s adhd and just boy noises. No one has ever taken this as a sign of ASD (pead who diagnosed ADHD, SALT therapist, SENCO) so that’s why I ask. I do think he has ASD but no one else seems to so just intrigued about your point!

Yes - personally I think this all sounds ‘normal’ toddler / child behaviour, if there is such a thing! My dd, who as far as I’m aware is neurotypical, was always physically ‘hyper’ when tired, just as OP describes, and sometimes still gets bursts now aged 7. Is a very bright and talkative child.

partygarden it could be vocal stims, words that sound nice and give them comfort, or it could be like a vocal tic.

That’s really helpful, thank you!

I’ve actually heard of babies and toddlers getting hyper when overtired, but do you remember whether your DD also did much repetitive or nonsense vocalising when she was overtired, or was it mainly the movement/talking?

Yes, I’ve wondered about vocal stimming too, especially as she seems to find the sounds quite soothing/enjoyable.

What makes me wonder is whether other toddlers do it as much as my DD does, as 30 minutes to an hour of it felt like quite a lot, even though she was overtired.

I hadn’t really considered a vocal tic though — I’ll have a read about that too. Thank you.

Overtired isnt a real thing. If it’s taking up to an hour to fall asleep I’d move bedtime later and go out to the park in the evening to expend energy

I think this could fall under normal toddler behaviour, playing with sounds and language. It could be a sign of something like ASD/ADHD but you’ll just have to wait and see.
My son is awaiting assessment for both. He used to and still does make repetitive nonsense sounds, particularly when anxious.
Both my children get more and more wild as the day goes on. It’s difficult to understand why - I think it’s dysregulation kicking in. Mine are older so we can chill them out with a chapter from a book or something - though my son still can’t sit still.

I’d say watch and wait and try to not dissect every behaviour. I became a bit obsessive in my symptom finding. Yes, my son is probably autistic but he’s also just himself. Now I see the child rather than the behaviour whereas before I was hung up on the behaviour.

Thanks. She can actually fall asleep very quickly on other nights, so I’m not really looking to change bedtime based on this alone. I’m mainly curious about the repetitive/nonsense vocalising and whether other toddlers do that a lot when they’re very tired.

Yes. It’s completely normal!

The more tired; the more they went hyper / out of control. No ASD or anything here. In my experience that’s completely normal and very common

Try bedtime just before this part begins.
Breathing out ‘like a volcano’ helped my son as a toddler to fall asleep very quickly even when he was very very tired. It basically was breathing in very deep, holding it for a few seconds and then a huge breath out for as long as he could manage (the eruption part 😂) and we’d do it 4/5 times. Helps to switch off from that over tired / hyper state!

My daughter is exactly the same. She's now 9 and still stims when dysregulated. Sometimes it can be quite funny as she once started an orchestra of children across Aldi saying SPOON! A lot of the time it was and still is random noises. She also gets more and more hyper the more tired/dysregulated she gets.

She is diagnosed ASD and ADHD.

Thank you, this is really helpful. I think your point about not dissecting every individual behaviour is a good one — I can see how easy it would be to start doing that once ND is on your radar.

There are a few little things about DD that have made me wonder, and ASD/ADHD also runs in the family, so I think that’s why I’m more curious than worried at this stage.

It’s interesting that your son’s repetitive sounds were particularly noticeable when anxious. With mine they seem more noticeable when she’s very tired, relaxed or excited.

@babyproblems Thank you — that’s reassuring to hear!
Was the repetitive/nonsense vocalising part something yours did too when overtired, or was it mainly the hyper/out-of-control behaviour?