Little Baby - Can he get overtired?

[Cellist]

I have a little guy who is not quite three weeks old yet.

We had guests over yesterday for far too long (I felt tired and ucky after they left, too) and our baby was awake for basically the whole 6-7 hours they were here. They had their own 7 month old baby and then my parents-in-law arrived with their dog and chaos ensued for quite some time.

My baby has never stayed awake for that stretch of time yet and wanted to nurse EVERY HOUR during that time. It was not nice.

After everyone left, the not-nice kept going. The baby cried and cried and cried no matter what we did. He was clean, warm, fed, rocked, burped, etc. and he still just didn't feel right.

FINALLY, I just took him into our bed, fed him one last time, and he slept the longest stretch he's slept yet in his young life. (A little over five hours.)

My question is...can such a tiny baby get overstimulated and overtired? I sure think so, but am wondering if there was something else I should have been doing instead...? We have had only two bouts of this unable-to-be-settled stuff with him and it's miserable.

I am DEFINITELY not letting people wake up my baby again! We have to do what's best for him and I need to Mama Bear if I have to, right?

[SarahElizabeth]

Yes, its certainly possible. In fact, I'd say it's much easier to overstimulate a young infant than on older one.

I hate confrontation, but i am vigilant with DSs sleep schedule. Even now, with DS at 10.5mos, if MIL/SIL come over when hes asleep.. Tough luck. They can stick around until he wakes up if they want, but no waking. And if he gets tired when they're here? He goes to bed. And when he is in bed, the bedroom is offlimits to everyone except me and DP.

They think I'm unreasonable, and DPs nephew thinks I'm an ogre because i interrupt "playtime", but whatever. It's DS that gets upset and inconsolable when overstimulated, and visitors can escape the awful atmosphere. This is my home, this is DSs home, this is DPs home. Here, we come first.

[GoldmanBaby09]

Nak I agree with PP. A baby that young can easily be overstimulated and over tired and react much the way your son did. As long as you did your best to comfort him while he cried, it was probably the best you could do for the situation. I also agree that you need to limit the time he is awake if people are over and you know he needs a nap. And IMHO a 6-7 hour visit is waaaay too long for having a 3 week old baby. People still need to keep it short when you are still only a few weeks postpartum. And I would also say one or the other in terms of guests. If you already have friends over with their baby visiting, tell the IL it will have to wait for another time (and leave their dog at home!). I'm kind of a stickler about putting my foot down about it, too. Your son's happiness and well being come before adults wanting to see him. Everyone else can deal.

[Llyra]

Yes, a very young baby can very easily get overstimulated and overtired, and yeah, what you get is exactly what you describe-- a baby who's overwrought and fussy and miserable and now CAN'T get to sleep because he's so overtired.

In my experience, babies in the first few months are usually ready to sleep within 90 minutes of waking, with often a slightly longer stretch in the evenings. 6 to 7 hours is a LONG LONG time for baby to be awake, and I'm surprised that relatives with children of their own wouldn't understand that.

So yeah, I think you have to be Mama Bear and stand up for the baby. You gotta say, "it's time for him to sleep. We'll see you some other time." Or, "you can stay, but please stay downstairs in the family room or wherever, and help yourself to what you need, and I'll see you after I've seen to him."

I have often done that, for various reasons, for my kids, and sometimes people understand, and sometimes they're rude about it, but it really has to happen, even if they're going to get in a huff about it.

Don't worry too much about this one time, though. It happens. Live and learn.

[Cellist]

Thank you! We had a "regular" kind of day yesterday and everything was much better with him. He slept when he needed to and was comforted fairly easily, etc.

I am just going to remove myself and the baby from the situation if it starts to look like that again; you're right; family will have to deal!

[darcytrue]

I believe its possible for a 3 week old to get overtired. And if he was passed around a lot that can make them sore or so I've heard.

[CrunchyKnitter]

Aww you poor things!!! Absolutely they can get overtired at that age. I would tend to say it's less common, only because at that age I think most babies can easily just fall asleep anytime anywhere so it doesn't have the opportunity to happen a lot, but going 6-7 hour is a LONG time, even for a much older baby. DS is 3 1/2 months old right now and 2 hours of awake time before a nap is even pushing it. Usually it's closer to 1 1/2 hours and he's tired and needs to sleep.

[odoole]

Yeah, I'm surprised your kid was able to stay awake that long without falling asleep on his own.

My son is 4 months now and has finally reached the stage where he needs to be coerced into sleep -- he won't just fall asleep on his own when he's tired. On Thanksgiving, he was awake for 7 hours or so, and seemed totally content and happy, but once we got home oh boy, what a meltdown!

Of course, novice parents that we were, we had no idea what was going on. He had never cried for more than 2 minutes in a row before, and suddenly here he was screaming his head off for 25 minutes straight, impossible to comfort him. Then it occurred to DH and I that he hadn't slept at all that day. Normally he can't stay awake more than 2 hours before he needs a nap. It's interesting how easy it is for babies to get out of sync like that.

Lesson learned!

For the remaining social events that weekend (there were many) we made sure to put him in the sling and let him sleep, even if he wasn't fussy. That works pretty well -- an idea for the next time you have a long social event to take the baby to.

[springbride]

We too learned during the holiday weekend, the need to be more 'mama bear-like' over DD's sleep schedule. She had been out of sync for a few days as we had house guests and I wasn't firm enough about her sleeping schedule, and now the poor LO is sick I feel terrible because I'm sure it has something to do with missing a few naps.

[Cellist]

Just to clarify, he wasn't awake the whole 6-7 hours, but was awake for a LOT of it with just a few minutes' sleep now and then during that time. It was definitely an unusually long period of time for him to be awake.

Didn't know they could get sore from being handled lots; thanks for that idea...

And now, he's a bit congested sounding. Maybe he was also starting to get sick with a cold. UGH! Not sure, though...

[First-Time-Mommy]

i just had this happen today. my babe is 3wks as well. he was up from 9:36AM to 6:00PM or so... i have no idea how he managed this and it has happened a couple times. today wasn't even busy it was just me and him, quiet in the house, just relaxing. well, after i'd say 4 hours he began getting VERY cranky. i tried to calm him; he was fed, burped, changed, walked, rocked, you name it, and he just wasn't having it. he doesn't appear to be getting sick though. i checked his temp. and he was clear too. i think he seriously just couldn't fall asleep? he has had wet and poopy diapers so no concern there. - poor little guy.

[K-Mom3]

For my dc, those symptoms definitely meant overstimulation, more than overtired. A nurse once told me that when babies are overstimulated they sometimes have a delayed reaction to it. Like falling asleep in a noisy room and then crying for hours later in the day, for example. So the continued crying, after everyone left, that totally spells overstimulation to me.