MYTH vs TRUTH: Keeping your baby awake longer will not improve night sleep
Why pushing wake windows leads to more night waking, early rising, and restless babies
If you’ve ever been told to “keep your baby up longer so they’ll sleep better at night,” you’re not alone. This myth has been passed around for generations, often with the best intentions! But in reality, stretching your baby beyond their limits can create more sleep challenges, not fewer.
Let’s break down what actually happens in your baby’s body when they’re kept awake too long, and why a well-timed routine is far more powerful than a long stretch of awake time.
Why we think keeping them awake helps
It makes sense on the surface:
Adults often sleep more deeply after a late night or a long, tiring day… so shouldn’t babies?
Not quite.
Babies’ sleep cycles, hormones, and brain development work completely differently. Unlike adults, they don’t build sleep pressure in the same way and when pushed too far, things can unravel quickly.
What happens when a baby becomes overtired?
When your baby stays awake longer than their body can handle, their system responds by releasing cortisol, the body’s stress hormone.
Cortisol makes sleep harder, not easier.
Instead of becoming “more tired,” babies become:
wired and overstimulated
harder to settle at bedtime
more likely to catnap
more likely to wake frequently overnight
And in many cases, overtiredness is one of the biggest contributors to early rising (those dreaded 4:30–5:30am starts).
Why overtiredness = Broken nights
Cortisol can stay in your baby’s system for hours, meaning even once they look tired, their body is actually in a state of fight-or-flight.
That can lead to:
difficulty falling asleep independently
short, restless sleep cycles
false starts (waking 20–45 minutes after bedtime)
frequent overnight waking
early morning starts
Many families think their baby is “just a bad sleeper,” when really the routine timings are slightly out and the fix is far simpler than they expect.
The truth: Babies sleep best before they become overtired
The sweet spot is putting your baby down within their age-appropriate wake window, not too soon, and definitely not too late.
When their body is ready for sleep (but not stressed), melatonin and sleep pressure work together beautifully to support:
smoother settling
longer stretches of sleep
deeper, more restorative overnight sleep
fewer early wakes
This is why timing is one of the most powerful tools in infant sleep, even before you consider sleep associations or settling methods.
How to avoid the overtired cycle
Here are signs your baby may be approaching overtiredness:
sudden crankiness or crying
hyperactivity or “wired” behaviour
rubbing eyes
pulling ears
zoning out
resisting the cot even when tired
If you’re seeing these often, your baby may be missing that ideal sleep window and shifting routine timing by even 10–20 minutes can make a huge difference.
What if your baby is already overtired?
Good news, overtiredness is reversible.
You can reset your baby’s sleep by focusing on:
predictable wake windows, not long stretches
age-appropriate naps
an earlier bedtime (even temporarily)
a calm, low-stimulation wind-down
I see babies every single week who go from waking every 2 hours to sleeping long stretches… simply by adjusting their daytime routine.
You don’t need to tackle this alone
If your baby is:
waking every 1–2 hours
fighting bedtime
catnapping all day
up before 6am
constantly overtired
…you’re not doing anything wrong. Their body just needs the right timing and support.
If you’d like personalised help working out the correct wake windows, nap structure, or bedtime for your baby, I’d love to support you.