Whether you have a little baby or a preschooler, you may be experiencing tears at bedtime right now. As frustrating as it is, I want to encourage you that this can be totally normal and there are several reasons WHY your child may be feeling some big emotions come bedtime.

Let's look at 4 things they might be telling you with their tears...

Reason #1 why baby cries at bedtime:

"I'm overtired."

Is it possible you missed their window before bed and accidentally kept them up too long? Or did they have a pretty crappy nap day? That window before bed can be pretty sensitive so if you are noticing lots of crying at bedtime, try pulling bedtime 15-30 minutes earlier and see if that helps!

Your child is struggling with sleep (night wakings, fighting sleep, short naps, cranky & overtired all the time, etc). You can accept that this is where you're at right now and embrace it. This will be temporary. Some day your child will sleep better. You can choose for this to be your hard and go with it. Accept it and stop letting it plague your every thought and emotion.

Reason #2 why baby cries at bedtime:

"I'm adjusting to some type of change."

Are you still in the early days of sleep coaching? Or maybe your nightly routine is often in flux and so your child is constantly having to re-adapt to change. Either way, crying may be their way of communicating to you that this change is hard. Is hard bad? No. But if you feel you aren't being fair by being inconsistent, it's never too late to change that!

Reason #3 why baby cries at bedtime:

"I don't want to stop playing or hanging out with you!"

This plays off the last one a bit. Your little one is smart so even if you have a consistent bedtime routine, they understand that sleep time is coming. And they may not like that. They may have big feelings about this transition from play to sleep and they will probably express those. This is both healthy and normal.

It would be great to have no tears at all as we transition from one activity to the next but we also know that's not realistic with children. Allow the feelings to flow. Support as needed.

Reason #4 why baby cries at bedtime:

"I need an emotional release so I can relax and fall asleep."

Did you know that crying can actually release stress? Crying triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which can restore the body to a calm and composed state. Contrary to what many today will tell you, crying is not inherently bad. Crying is a great natural way for the body to relieve stress and slow down. This could just be a natural part of your child's wind-down process and therefore no reason to stress!

😢I get it. We all hate when our children cry. But crying is a way to express emotions. Having emotions is part of living and breathing. These are not bad experiences. They are healthy and normal.

👉Repeat this with me: "My child's crying does not reflect on me as a parent. It does not mean I am not loving and responsive. It means my child has feelings and is expressing them."

Ready to tackle your current sleep issues? I'm here to offer a solution. 

Look no further than my affordable Classic Consultation:

With the Classic Consultation you can get accessible sleep help to confidently sleep train without all the second guessing! Imagine doing your bedtime routine, kissing your baby goodnight, walking out of the room + knowing that your baby will sleep long stretches at night and both of you will wake up feeling refreshed!

So if you're ready to stop feeling stuck, it's time to own your hard, commit to change & better sleep, and head over to check out the Classic Consultation today: https://allthesleeps.com/sleep-plan