Gavin’s moods have been rather temperamental of late and I have been trying to decide whether they are due to the oncoming of the final wonder week which usually hits at about one year, or if there could be some other underlying cause.  After several days of close observation, I think I have discovered the answer.

I suspect it is due to his sleep patterns. 

My cousin used to be extremely paranoid about making sure her daughter naps in the afternoons.  Her reasoning was that if her daughter was overtired, she would go ballistic and in order to prevent that, she and her hubby would make sure AT got her sleep when it was due.  They never allowed her to stay up past her limits.  Some babies can tolerate missing naps - they maybe really tired, but they still manage to take it in stride.  Parents of these babies are really lucky. 

I used to think that Gavin was one of the babies who fell into the latter category.  In recent times, I am beginning to suspect that he doesn’t handle sleeplessness as well as I would like to think.  Although he fights sleep and insists on staying awake even when we all know he is really tired, the days when I keep him to a sleep routine with adequate naps during the day, he seems to be in a cheerier mood with less tantrums.  On the days when he misses a nap or doesn’t get enough sleep, I’ve noticed that he’s crankier than normal and he sleeps poorly during the night.  He is also more proned to nightmares. 

Although it means I have to force him to take his nap during the day instead of waiting until he is really tired, it is worth the effort.  Besides the fact that he is clearly happier and displaying a decreased tendency for tantrums and nightmares, sleep, in particular REM sleep (the dream phase) is also important for brain development. 

Another indication that Gavin hasn’t been getting enough sleep is the fact that he awakes from his naps in cranky mood.  He’ll be crying and fussy because his nap has made him aware of how tired he really is.  After a couple of days where his sleep patterns have been regularised, the crying and fussiness upon waking reduces.

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