Too much stimulation doesn’t encourage baby development – quite the opposite. Read through to learn more about what overstimulation is and how you can avoid it.
Quick Facts about Overstimulation
Too much stimulation doesn’t encourage baby development – quite the opposite. Read through to learn more about what overstimulation is and how you can avoid it. By Yael Katz, M.A. psychologist, and toys expert.
• Babies need stimulation in order to develop and grow, but that definitely doesn’t mean “the more the better”. Mellow colors and soft sounds can offer just the right level of stimulation.
• A baby who is overstimulated will show you that he is experiencing an overload, the trick is to learn how to read the cues.
• Each baby, child and adult are unique when it comes to the point at which they experience overstimulation – i.e. reach the point they can’t handle the sensory input they are receiving.
• There are various things you can do to identify overstimulation and to organize your baby’s environment in a way that will suit her unique needs and preferences.
• You can learn how to better understand your child’s experience and help avoid the negative effects of an overstimulating environment.
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That moment your tiny baby is placed in your arms, her little face twitching sweetly, makes you want to wrap her up and protect her, provide her with everything that she needs from that day forth. A newborn baby is in fact a completely helpless creature that is entirely dependent on us. Newborns simply can’t survive without our care. As a result, babies are wired to arouse in you (and the other adults around) emotions that will make you do things for her. These emotions make you fall in love with your little one and want to hug her to bits, and arouse a deep sense of commitment that makes you want to protect her no matter what, care for her 24/7 and wake up for her several times each night, no matter how exhausted you are.
However, since young babies aren’t born with the ability to communicate exactly what it is they need, it can be difficult to figure out what it is they want. Is she hungry now or maybe tired? Does she want to be held or lie quietly by herself? Are there too many stimulating elements around her or maybe not enough? Does she need us to remove toys or maybe just swap them around?
A baby certainly needs stimulation in order to grow and develop his senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and sense of body), his emotions and cognitive abilities. However, many parents mistakenly think that “the more the better”, assuming that more toys means more development, more colors mean more stimulation. Dear parents, in most cases it’s just the opposite: less is more! What does this mean? Offering a moderate quantity of something can be much more beneficial for babies than offering too much. For example, a colorful, busy activity gym with numerous features can make it hard for babies to focus on any single one of the features. A calmer activity gym that has fewer elements and more distinct, separate features can make it easier for babies to focus and explore. Your baby certainly needs stimulation, but that doesn’t mean he needs ongoing, rich and intense stimulation. He needs moderate stimulation alongside quiet time that will allow him to process all the input he has received. But most of all, he needs a level of stimulation that is tailored to suit his particular needs and preferences.
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What is overstimulation?
Overstimulation is a situation in which a child is experiencing more stimuli – experiences, sensations, noises or activities – than he is able to handle. Every baby and every child is different in this respect. The perfect level of stimulation for one can be too much for another and the things that stress out one baby can actually be relaxing for another. However, no matter what the ideal level of stimulation, every baby and person can reach a point at which it’s just too much and she or he are no longer able to regulate the stimulation they are experiencing. When a baby is experiencing this sort of “overload”, negative emotions arise, such as anxiety, fear, anger, etc. This makes his behavior less organized and logical and greatly impinges on his ability to effectively cope with the situation. A baby like that can cry for long periods, move his head away to express his refusal to participate or even to reject a usually welcome form of stimulation, like a hug or an offer to play a game. Our job as parents and caregivers is to identify when our children reach this sort of sensory overload. We need to organize our little ones’ environment in a way that can help him handle the stimulation around him and regulate it as best he can at any given stage of development.
Many parents mistakenly think that “the more the better”, assuming that more toys means more development, more colors mean more stimulation. Dear parents, in most cases it’s the opposite: less is more!
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What can cause overstimulation?
• Exposure to stimuli that are simply too intense: loud noises, imposing visual stimuli, or a mix of both.
• Incessantly moving baby from one person to another.
• A large number of people or busy events, like a party.
• Change of place.
Remember, babies and young children’s sensory regulation is still very limited and immature, and stimulation that might seem totally reasonable to you could be experienced as quite overwhelming by your baby. Observe your child – when she is overstimulated she will let you know. Try to be aware of the following cues.
Signs that a baby is overstimulated:
• Turning his head away.
• Seeming upset or tired: complaining, yawning.
• Crying in a way that is difficult to soothe. The crying will vary in intensity and duration.
• Falling asleep even though it’s not a time he’s supposed to take a nap.
• Stretching his body, waving his arms, kicking, clenching fists.
• Acting as if he is hungry and wanting to suck, even though he is not supposed to be hungry.
Signs that older children are overstimulated:
• Agitation and complaining.
• Throwing themselves on the floor in anger and crying.
• Crying without being able to explain what’s wrong.
• Refusal to perform simple, everyday tasks.
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What can you do to soothe an overstimulated baby?
There are various things you can do to help your child when you notice they are experiencing overstimulation.
Soothing an overstimulated baby:
• Change the environment. For example, if you are in a noisy place, take her somewhere quiet and calm.
• Make sure baby’s environment is mellow, with soft colors and moderated visual stimuli.
• Talk quietly, using a soft, slower way of talking.
• Some babies can be soothed by a hug, being rocked or placed in a baby carrier while other babies respond in a negative way to a hug when they are overwhelmed.
• Reduce the level of stimulation: turn down or turn off the TV, dim the lights.
• Reduce the number of stimuli. For example, leave no more than 2-3 toys hanging in the play gym. If that doesn’t work, remove another toy.
Soothing an overstimulated child:
• When possible, change the environment and take him somewhere quiet and familiar.
• Reduce the level of noise and action around your child. Turn off the TV, dim the lights; take her to her room or keep her close to you, if that helps her calm down.
• Try helping your child use words to describe what he is experiencing. Say: “I can see that something is bothering you” or “I can tell that you need a bit of quiet time”.
• Hug and stroke your child.
• Sit down with your child and choose a clam activity to do together: read a story, sing a song. When she has calmed down, give her a chance to play by herself for a while.
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How can I adjust the level of stimulation to suit my child’s specific needs?
Each child is different, so there is no one answer to the question: “How much stimulation is the right amount of stimulation?”. One child will find 3 toys overwhelming while another child will need numerous toys that offer significant feedback to stay interested. And it’s not only a matter of different babies with different characters – your own baby can have one ideal level of stimulation in the morning and a completely different level in the evening. So, let your child lead the way and learn to read the signs that she offers to express how she feels.
Finding the right level of stimulation:
• Make sure that nothing is bothering your little one: that his diaper is clean, that his clothes are comfortable and that he isn’t too hot/too cold.
• Let your baby play in the baby gym, for example, and show her two hanging toys. Check how she reacts. If she signals that she is uncomfortable, remove one toy and see if that has any impact. If your child isn’t responding to the toys at all, try adding more toys or using toys that offer audio feedback.
• Introduce mellower kinds of stimuli, like quiet music or toys with a calmer color scheme.
Our job as parents and caregivers is to identify when our children reach sensory overload. We need to organize our little ones’ environment in a way that can help him handle the stimulation around him and regulate it.
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The effect of ongoing overstimulation
It’s important to remember that the occasional overstimulation has no long-term effect, but constant overstimulation that puts a baby under the ongoing pressure of intense stimulation can have an impact on his physical, cognitive and emotional development. Overstimulation can make the world seem like an overwhelming, unsafe and threatening place and cause a child to shut himself off as a defense mechanism. Unlike adults, who can organize and control the stimulation in their environment and adjust it to suit their preferences – turn down the volume, leave a loud room, etc. – babies are totally dependent on the environment we put them in. Young children lack the ability to cope with the experience of overstimulation alone and unmoderated stimulation, and babies find it hard to even just let us know that they are overstimulated. As a result, it is our responsibility as caregivers to learn our children and read the cues that will help us create the right kind of environment for them.