For Educators

As summer approaches, early childhood programs start seeing it: children who were regulated and rested suddenly struggling with transitions, resisting naps, melting down over small things. That's exactly the problem: it doesn't always look like tiredness. When children accumulate sleep debt, the body releases cortisol to compensate. That stress hormone masks fatigue and produces a child who appears wired, oppositional, or emotionally volatile. Early childhood educators are of