Navigating sensory overload: A guide for parents

For new parents, sensory overload can feel especially intense. Not only are you navigating the physical and emotional demands of caring for a newborn, but you're often doing so while forgoing your own most basic needs—like eating, sleeping, showering, or even using the toilet when you feel you need to. The constant cries, contact, and unpredictability can leave your system running on empty. It's not just the noise or the touch or the sleep deprivation—it’s the relentless accumulation of all of it, layered on top of a body still recovering and a mind adjusting to a new identity. Understanding how this impacts your nervous system isn’t about blaming or fixing—it’s about giving yourself permission to care for your needs alongside your baby’s. 

_{"Parenting is a full-body, full-sensory experience."}

What Is Sensory Overload?

Sensory overload happens when your brain receives more input than it can effectively filter or process. This might include:

• Sound: multiple children talking, crying, toys making noise, or appliances running
• ‍Sight: clutter, flashing lights, movement
• ‍Touch: constant contact from little ones, tight clothes, messes
• ‍Smell: cooking smells, dirty nappies, cleaning products ‍
• Movement or vestibular input: being jostled, multitasking, or rushing around

When these inputs stack up, your nervous system can start to shut down—or spark up in overwhelm.

_{"...your nervous system can start to shut down—or spark up in overwhelm."}

Signs You Might Be Experiencing Sensory Overload

It can show up subtly or dramatically. You might notice:

• Snapping or losing patience more easily than usual
• An urge to escape or hide—even just to the bathroom or car
• Difficulty concentrating or following conversations
• Feeling anxious, overstimulated, foggy, or emotionally shut down

Sensory overload is a signal from your nervous system saying: “I’ve had enough.”

This blog aims to help you understand sensory processing, recognise your own sensory limits, and offer practical, accessible strategies to bring more calm and regulation into your everyday parenting life.

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1. Take a Sensory Inventory

A powerful starting point is asking: Which senses are most overwhelmed right now? and What kind of input do I need more—or less—of?

You can use this quick self-check:

• Do I need less? (less noise, less touch, less light) ‍
• Do I need more? (grounding, warmth, movement) ‍
• What sense is yelling the loudest right now?

Try this during a common high-input moment—like dinnertime:

• How many noises are happening at once? (Kids talking, clinking cutlery, TV or music in the background, kitchen appliances humming.)
• What's in your visual field? (Messy counters, toys underfoot, fluorescent lighting.)
• What are you feeling? (A child on your lap, tight clothes, hot stove.)
• What are you smelling? (Dinner cooking, garbage bin, scented candle.)

This kind of sensory inventory helps you identify what’s contributing to your overload—and what might help. If it’s noise, try turning off one device, lowering your voice, or leaving the room briefly. If it’s visual chaos, focus your eyes on one neutral point or dim the lights slightly.

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2. Regulate With Intentional Sensory Input

Your body doesn't just need less stimulation; it needs the right kind of sensory input to feel safe and grounded.

Here are some regulating strategies:

• Wrap up in a weighted blanket or shawl
• Sip something warm slowly, noticing the texture and scent
• Rock or sway gently (with or without your child)
• Press your hands into a wall or do a few slow stretches
• Use grounding tools like fidget objects or smooth stones

_{"Your body doesn't just need less stimulation; it needsthe right kindof sensory input to feel safe and grounded."}

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3. Try Eye Cupping (Warm or Cool)

Eye cupping is a simple tool that calms the visual system and offers instant relief from sensory input.

Warm Version:

• Rub your hands together to create warmth
• Gently cup your palms over your closed eyes
• Hold for 15–30 seconds, breathing slowly

This creates a soothing, darkened space and is especially helpful after a visually chaotic day.

Cool Version (if you run hot or feel foggy):

• Place a cool, damp washcloth over your closed eyes
• Or use a chilled eye mask across your forehead and brow
• Rest quietly for 1–2 minutes while breathing deeply

Both versions help quiet the sensory system and reset your state—choose what your body is asking for.

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4. Shift the Environment

When possible, change the environment, not just your reaction.

Simple environmental changes include:

• Going outside—even just for 2 minutes of fresh air or sunlight
• Sitting on the porch, stepping into the garden, or walking around the block
• Turning off background noise like the TV or music
• Dim lighting at night, using warm-toned bulbs or lamps
• Keeping one “low stimulation” corner tidy with calming textures and visuals
• Using soft materials (blankets, socks, clothes) that feel good on your skin

Nature is especially powerful—it offers calming, rhythmic input and a break from artificial stimulation. Trees, wind, birds, and natural light support regulation in ways indoor environments can’t always provide.

_{"Nature is especially powerful—it offers calming, rhythmic input and a break from artificial stimulation."}

5. Build Predictable Rhythms

Your nervous system thrives on predictability. Creating gentle routines can help buffer you from becoming overstimulated. Try:

• Transition cues (music, timers, or rituals)
• Pausing for breath between tasks
• Noticing when your body starts to speed up—and slowing it down with intention
• Creating small rituals for morning, transitions, and bedtime

Even just naming your routine (“First we eat, then we play, then we rest”) can calm the nervous system for both you and your child.

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6. Increase Mindfulness and Reduce Multitasking

Multitasking might be necessary at times—but it's also a fast track to overload. When you can:

• Focus on one thing at a time
• Finish one task before starting another
• Allow pauses between activities to reset
• Notice the urge to do more and gently resist it

Single-tasking is a sensory relief: fewer inputs, fewer decisions, and more presence.

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7. Set Gentle Sensory Boundaries

You are allowed to have sensory limits. Setting boundaries doesn’t make you selfish—it keeps you regulated and available. Try phrases like:

• “I need a few minutes of quiet.”
• “Let’s take turns talking—my ears are full right now.”
• “I need some space, then I’ll be back for a cuddle.”
• “It’s too loud for me—let’s turn it down a little.”

You’re not just advocating for yourself—you’re modelling regulation  

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8. Build in Mini Sensory Resets

Instead of waiting until you’re maxed out, sprinkle in regulation moments throughout the day:

• Eye cupping in a quiet room
• A warm shower in silence
• Deep breathing with feet pressed into the floor
• Squeezing a soft object while making lunch
• Stepping outside for 3 minutes of fresh air

These micro-resets can stop the build-up of sensory stress and give your nervous system a chance to recover.

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Conclusion
If you feel overstimulated, touched out, or emotionally frayed—it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means your nervous system is working hard to keep up with relentless input. By getting curious about your sensory needs and giving yourself permission to adjust your environment, your rhythms, and your boundaries, you create more space to be present—with yourself and your children. Caring for your sensory system isn’t indulgent or optional; it’s a vital part of self-regulation and emotional wellbeing, especially in the demanding season of parenting. There’s no “perfect” strategy—only what works for you, in this moment, with compassion and care.

_{"...it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means your nervous system is working hard to keep up..."}