Having a new baby, or any children, can be hard.
You have to adjust to a whole new life where you are responsible for another human being.
If you have a baby on the way, you should probably prepare for losing sleep now.
The National Sleep Foundation did a poll which showed that 76 percent of parents have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep. So, why is this a problem?
Keep reading to find out why parents need to get more sleep.
You need sleep to function
Everyone needs sleep to function, but if you are looking after children or babies that cannot function on their own, you especially need sleep.
Losing a few hours of sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but even losing 1 or 2 hours a night can cause you to function like you haven’t had any sleep for a day or two.
This impacts the way you think and act throughout the day as it may lead to micro-sleep.
Micro-sleep is when you’re awake, but your body briefly falls asleep.
This can happen without you even noticing.
If you have children, you know what kind of havoc they can wreak in a brief moment.
Even worse, they could hurt themselves and you may not be able to react quickly enough to help them.
Although 7-9 hours of sleep a night is recommended, adults can function with an absolute minimum of 6, so try to at least aim for that to keep you functioning throughout the day.
You need sleep to stay healthy
Though parents are probably worrying more about their children’s health than their own, you cannot take care of anyone else if you are sick.
Sleep plays an important role in keeping you healthy, both physically and mentally.
Your body heals overnight, any damage you incur throughout the day is repaired while you sleep.
Thus, ongoing sleep deficiency can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.
It can also increase the risk of obesity.
All of these things can kill you, even as a young adult.
If you are not healthy or in the worst case, not around, you cannot properly take care of your children and make sure that they are healthy.
Though many parents have trouble putting themselves first, in the case of sleeping properly, you need to sleep to be your best, healthiest self.
You need sleep to be emotionally available
One thing most parents can agree on is that their babies and children are not afraid to show emotion.
They cry and scream a lot, and for everything, but they also laugh and smile a lot.
They have no inhibitions with showing their emotions like adults do.
It can be hard for adults to express their emotions to the same capacity normally, but children need their parents to model healthy emotions.
This is important to note because a lack of sleep can affect a person’s emotional intelligence.
If you are tired and irritable, it will be hard for you to act and seem happy.
Similarly, many studies have shown that people’s ability to be empathetic is less when they are not sleeping properly.
This means that you will not be able to understand your children’s feelings as well as you would with the proper amount of sleep.
This may not seem like a big deal, but children need love and positive affirmation just as much as they need to be taken care of physically.
Sleeping properly will help you to be in a better mood so you can better help encourage your children’s emotional development.
Getting the right amount of sleep starts with you.
Setting a healthy sleep schedule that you and your children follow is a great first step to getting the right amount of sleep.
Another way is to make sure you have the right mattress and you should be replacing it every 8 years.
Buying a new mattress doesn’t have to be stressful, you can do it online here.
Don’t forget to prioritize your needs; your children need you to be at your best and you can’t do that without the proper amount of sleep – that’s why Parents Need to Get More Sleep.
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