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Healthy Sleep? It Really IS Possible for New Parents, Kids, Families

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While many adults already deal with problems sleeping, along comes a pregnancy and things get even worse!

Getting to sleep, staying asleep and getting quality sleep are all challenges made even more difficult by being pregnant, or being a new parent.  And these problems don’t just affect mom.  Her partner can be just as affected.

Despite the fact that interruptions to sleep routines will happen, it helps to understand what’s happening and keep certain tips in mind that can alleviate some of the stress and improve the sleep you do get.

The Sleep Help Institute has put together some excellent guides to help this happen.

Healthy Sleep for New and Expecting Parents

A look at how pregnancy can affect sleep.  The Sleep Help Institute covers each trimester with information on what to expect, best practices and tips.  There are notes on the best sleep positions for moms – and positions to avoid.  You’ll learn the benefits of exercise, eating right and helping your partner get better sleep.

Children’s Sleep Guide

If they don’t get enough sleep, children suffer.  It can make them irritable, lethargic and affect their learning and attitudes.  The Institute’s article has a helpful Sleep Guide, tips for creating a healthy sleep routine and info about choosing the best mattress.  Learn how to deal with nightmares, night terrors, snoring and sleep walking.

How To Manage Screen Time and Bed Time

Did you know that according to the National Sleep Foundation, at least 90% of us use technology during the hour before we go to bed?  This can often affect the time it takes us to fall asleep and the quality of sleep we get.  It’s a problem that every parent deals with when it comes to kids, but it can be just as detrimental to adults.  The Sleep Help Institute has some great ideas on minimizing the effect of technology on sleep, changing your light settings and creating a better bedtime routine.

Here’s hoping you and your family are getting better sleep soon.

And thanks to the Sleep Help Institute!

 

Can You Get PTSD From Sleep Deprivation? I’m Kidding. Sorta.

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When I was pregnant, it felt like everyone loved to say “Sleep while you can!” or some variation thereof. Always said cheerfully, sometimes with a smirk, but never once did it help me to comprehend the depths of sleep deprivation hell I was about to enter. Our wee beeb did not sleep for more than two hours at a time until she was seven months old. That was when we tried the infamous “cry it out” method, and it worked – she fussed! She never cried hard! She fell right asleep and SLEPT ALL NIGHT LONG! It was a miracle! And it only lasted FOR ONE MONTH. After that, she began waking in the night again, and her night waking lasted until she was five and a half. So when I ask you if it’s possible to have PTSD induced by intense, prolonged sleep deprivation, I’m only halfway kidding. I mean… is it?

It’s been on my mind because we just got a dog, and whether or not the dog was going to be a good sleeper was my BIGGEST worry, by leaps and bounds. It poops on the carpet? We’ve got carpet cleaner. It chews through my Toms? One word: ZAPPOS. But if the thing doesn’t sleep through the night? Just the thought made me panic.

Thankfully, by choosing a rescue dog that was being fostered, we were able to find out all about his behavior before we brought him home, and his description was the main reason we zeroed in on him. I mean, he is a ridiculously cute two year old Basset Hound/Dachshund/Black Lab mix, but DOES HE SLEEP? That was my number one question. I was seriously nervous, because it takes all of two seconds of me thinking about F’s early days of not sleeping for me to conjure up the physical and emotional sensations that tortured me so much back then, and they are really, REALLY uncomfortable. Painful, in fact. About that I am not kidding.

Here’s the happy ending: our new dog sleeps like a champ. He sleeps in our bedroom and sleeps quietly all night long. He has only peed in the house once – on the first day we brought him home – and he’s only chewed one of F’s Toms once. OK, twice. WHATEVS. Our new dog sleeps, our six year old (FINALLY) sleeps, and I feel like myself again.

Sorta. 🙂

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