It may seem obvious that we all need sleep.
Even though science does not yet tell us exactly why we sleep, researchers (and tired moms alike) agree that getting the proper amount of sleep is beneficial in many ways.
Improves Learning & Memory
We’re all familiar with the fact that we have a hard time focusing on information when we haven’t had enough sleep. But absorbing information is only part of the story.
Learning and memory are divided into three functions: acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Basically, your brain needs to receive new information, process and stabilize the memory, and then you need to be able to access that information from storage when you need it.
Acquisition and recall really only take place while you’re awake. Memory consolidation, on the other hand, takes place during sleep.
So even if you’re able to focus on what you’re learning and receive the information, without adequate sleep, that information won’t be properly stored in the brain, and when you try to access it later on, you won’t be able to.
This is particularly important for our children, as there’s a great amount of learning that needs to happen within the first 18-20 years of their lives. Considering how much information our children need to retain, it seems to me that adequate sleep should be of major importance for parents.
Boosts Mood
We all know that when we don’t get enough sleep, we get short-tempered and irritable. This study shows that people who experienced even partial sleep deprivation reported feelings of stress, anger, sadness, and mental exhaustion.
You likely don’t find this surprising. We’re all aware that we get emotional in very negative ways when we’re tired, but why?
Again, the scientific community doesn’t exactly know. But some researchers have suggested that sleep deprivation stimulates activity in the amygdala – the part of the brain that’s responsible for processing emotions. This causes increased feelings of stress, fear, anger and aggression.
Ensuring that our children get adequate sleep each night is vital to their mood and overall emotional health.
Promotes Physical Health
It’s fairly easy to notice the short-term effects that sleep deprivation has on our ability to learn as well as our mood. But what tends to get overlooked is the long-term impact that insufficient sleep has on our physical health.
Children getting less than 10 hours of sleep per night have an increased risk of obesity. And some of the health issues associated with long-term obesity include high blood pressure or heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea or other breathing problems, bone and joint problems, and depression.
Adults who regularly get between 7-9 hours of sleep a night see significantly lower rates of obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, infections, depression, diabetes, inflammation, hypertension, heart disease, heart attacks, and heart failure. They also report better performance at work, and take fewer sick days than people who typically sleep less than 7 hours a night.
So it’s clear that sleep is an essential part of a healthy, happy lifestyle (along with diet and exercise).
And yet somehow there’s this idea out there that once you become a mom, you need to sacrifice your own sleep, and that babies are supposed to be waking up multiples times a night.
But here’s the thing: your baby needs sleep even more than you do. Those little bodies are busy growing, fighting off infections, producing antibodies, and laying the foundation for growth & development. If a baby isn’t getting adequate sleep, their body is going to have a difficult time getting all this necessary work done.
Addressing your baby’s sleep issues isn’t selfish or unrealistic. It’s necessary and your baby will benefit in many ways.