Sleepless In……..
I live and work in Petaluma, CA. and am happily a member of the Petaluma Mothers Club. I say happily, because it takes a lot of support to be a parent and the mothers club here, is made up of really wonderful, supportive women, and their often equally as supportive significant others.
Recently, I prevailed upon them, yet again, for their counsel and advice, because, as so commonly happens with children, my son was going thru a phase of waking at all hours. When this happens, the sleep patterns of the child and the parent get messed up, and the family relationships may become a bit strained, and the next day’s activities are often disrupted, as well.
I went looking for research on the importance of sleep, because we often forget how sleep and lack of sleep actually affect our brains.
We get cranky for a reason. There’s actually a valid reason that we don’t feel up to snuff, when we haven’t slept enough and parents are awfully hard on themselves, telling themselves that not sleeping comes w/ the job of being a parent, and that they have to be good mommies and daddies, and just bite the bullet and accept the state of being constantly foggy with lack of sleep.
I only knew that I have trouble being a “good mommy” when I’m sleep deprived. I too easily lose capacity for good judgement, and get sucked into my child’s melt downs, thinking that I can and should be able to make him happy, every minute. My driving skills also decline markedly, when I’m fatigued from lack of sleep. Here is just one of the websites that I discovered, that looked to cover a lot of research by qualified scientists/doctors, on this subject.
http://www.doctorslounge.com/primary/articles/sleep/index.htm
In my own mind, I’ve established that being a “good mommy/parent” and being overly sleep deprived are mutually exclusive states of being. The research would seem to agree.
A few extra hours of sleep, is just that. It isn’t pampering yourself in an exceedingly self indulgent manner. Getting enough sleep simply assures that after those few hours of sleep, you will be a much better parent to your child.
When I was latching my child into his room at night, I was assuring not only that I got enough sleep, but also that my child had the opportunity to get the same sleep.
Many would and have taken me to task for creating a fire hazard that endangered my child, but as I pointed out, a fire is not an every day occurance, and latching the door brought me peace of mind, in that I knew that my child wouldn’t tumble down the stairs, in a sleepy state, on his way to our room, to climb into bed with us, at all hours of the night/morning. Unlike a fire, in my son’s room, this could have happened at any time, before he could be trusted on the stairs on his own. I couldn’t have let myself sleep, knowing that he could tumble down the stairs, while I slept.
I no longer have to take this precaution, because now my son is quite capable of managing the stairs, and he’s learned to be courteously quiet, when he comes into our room, in the morning.
So the moral of the story is that sleep isn’t just a luxury that we can’t always afford, although sometimes it seems that way, and you really will be a better functioning person, once you’ve had some sleep. Do whatever you need to do, to get some zzzzs, because your sleep is important, not only to you, but to everyone around you, as well, and even more so to everyone who depends on you. Click on the link that I provided, if you need more basis in scientific fact than I gave, here. Just remember that the real proof is in the pudding? How do you feel and function on days when you’ve had enough sleep, vs. when you haven’t?
Also, Keep in mind that a lot of opportunistic illnesses are warded off by well slept bodies, and that makes us all a lot healthier.
Sweet dreams, Gentle Readers.
Sue of Suzanne’s Hands
1580 E. Washington St. Suite 109
Petaluma, CA
Right behind Round Table Pizza.