17 May
Helen Sands Blog

Enhance Your Chance For Sleep

As parents, aren’t we supposed to be tired all the time? Even with two great sleepers, I still feel tired all the time! What about possible factors that are negatively impacting your ability to sleep? Sleep deprivation is so hard on the body physically and mentally. Do you know what you could be doing to negatively impact your sleep, without even realizing? Here are some great tips and references.

FOOD & DRINKS

Did you know that if you eat or drink the wrong foods close to bedtime, you are doing yourself a disservice in the sleep department? Foods or drinks that stimulate you are not worth consuming near bedtime. We all know about caffeine but what about sugars and fats?

Caffeine stays in your system for hours and can truly inhibit your sleep. I have a rule in my house that there is no caffeine after 4pm. It works very well and the moment I have that delicious cup of tea after dinner in the evening, I’m up until midnight unable to relax! Alcohol can be both a stimulant and a depressant but yes, it can cause big problems for sleep.

Here is a great article to help you learn more: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/is-alcohol-a-stimulant-or-depressant.html

GOING TO BED TOO LATE?
The optimal time to go to bed is when you feel that wave of sleepiness flush your body. We’ve all had it. It might be 9.50pm on one night or 10.30pm the next night.
If you know you have to be up at a certain time every morning, it is really imperative that you count back 7 to 9 hours and go to bed at the appropriate time, taking into account that flush of sleepiness.
For example, most nights, I go to bed sometime between 10.30 and 11pm. But on occasion, such as last night, I was feeling that flush just after 10. Going to bed was not an option at that moment so I forced myself to stay up to accomplish some work. Unfortunately, when I finally did go to bed, I could not sleep. Point taken. Don’t do that again! Our bodies simply need what they need.

If you are suffering from sleep deprivation because your child is not sleeping well, it’s really even more important to take that into consideration and go to bed earlier, to compensate for that.

The effects of sleep deprivation on parents for example, can be:

  • Breast milk supply can be negatively impacted
  • No fun family outing is enjoyable because they are so exhausted
  • Mom and Dad cannot enjoy date nights (if they are lucky enough to have them!)
  • Mom and Dad cannot enjoy evenings together because they spend most of it trying to get their child to bed
  • Parents have huge anxiety about returning to work and if they do, constant sleep deprivation makes it very difficult to function at their best
  • If Mom is at home all day with a non-napping child, she is very stressed and exhausted by the time Dad comes home.
  • Sleep deprived parents behind the wheel of a vehicle!

MELATONIN

Did you know you shut down the release of melatonin if you are using screens too close to bedtime?

  • iPhone
  • iPad
  • Computers

Close them down at least an hour before bedtime. If you are using an app to track your child’s sleep, there is no need to go on it during the night. Simply write things down on a notebook, under very very dim lighting and then go back to bed. You can always enter the information in the morning!

Goodnight!