Remember those days long before parenting, when you’d be dreaming of a Saturday morning lie-in while making your Monday morning coffee? Well, those days are long gone. For me, lazy Saturdays are a thing of the past, especially when my children want to pretend I’m a bouncy castle at 5am.
So, while you can no longer rely on the weekends to catch up on some much needed shuteye, it’s especially important that you get a good night’s sleep when you can.
You need to be on the ball at all times
When you’ve got children, you need to be on the ball at all times. There’s no time to be too tired to function. Sleep deprivation can result in slowed reaction times and when you have little ones who are constantly on the go, you need to be following their every move.
Sufficient sleep will ensure that you’re alert, and able to quickly react if your child hurts themselves or becomes unwell.
It’s essential to have energy, and lots of it
Children are into all sorts. Whether they want to dress up as their favourite characters, play hide and seek or build a den, they usually want help from mummy or daddy. If you haven’t had enough sleep, the last thing you’re going to want to do is get stuck in. However, sleep or no sleep, it’s your role to get involved.
You can’t suck the fun out of their day just because you got fewer than forty winks last night. Be sure to get enough sleep so that you’re just as excited about playing as they are!
• H A P P Y • Happy New Year 🍾 We swapped champagne for tea by 10.30pm because we’re that wild 😂 . Here’s to 2017: this munchkin turns 2, I turn 30, and the eldest starts real school and turns 5 😱 #happynewyear
Your health is important
The average adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep a night according to the National Sleep Foundation. If you sleep for a couple of hours a night on a continual basis, you’ll build up a ‘sleep debt’ that’s not so easy to pay back. Why? Well, if you struggle to get at least seven hours a night on a quality mattress, it’ll be almost impossible for you to catch up on sleep.
If your ‘sleep debt’ adds up over time, your health can suffer. Try and get at least seven hours of sleep a night to ensure that your health is not impacted in any way. Your memory, immune system, heart and metabolism are all at risk of being affected by sleep deprivation.
If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, try taking a nap. Even a twenty minute snooze can work wonders.
If you’re happy, they’re happy
Children pick up on absolutely everything. If you’re feeling tired or really run down, your little ones will be able to sense it. Be sure to get sufficient sleep and you’ll feel like a much healthier and happier version of yourself. When mummy and daddy are content, your children are too. Most of the time.
Written by Joy Richards.
About the Author: Joy Richards is the sleep and wellness specialist at Happy Beds, the UK’s leading bed and mattress store. At Happy Beds, Joy blogs about sleep science and interior design for young families.
I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in 6 and a half years! I’d love to get more than 4-5 hours - preferably unbroken sleep. If only the answer to getting my youngest to sleep through the night was as simple as buying a quality mattress. Or would I need to buy 2? One for him and one for me?
Apologies if this sounds sarcastic - blame the extreme sleep deprivation!
Author
Oh, Jo! This did make me giggle! If only a good quality mattress could solve the problem of children not sleeping, eh? 😉 Sending highly caffeinated thoughts your way! xx