Mothers Need More Sleep
Getting more sleep: how do you see it? As a luxury or as a necessity? Because of the amount of tasks and things to do throughout the day, mothers may come to see sleeping as little more than a great luxury that they can’t have. They may even see it as a waste of their precious time.
What do you think? Do you really think that sleeping more will help you to be a better mother?
Why is sleeping more hours beneficial?
Recent studies have shown that sleeping more is essential for good health. Despite our tight schedules and busy lives as mothers, the truth is that it is vital to make sure we get enough sleep and rest.
Restful sleep allows our body to metabolize free radicals, and therefore prevent premature aging and even cancer.
On the other hand, when we don’t sleep enough hours, the production of leukocytes and the hormone cortisol is reduced, making us more vulnerable to infectious diseases and even cardiovascular diseases.
It may also be the case that people who sleep more are less obese, because the body secretes a hormone when sleeping that signals the brain that the body has eaten enough. In this way, unnecessary binges are avoided.
We must also mention the pleasant state and feeling of satisfaction that come after a good night’s rest. Not only will our health benefit, but also our family and friends will appreciate it. Why? Because we will enjoy a good sense of humor, and this will be very good for us to start our grueling daily routine as moms.
4 Great Benefits of Getting More Sleep
- Prevents obesity
- Helps prevent infectious diseases
- Fights diseases like diabetes
- Helps to have good health and a good mood
Dreams are the main nourisher in the feast of life.
-Shakespeare-
Why do mothers especially need more sleep?
With the arrival of the first child at home, the mother’s sleep and rest hours are drastically affected, causing her to be unable to sleep more hours than necessary, or less than that.
Needless to say, mothers do a lot of work inside and outside the home, which logically leaves them exhausted and physically, mentally and emotionally tired.
There are many times at night when you have to wake up to breastfeed or to simply make sure that your little one is fine, resulting in a constant interruption of your rest.
If people knew what happened during sleep, they would think twice before saying sleep is a waste of time.
-Deborah Suchecki-
How to sleep more and better
- Quit smoking. Apart from the dangers demonstrated for our children, smoking harms the hours of rest, since many smokers experience withdrawal symptoms at night.
- Avoid tasks that require a lot of mental effort before bedtime. If we perform these types of tasks, instead of sleeping more, we achieve the opposite effect, because it prevents us from relaxing and therefore falling asleep.
- Try to sleep in the dark, in silence and with the right temperature. It is proven that proper temperature and light promote good rest.
- Avoid stimulants such as coffee, tea or alcohol just before bed. Alcohol, contrary to what is believed, will not help us to rest because it contributes to sleeplessness at night.
As we have said in this article, we have to attach greater importance to sleeping more and not see it as something that is not within our reach simply because we are mothers, but quite the opposite.
Just as we need to take care of ourselves and to feed ourselves well due to the benefit we know it has on our bodies, we must treat well-deserved rest with the same dignity.
