Let's face it, more parenthood memes talk about lacking sleep than almost any other topic... and I bet you relate to them all? If so, you are not only in good company, you are included among an elite team of parents who battle the daily grind with nowhere near enough steam to function at 100%.
In an article entitled Why Sleep Deprivation is Torture, Dr. Bulkeley explains: "In fact, prolonged sleep deprivation is an especially insidious form of torture because it attacks the deep biological functions at the core of a person's mental and physical health." What does this mean for parents? It means that parenting with prolonged sleep deprivation is not only a challenge to parenting effectiveness, it is a challenge to maintaining safety.
Initially, sleep deprivation may cause you to be irritable, tired and unable to concentrate. However, if the deprivation continues it can create detriments to safety such as disorientation, visual misperceptions and severe lethargy. It can make driving or cooking difficult and even the task of keeping your kids from danger within the confines of your own home can become daunting.
In an article entitled Why Sleep Deprivation is Torture, Dr. Bulkeley explains: "In fact, prolonged sleep deprivation is an especially insidious form of torture because it attacks the deep biological functions at the core of a person's mental and physical health." What does this mean for parents? It means that parenting with prolonged sleep deprivation is not only a challenge to parenting effectiveness, it is a challenge to maintaining safety.
Initially, sleep deprivation may cause you to be irritable, tired and unable to concentrate. However, if the deprivation continues it can create detriments to safety such as disorientation, visual misperceptions and severe lethargy. It can make driving or cooking difficult and even the task of keeping your kids from danger within the confines of your own home can become daunting.
To put it into perspective, it is UNETHICAL for professional researchers to push sleep deprivation to limits beyond what has been described above. Now, that is a scary thought!
What can you do?!? There are many creative ways parents can find to combat the ill effects of sleep deprivation, here are a few to consider:
1. Find another sleep deprived parent and trade childcare. As we talked about above, you are NOT alone in this crisis of sleep. Call your friends, make some new ones and regularly trade an afternoon of childcare for an afternoon nap. Even friends without kids may be happy to barter or trade services.
1. Find another sleep deprived parent and trade childcare. As we talked about above, you are NOT alone in this crisis of sleep. Call your friends, make some new ones and regularly trade an afternoon of childcare for an afternoon nap. Even friends without kids may be happy to barter or trade services.