Disturbed Sleep Can Make You Sick

So New Mom, take care... The effects of sleep deprivation aren't nice. Here's how to deal with it.

Disturbed sleep is part of most new parents' life.

But it is very important to try to make the best of the situation.

A recent study by some Swedish researchers at the prominent Karolinska Institutet have found a strong correlation between lack of sleep and long-term sick leave.

Actually, prolonged disturbed sleep increases the risk for long-term sick leave by 86%. For people who also feel tired, the risk of a long term sick leave is double compared to people that sleep well and don't feel tired.

The study also indicated that women actually have twice as high a risk as men to be hit by long-term illness sick leave.

Why is this? Well, some of the negative effects of sleep deprivation are impaired coordination, blurred vision, weakened immune system, memory and cognitive impairment and in the longer term even high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and more!

This really made me think about all us - moms...

It is so important to try to get a reasonable amount of sleep despite having a baby or a young child. And just because a baby starts sleeping through the night at some point, there is absolutely no guarantee that he will continue doing so.

Actually, most children have periods of separation anxiety, nightmares, rapid development, growing pains and more...

Although I felt that some of the tips given by these sleep experts to avoid disturbed sleep were almost a joke when you are a new mom, some things are actually good to remember to improve the quality of your sleep:

How To Improve Your Sleep (According To Sleep Experts)

• Go to bed and get up from bed at about the same time every day
• Get up early and don't sleep too much (well, at least this one won't be a problem for a new mom...)
• Get a lot af physical activity and day light
• Make sure your bedroom is dark, quite and cool
• Don't agree to do things at home or at work that are too tiresome
• Relax for 2 to 3 hours before you go to bed every night (haha!)
• Get help if you're exhausted

As you can see, some of these advice are difficult to follow as a parent, especially with babies or young kids. So make sure you do what you can of the above points and then also add in what ever works of our sleep tips for new moms.

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