Benefits of Sleep

Sleep has always been, and will likely continue to be, a bit of a mystery. From an evolutionary perspective, it seems like something we should have abandoned – I mean the fact that we fall into a near unconscious state for a third of our day, every day, leaving us vulnerable to whatever horrific dangers we faced back then… well it can really make you wonder how it is we ever made it this far as a species.

But it just goes to show you that whatever sleep does for us, it’s obviously vital to our health and well being. As of yet, the scientific community has not been able to tell us exactly why we sleep, but there is definitely a consensus among researchers (and new mothers haha) that adequate sleep is good for you in a whole bunch of ways.

So let’s talk about 3 of the benefits that we do know sleep can provide.

1. Learning
   We’re all familiar with the fact that we have a hard time focusing on information when we’re running on too little sleep. Absorbing information is only half the battle though.

   Well, if you want to get technical, it’s only a third of the battle. Learning and memory are divided into three functions – acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Put simply, you need to receive the info, then you need to stabilize the memory of it, and finally, you need to be able to access it (like when you’re watching Jeopardy!).

   Acquisition and recall really only take place while you’re awake. Consolidation on the other hand takes place during sleep through the strengthening of the neural connections that form our memories. The overall evidence suggests that adequate sleep each day is very important for learning and memory.

   So even if you manage to focus on what you’re learning and you acquire the information, without sleep, that information won’t be properly stored in the brain, and when called upon to access it, you’ll find yourself drawing a blank.

   And while learning/education can be a lifelong pursuit, what we’re most concerned about with children is that learning is their primary responsibility for the first 20 years or so of their lives. When you consider just how much information there is that they need to retain… well it’s hard to overstate the importance of a healthy sleep schedule.

2. Mood

   We all know that when we don’t get enough sleep, we get short-tempered and irritable. A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed that subjects who experienced even partial sleep deprivation reported feelings of stress, sadness, anger, and mental exhaustion.

   This isn’t exactly brand new information. We’re all aware that we get emotional in very negative ways when we’re running on too little sleep. But why? Why shouldn’t it have similar effects to a few glasses of wine? Why doesn’t sleep deprivation cause us to develop overconfidence or a desire to over-share?

   Again, it’s a bit of a mystery, but some researchers have suggested that sleep deprivation stimulates activity in the amygdale. That’s the little almond shaped part of the brain responsible for feelings of, among other things, anger and fear. These amped up feelings can lead to an overall sense of stress and hostility towards others, which is probably at least part of the reason you might lose it at your husband when he asks how your day is after he strolls in from being gone all day (not speaking from personal experience here AT ALL).

3. Health

   We can see how getting enough sleep is essential to learning and emotional well-being, but what about some more tangible benefits? Well, short of eating and breathing, you would be hard pressed to find anything with more health benefits than getting enough sleep.

   “Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness, and mood,” says Dr. Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist  at the National Institute of Health. “Sleep affects almost every tissue in our bodies.”

   People who regularly get between 7-9 hours of sleep see significantly lower rates of obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, infections, depression, diabetes, inflammation, hypertension, heart disease, heart attacks, and heart failure. They also report higher satisfaction with their sex lives, better performance at work, and take fewer sick fays than people who typically sleep less than 7 hours a night.

So there’s no question that sleep, while it remains mysterious, is definitely ns essential part of a healthy, happy lifestyle.

But that all changes when you have a baby, right? I mean, you’ve brought a new life into this world, and you’re expected to sacrifice your sleep for a few years, maybe six or seven (or a whole lot more if you have more children), in order to respond to your baby’s needs – which for some reason they seem to have a lot of in the middle of the night.

This is, in my mind at least, the most problematic myth about parenthood – one that really needs to be put to rest.

Because here’s the thing – your baby needs sleep even more than you do. Those little bodies may look like they’re just idling about when asleep, but there is an absolute frenzy of work going on behind the scenes. Growth hormones are being secreted to help baby gain weight and sprout up, cytokines are being produced to fight off infections and produce antibodies, all kinds of miraculous, intricate systems are at work laying the foundation for your baby’s growth and development. And this will continue to happen through adolescence, provided they’re given the opportunities to sleep to do so.

Nature does the heavy lifting. All that’s required is for baby to close their eyes and sleep.

This being my area of expertise, I see a LOT of people tell new parents that some babies just don’t sleep well and that they should expect their little ones to be waking them up seven or eight times a night. And worst of all, that’s it’s okay if all this happens.

So to those people, I would just like to say, you have absolutely NO idea what you’re talking about. Your advice isn’t just wrong, it’s harmful. Telling people to accept their baby’s sleep issues as a part of the parenting experience is preventing them from addressing the problem and that’s a serious concern for everybody in the family. Not because everyone in the household is selfish and wants to sleep in, but because they, and even more so, their kids, need adequate sleep – for all the reasons I listed above, and more. (It’s like telling a nursing mom that it’s okay for breastfeeding to always hurt – but UMM no it’s not! And while it’s become more common to utilize a lactation consultant to sort out that concern, we’re not quite there yet with sleep issues.)

So if your baby is waking up multiple times a night and crying until you come into the room and rock them back to sleep – that’s not necessarily motherhood as usual. That’s likely a baby who has trouble sleeping and it is interfering with their body’s natural development. It’s no different than an ear infection or jaundice. It’s a health issue and it has a remedy – just like with sleep.

To every mother out there – I implore you – don’t accept the idea of sleep as a luxury that you’re going to have to learn to live without for a few years. If your baby is not sleeping, address it. It’s not selfish. It’s not unrealistic. It’s necessary, and the benefits are prolific.