Benefits Of Sleep

There are endless benefits to sleep and reasons it is so important. When your baby starts to sleep independently, is able to sleep long stretches at night and having good naps, this is when you start to see regenerative sleep. Regenerative sleep is important because this is when your body is no longer at a resting state, it is now restoring, repairing and growing.

The Benefits for your baby:

Development: The body and brain develop while your child sleeps, helping your child reach important milestones. Sleep also helps your child to have better concentration, making it easier to learn, retain information, and to promote better memory.

Health: Sleep helps the body to fight infection, illnesses and viruses more easily, so your child is less likely to get sick and will recover faster. Healthy sleep lowers the risk of obesity, and also helps with diabetes. Poor sleep changes your fat cells. It also changes insulin disruption, making you crave food. Good sleep habits established early will help reduce the chance of them developing ADD or ADHA later in life.

Behaviour: Your child will make better decisions when they get enough sleep and will be less impulsive. Children with good sleep habits have less behavioural outbursts or tantrums allowing them to make friends more easily, and maintain healthy relationships with others. When your child sleeps well it helps to grow the bond between the parent and child that will last a lifetime. When your baby sleeps well, so do you, improving overall well-being and helping you to develop that special bond.

How sleep Affects Mom:

When your child is getting up many times in the night it can feel like you are not getting any sleep at all. It feels as though you just closed your eyes and you finally fell asleep and your baby is awake again. When your baby gets older and still has poor sleep habits, especially over a long period of time, it can impact more than just making you feel tired. Sleep helps you think clearly and cope with stress. It is during sleep that your body sorts memories from the day. Lack of sleep can cause memory lapses, making some tasks harder to do and causing you to feel scatter-brained or foggy. For mom’s this is when you can’t even remember what you even did that day, when you last changed your child’s diaper, when you fed them last, or if you put something from the refrigerator in the cupboard by mistake. Another thing sleep helps is processing your emotion. You may notice yourself feeling more emotional, whether that’s being on the verge of crying, or easily angered if your child acts out. Getting a good night’s sleep can help you to feel more refreshed and energized but also help keep your mind and emotion in check to help you be a great mom.

Mental Health: This is a huge aspect as to why sleep is so important for moms. In Canada, about 23 % of moms have been shown to have clinical postpartum depression or anxiety and 70-80 % of moms experience what is called baby blues at some point postpartum. Healthy sleep has been shown to lower the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and postpartum depression. Sleep makes you feel more motivated, gives you energy and allows you to feel good about yourself. When you are getting enough sleep this improves your mental health allowing you to bond easier with your baby. When your baby naps well and sleeps at night, it gives you the ability to have time for yourself, get things done around the house, or have a social life. This is huge for your overall mental health.

How this helps the Family:

Sleep helps the entire family as a whole. When the family is sleeping well, there is less fighting between children, parents, and between parents and children. When children are sleeping well, it allows more alone time for the parents and promotes a happy home life overall.

Teaching your child to sleep independently can change your lives in so many ways. I can help you get there and help you respond to your child’s cries and to reassure them while teaching them the skills that they need in order to self soothe. Teaching them these skills early on will help them for their whole life. Let me help you get the sleep your family needs and deserves.

Message me if you have any questions, I would love to chat with you.