November 7th, 2011 
There’s an interesting article that ran in the New York Times last week about the increasing number of mothers using sleep aids. If you have a newborn, that might sound absurd at a time when you find yourself falling asleep at every turn. Brace yourself, because these tired days into sleepness nights don’t necessarily end when the baby can sleep through the night.
The Sleep Foundation has released some startling statistics concerning women and sleep. The average woman aged 30-60 only gets approximately 6 hours and 41 minutes of sleep on week nights. They are more likely than men to encounter sleep difficulties. Nearly three in ten women use some type of sleep aid at least a few nights a week. There are many possible reasons for them but sleepless nights are an increasingly common phenomenon, particularly among mothers.
“Did I send that e-mail to my client? Is the permission slip for
pictures due today? Do Carrie’s dance shoes still fit? Is Girl Scouts on
this week?” These are the kinds of thoughts that Susan Stoga runs through when she should be sleeping.
Dr. Katherine M. Sharkey, a sleep medicine expert provides an accurate assessment of what’s going on: “There’s no release valve to let things fall by the wayside during the day, and that’s creeping into women’s night. So they’re waking up in the middle of the night with a million things
running through their heads: things that may not be earth shattering,
but it’s real stuff and it causes serious sleep deprivation.”
Dr. Meir Kryger, director of sleep medicine at Gaylord Hospital in Connecticut, says that women, “are really paying the price in sleep for their current role in society.” She’s talking about the way women today often have to juggle motherhood, work full-time, and then are expected to clean the house, cook all the meals and the list can go on to include many other roles.
“I think so much of what drives it is our need for control,” says Ana Marie Alessi, a single mother from New Jersey. “We feel like it’s our job to anticipate any variant on The Day, much
less The Life — If it rains will I need to change my schedule so I can
drop off my kid and he doesn’t need to ride his bike in a downpour? We
try to ward off anything that can interfere with the Good Day.”
When sleep’s elusive, there are many ways to help alleviate the never-ending thoughts. Daily exercise, a diet that includes carbohydrates in the evenings, and meditation or breathing exercises are just a few examples. There is no one-solution-fits-all, however, so it’s important to find which methods work for you.
Do your thoughts keep you up at night? What kind of things do you do to get back to sleep?
Sleep Medication: Mother’s New Little Helper [NYTimes]
Women and Sleep [NSF]
