The idea of sleep training often comes up when new parents are exhausted, and they reach out to their parents and ask them … desperately … “How do I get my baby to sleep at night?” Yet, sleep training isn’t just for babies. I mean surely us adults don’t need any support falling or staying asleep, right?
Okay, wrong.
Many adults suffer from poor sleep, lack of sleep, or poor-quality sleep. However, sleep training for adult is really just called something else. In fact, sleep training is essentially just creating a solid sleep routine and practicing it until it is no longer something you need to think to do and your body and your brain both do what is expected.
You see the effects of lack of sleep are sometimes pretty significant. After all, infants are not the ones that we are the most concerned about when we do sleep training for them, are they?
Nope, we are worried about us. Our lack of sleep.
In fact, lack of sleep contributes to poor physical and mental health and can lead to accidents and other unexpected consequences. I remember when I was nursing my second child. I swear to heaven that kid ate every two hours like clockwork for the first six months of his life. One night when I was feeding him, I fell asleep and he literally rolled down my legs and was sleeping soundly in the middle of his nursery. Geez!
So, lack of sleep is bad. Sleep is tied to our body’s natural rhythms. During our sleep cycle our brains detox and refresh for a new day and our body works to combat illness and diseases. Did you know getting adequate and quality sleep helps prevent:
- Memory loss
- High blood pressure
- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
That’s a lot of important work going on while we sleep and all the more reason to make sleep a priority. Heck it looks like sleep can even make you thin and smart. Who, why didn’t I try this a long time ago?
Did you know that driving while drowsy can be as dangerous as driving while under the influence of alcohol? A study done by AAA discovered that drivers who miss two or more hours of sleep per day are four times more likely to get into an accident than drivers who slept the recommended seven to eight hours. They also discovered that lack of sleep can cause similar driving impairments to those of driving under the influence.
I mean wholly crap. Not getting enough sleep can cause you to drop babies and crash cars. You can start to forget things and your health is at risk and you get fat. Well, that does it, I’m taking a nap. So, it seems like a no brainer that you might want to consider improving this area of your life if you are struggling to sleep well.
It is natural to experience some sleep disturbances once in a while. There are a lot of reasons falling or staying asleep can be hard. You have likely experienced sleeplessness due to:
- Situational anxiety or stress
- Excitement
- Illness or injuries
- Changes in routine or schedule
You might also have experienced lack of sleep do to the sleep barriers we addressed in our post yesterday.
When sleep does not come naturally, it creates fatigue that makes it hard as hell to get stuff done. It is hard to have the energy to do what must be done when you haven’t refreshed your brain or body. If you find that you are experiencing difficulty sleeping on a regular basis, it might be time to consider sleep training. Sleep training isn’t just for infants, while I’d make a case that breast milk is. Sleep training can improve your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep which helps you refresh and reinvigorate yourself for a new day.
Sleep training is a combination of activities that prepare your mind and body for a great night’s rest. Being mindful of the transition to bedtime and setting yourself up for success can make a big difference in the quality and quantity of your sleep. If you are not experiencing enough sleep or find you are waking throughout the night, sleep training might be an answer that changes everything.
If you are looking for better sleep hygiene habits, consider a sleep coach from Coach.me. https://www.coach.me/PressPlay_Lifestyle?ref=135Kp
