Parents do plenty of worrying about how their children sleep. They hire sleep coaches, try co-sleeping, change their entire schedules, and so much more to make sure their kids get the 40 winks required. But what about their own sleep schedules? According to an article by Natalie Herman for the Washington Post, making sure parents are well-rested as well needs to become a priority for a number of pretty important reasons.
Herman cites a recent National Geographic documentary, which states 1,000 fatal car accidents a year are caused by drowsy drivers, and tired workers cost businesses roughly $100 billion annually. On top of those intimidating statistics, Herman also states the obvious: tired parents are not the best parents they could be.
While her recommendation for the U.S. government and companies to take the sleeping habits of workers seriously is nice, it’s hard to be optimistic about that happening in this economy–especially now that we can be available 24/7 thanks to the rectangular glowing transmitters on our person at all times. We can’t necessarily expect the government to care about whether or not we’re well-rested, but we can care, and do whatever we can to fix it.
Herman’s piece, while definitely enlightening and eye-opening, neglects one very important question, which is: How the $%* are parents supposed to get a solid night’s sleep with fussy children, especially infants?
So, parents of Kveller, we’ll let you fill in the blanks. What do you do to make sure you get the rest you need? Are you well-rested? If not, how is it affecting your life? We want to know.
