Sweet Dreams from Healthline Sleep

Sweet Dreams from Healthline Sleep

I’ve always said that sleeping is the thing I’m best at. “If only I could figure out how to monetize this and make it my job!” I’d joke.

I never thought much about things like sleep hygiene or whether I was getting too much blue light from screen time before bed. I was one of those people who could fall (and stay) asleep pretty easily. In fact, if I had any sleep issues at all, it was that left to my own devices, I could sleep a bit too much.

I was made for leisurely wake-ups and breakfast in bed. It’s amazing to me that I was ever able to dress and feed myself, do a 45-minute commute, and still make it into the office by 9 a.m. (OK, 9:30 a.m.)

Then I became a parent.

Everyone tells you how sleep is the first thing you lose when you have a baby. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “get your sleep in now,” as if it were possible to bank all of those hours and use them as credit in the months to come. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe any of those other well-meaning parents, but like most experiences in parenting, you don’t really get it until you’re in it.

I didn’t know that the night before I went into labor was the last time I’d sleep a full, uninterrupted 8 hours for many, many months to come. I couldn’t imagine the type of bone-deep fatigue that would come with waking every few hours (or some nights, every 45 minutes) for weeks and months on end.

As new parents, my husband and I had to learn how to function on a sleep deficit. I kept reminding myself that it would get better, this part was only temporary. And things did get better — babies are amazing that way — but it still felt like we were rolling the dice every night.

My experience may be specific to the challenges of new parenthood, but research shows that a surprising number of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 67% of adultsTrusted Source and only 22% of high-school-aged teensTrusted Source get sufficient sleep each night.

In a survey of Healthline readers, 3 out of 5 reported that they get only light sleep, and more than half experience pain or discomfort that interferes with their ability to fall or stay asleep.

My fellow tired folks, Healthline Sleep was made for us.