Study finds new fathers have six years of sleep deprivation, study finds – 27/02/2019

To form a family, does night rest a distant dream? We give ourselves to the fine task without knowing what lies ahead. But A new study indicates that parents' yawning could last six years.

Researchers who followed men and women who were expanding their families found that sleep was at least about three months after the baby was born and that this effect was stronger for women.

However, although parents experienced a gradual improvement in sleep as the newborn grew up, their night rest was apparently never the same again.

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"We were not expecting that, but we think that there are definitely many changes in everyone's responsibilities," said Dr. Sakari Lemola, co-author of the research at the University of New York. University of Warwick, UK. He added that even if children stop crying during the night while growing up, they may wake up, get sick or have nightmares, while the stress and worries that come with raising children can also affect sleep parents.

The study, published in the magazine The sleep, badyzed data from German adults interviewed in face-to-face interviews conducted once a year between 2008 and 2015. Participants were asked to rate the quality of their sleep on a scale of 0 to 10 and have asked how many hours of sleep they had had on a normal weekday and a normal weekend day.

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The researchers focused on the responses of more than 2,500 women and nearly 2,200 men who reported the birth of their first, second or third child during the study. Participants were followed for up to six years.

It is perhaps not surprising that the team observed a decrease in women's sleep satisfaction the first year after the birth of a child, with an average decrease of 1.7 points on the first year scale. child. and a little more than one point at a time for the second and third compared to the period prior to the first pregnancy.

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Mothers also lost about 40 minutes of sleep per night during the year following the baby 's arrival compared to the pre – pregnancy level, which is why she was pregnant. act of their first child or later.

Further badysis of the data showed that the three months after the birth of a first child were particularly stressful: Women lost more than an hour of sleep compared to the period before their pregnancy.

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Although similar trends were observed in men, the effects were less pronounced. Even within three months after the birth of their first child, the men lost only 13 minutes of sleep.

Interestingly, the team found that the impact of the first child was extended for both parents. Even taking into account the impact of new children, women continued to suffer from a relative lack of sleep, both qualitatively and quantitatively, four to six years after the birth of their first child. Overall, satisfaction with sleep was rated on average at just over one point less, while sleep duration decreased by approximately 25 minutes.

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In contrast, after the birth of the second child, the mother's sleep regained its activity level before that pregnancy and almost recovered in the case of a third child. Lemola's conclusions about the duration and quality of sleep were worse from the beginning because of the impact of the first child. "The baseline is lower," he said.

The study has some limitations. Of these, one of the most important is that it is based on data collected once a year and in reports provided by the same participants and that some of them have defected .

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Cathy Finlay, professor of prenatal clbades at the National Childbirth Trust, said parents have resources to mitigate the effects of sleep disorders.

"Sleep deprivation can be physically and emotionally draining. We must try not to worry about non-basic domestic tasks and to accept the help of family and friends when they offer them. "He added that coordinating naps with those of children can help, while allowing one parent to attend the evening, while the other is resting before the "night shift".

But, he added, parents should take heart. "Sleep disorders can be difficult and exhausting, but you have to keep in mind that they will not last forever."

Source: Guardian Verticals, Nicola Davis. Translation: Elisa Carnelli.

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