I’ve been suffering from sleep deprivation this week. And I do mean suffering. When I don’t get enough sleep I feel muddled, enraged, and nauseated.
A recent New York magazine feature addresses some of the physical, intellectual, and emotional burdens kids bear when they aren’t getting enough sleep, most of which apply just as much to adults as children.
Our whole family functions better when we’re sleeping well, so it’s a priority for me to get back to our predictable and plentiful sleep schedule.
So with that, I’ll say “good night.”
[Edited to add: Good golly, I must have been too tired to notice that I didn’t actually publish this after writing it. This really was a November 8 post. Really.]
November 10th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I’ve been meaning to talk about that NYT article on sleep as well. Why is getting enough sleep always such a struggle?
November 11th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I’ve been wanting to write about how oftentimes new parents answer the question “How are you?” with “Sleep deprived!”
You say, “When I don’t get enough sleep, I feel muddled, enraged, and nauseated.” I feel the same way, and I have recently been thinking about how it is really interesting, and concerning, that basically parents are saying “I am overwhelmed and impatient, and unable to cope well” when they say “sleep-deprived.”
Yet the phrase has almost become as blase as “Fine” — the deep feelings underneath don’t get addressed.
I wish we could sleep for each other, and that we could follow our body’s rhythms rather than the clock’s…
November 11th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Yes! The clock is a major factor in why I was living in sleep debt. My intellectual clock shifted with the time change, but my daughter’s physical clock didn’t. The first night I went to bed at what the clock said was the same time as usual, and she woke at what her body said was the same time as usual. So I got one less hour sleep. A single hour throws me completely off.
Just as “sleep begets sleep” (who said that, Pantley?) sleep deprivation begets sleep deprivation. One night of 9 hours in bed instead of 10 is followed by another of only 6 instead of 10 because my circadian rhythm is so completely kerfuffled after the first night. (And yes, I need 10 hours in bed to get a full night’s sleep with the nursing girl.)
The other factor for me is trying to accomplish too much. I have very little time to myself, and trying to extend that at the expense of sleep is tempting, though ultimately disastrous.
Also, thanks for the awareness about hearing what “I’m sleep deprived” really means in response to “How are you?” It’s easy to laugh and think, “Well, yeah” and let it go as an obvious statement about the circumstances of new parenthood. It’s harder to recognize how deeply that exhaustion is felt and how profoundly it impacts the family.
- Jenni