Sleep in the family: How sleep can affect family life

sleep in the family
  • Save

Let’s talk sleep in the family. Do you and the family get a good night’s sleep? If not, it could be playing havoc on your family dynamic.

It’s surprising just how much of an impact even just one less hour sleep a night can have on your life. Sleep deprivation doesn’t just affect your mood, it can also have a negative impact on your health too. Here, we’ll look at how sleep in the family can can affect family life and some great ways to improve it.

The physical effects lack of sleep in the family can have

A lot of research has been carried out over the years to determine how lack of sleep can affect our physical health. The results have certainly been surprising, with lack of sleep connected to a wide range of physical issues.

If your family isn’t getting enough sleep, did you know that it could contribute to weight gain? The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health discovered through recent research, that a lack of sleep is linked to obesity in both children and adults. Most worryingly, you only have to miss one or two hours of sleep a night to suffer the weight gain effects of sleep deprivation!

Other physical effects it can include a lack of energy, increased aches and pains and an increase in the risk of heart disease.

The psychological impact of too little sleep

It’s not just the physical effects of a lack of sleep you need to worry about. It can also really impact you psychologically. For your children, it’s crucial for healthy development for them to get a good night’s sleep. Too little sleep could impact their attention span, cause mood swings and reduce their learning capacity.

For parents, too little sleep can lower your productivity, cause mood swings, make it harder to cope with daily life and increase the symptoms of depression and anxiety. So, a good night’s sleep is crucial for the entire family – both physically and mentally.

How to improve your family’s sleep pattern

If your family’s sleep pattern could do with a little improvement, there are lots of things you can try. Ensuring you all have a regular sleep routine is the first step. This means going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day.

You can also invest in stress-reducing and sleep-inducing products such as fragrances from a company like Neom. Home fragrances can leave all the family feeling relaxed and ready to sleep. Avoiding technology before bed is also something you and the kids should follow. Staring at a screen right before bed can cause issues falling asleep according to research.

Personally, as an adult, I have experimented with a sleep aid here and there and have written about how I finally defeated my insomnia here.

Overall, sleep is really important for the family’s health and wellbeing. If you want to create a more harmonious family dynamic, focusing on improving everyone’s sleep is a great idea. The above are just some of the things you can try to improve sleep in the family.

signature
  • Save

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.