Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Do you know how many hours of sleep is enough for your personal needs? The fact is that the need for sleep varies from individual to individual.

 

For instance Thomas Edison only slept three or four hours a week as he considered it to be a waste of time not to be conscious. President Clinton admitted to only getting five or six hours during his reign in the U.S. White House. Martha Stewart also only gets four or five hours. The same goes for Jay Leno.

 

Then there are those at the other end of the spectrum. The glamorous actress Marlin Monroe needed twelve hours a night. President Calvin Coolidge needed eleven hours. Some people just could not get enough sleep.

 

Some great figures in history made up for compromised sleep times by taking power naps whenever they could.

 

Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Winston Churchill often took cat naps during the day to make up for sleep debt that would occur at night
In general there are some widely held beliefs about sleep – among them are –?
• Older people need less sleep.
• Getting to bed before midnight is best.
• A heavy meal makes you sleepy.
• You need eight hours of sleep every single night to stay healthy.
• Snacks before bedtime give you nightmares.
• A glass of wine before bedtime helps you sleep better.
• Exercising before bed leaves you sleep deprived.
• Naps prevent you from sleeping at night.
And of course, how could we forget …'Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.'

 

Although most of this advice is good it's not totally on target. The fact is that there is no prescribed amount of sleep for everyone.

 

Can people function well on six or save hours of sleep? Or is it true that you need more than that to function well?

 

To evaluate this you need to ask yourself —
• How much sleep do I get each night during the week?
• Is it different on the weekends?
• Do I fall asleep the minute the head hits the pillow?
• Do I need an alarm clock to wake me up?
If you get less than eight hours each night or on weekends or if you fall asleep instantly or need an alarm clock consider yourself to be one of the millions of chronically sleep deprived people in this society! Time to get more or you could be slipping up as a Mom just because you will not be thinking that clearly.

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Managing a Kid’s Slumber Party

If you have ever had a slumber party for little girls at your home then you know that the most of these end up being a very crabby affair. This is because there is always lots of whispering, giggling and telling ghost stories late into the night. Sometimes there is also a great deal of fighting, crying and tickling and pinching and you name it …
To make sure there’s actually slumber at your child’s next slumber party for you and the kids there are certain tacts you can take.
Shorten the guest list. Handling four kids at night is easier than ten kids. Tell your child that she can invite fewer friends than for a daytime party and then just make the most of it.
Make sure the house rules are laid out clearly and with great confidence. They may test you, but children feel insecure if the adult isn’t in charge — and the more secure kids feel, the more easily they’ll sleep at night.
You should also create a quiet zone in the house that is set up far way from the sleeping area with snacks. Put cereal, muffins and other foods on the table for early risers. This means that kids can sneak downstairs and eat without waking up anyone to be fed (and that includes you…
Make a firm rule that there should “lights-out” at the outset. I let the kids talk after that as long as they don’t make noise or get out of bed. Once they’re in their sleeping bags and it is really dark they tend to stop talking. You can leave a night light on if you have a kid in the crowd who is a bit squeamish.
It is also very important to make sure that each and every one of your young visitors knows where the bathroom is so nobody is stumbling around waking up everyone at night with noise. It might also be a very good idea to not to serve kids a lot of liquids just before bedtime to prevent frequent bathroom visits and even possible night time accidents.
It also helps if you slow down. Even after the best sleepover, everyone’s tired the next day. Plan a quiet afternoon so both you and your child can relax. You can also expect your kid to be a bit out of sorts the next day.

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