Sleep Tips for Women

Disturbed sleep has profound consequences in women's lives, affecting every area of their well-being. According to the National Sleep Foundation, over 50% of women say that their sleep problems frequently interfered with their daily activities. Of those, 46 percent report interference with carrying out household responsibilities, 34 percent report interference with their relationship with significant others, and 27 percent report that their job performance is impaired. Twenty-four percent say that disturbed sleep gets in the way of caring for their families.

Unfortunately, more and more women are treating sleep as a luxury that they simply cannot afford in their busy lives. Sleep experts say women have an exhausting tendency to steal from their precious sleep time to do other things. As nurturers and breadwinners, women must struggle to achieve quality sleep - uninterrupted slumber free of distractions and demands from jobs, husbands, and children.

In fact, women are twice as likely as men to complain of sleep problems. In a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, more than half of the female respondents said they'd suffered insomnia symptoms in the previous month. Almost 20 percent said they got less than six hours of sleep per night during the workweek. Bedtime grows even more problematic at midlife, as women reach the perimenopausal stage and face hormone fluctuations and hot flashes.

The highest percent of women reporting disturbed sleep is during pregnancy at 79%. Pregnancy is a notoriously difficult time to sleep well, for reasons ranging from heartburn to fetal kicking and anxiety. Fatigue, largely due to hormonal changes, is the highest in the first trimester but eases up in the second. Disturbed sleep in the third trimester is legendary.

By understanding the need for quality sleep and developing a better sleep routine, women can take greater advantage of those precious Z's.

Figure Out What's Normal For You
Find out how much sleep is right for you. While 8 hours of sleep is typically recommended for promoting optimal performance during the day, it's possible that your body can temporarily get by on less than 8 hours of sleep. However, skimping on sleep during the week can create a sleep debt that you're tempted to make up for on the weekends. Try to get as close to 8 hours of sleep as you can, every night.

If you fall asleep within the first 5 minutes you go to bed, you are probably sleep deprived. A well rested person should take 10-20 minutes to fall asleep.

Keep Regular Sleep Hours
Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning

Make Your Bedroom Comfortable
Banish paperwork and daily distractions to another room.
Keep the room dark, cool, uncluttered, and utterly restful. Humidity level should be kept at around 70%. A humidifier is a good investment for better quality sleep: the gentle humming noise could also help soothe you to sleep.

Make Yourself Comfortable
A warm bath, massage, and easy stretching will send blood away from the brain to skin surfaces and make you feel relaxed and drowsy.

Chart Your Sleep And Menstrual Cycles
IF sleep disturbances coincide with your cycle, hormones could be the culprit. Certain oral contraceptives may sooth out the hormonal swings linked to PZS and perimenopause. See your physician to find out if hormone therapy is an option for you.

Leave Daytime Distractions At The Door: try this exercise before going to bed.
Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes and relax all of your muscles, begining with your feet and progressing to your face. Stay relaxed.
Breathe in easily through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Continue for ten to twenty minutes.

Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle
Exercise (preferably several hours before bed), eat right, and limit alcohol and caffeinated beverage intake. Don't smoke - nicotine, like alcohol and caffeine, will disrupt and fragment your sleep.

Stop Robbing Yourself
When you're tempted to cut into your sleep time to do other things, ask yourself: Is depriving myself a good night's sleep really worth it?

Add A Power Nap To Your Daily Routine
A fifteen-minute nap is ideal; Any more than that could cause you to wake up groggy.

While You Are Pregnant
This is by far one of the most uncomfortable times for sleeping. Researchers suggest that pregnant women sleep on their sides during pregnancy so that the pressure from the baby doesn't make it hard for you to breathe. It is also important to keep your spine in its natural alignment so that your back feels refreshed for that next day of carrying the baby around.

With extra support under your lower back and thighs, your muscles stay relaxed, so there is less burden on your spine. That reduces stress, while enhancing the recuperative value and quality of your sleep.

After The Baby Is Born
You've just had a baby and you've never been more tired in your life. Heed the advice: Nap when the baby naps. Leave the dirty dishes, and don't worry about the laundry you'll get to it eventually. Below are some additional tips specific to new mothers:

• Have your husband bottle feed the baby three nights in a row. If you are breast-feeding, pump your breast milk for bottles.
• When the baby awakens for another feeding you can breast-feed. If all works out, you should be able to sleep from around 9:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M.
• Sleep in a separate bedroom so that you can get an undisturbed night's rest when your husband is on baby patrol.
• Go to bed when the baby does.
  

The Mattress That's Right For You
Let's face it: women have a harder time leaving daytime distractions at the bedroom door than men.

As nurturers and providers, women often have stress from marriages, children and careers following them into bed. This means they are lighter sleepers than men, less able to let go of all their daily chores and relax.

As such, women tend to be more vulnerable to disturbance from their partner's tossing and turning. If you have experienced sleep loss due to partner movement, the patented individual Pocketed Coil™ technology is the key. The coils respond individually, so when your partner moves, you don't.

Information provided by the National Sleep Foundation, "1998 Women and Sleep Poll" , prepared by Eric O. Johnson, PhD.

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