Why do we need Sleep?
In our modern lifestyle, it has almost become a badge of honour to be sleep deprived and burning the candle at both whether due to overworking, busy social life or parenthood. But what are the health issues with a lack of sleep and what can we do to better prioritise our sleep as part of a healthy lifestyle?
When we sleep, there are many processes occuring to heal and repair our body, especially our brain and nervous system. As chiropractors, we focus on helping people maintain a healthy nervous system throughout all stages of life and sleep is an important element. We too often see that sleep is not a priority as part of living an active healthy life.
As well as affecting our ability to perform at our best each day, not getting enough sleep affects our cognitive functions like thinking clearly, our creativity and problem solving nad our memory. Sleep deprivation is also linked to a wide variety of health issues including hormone imbalance (mood changes), anxiety and depression, weight gain, decreased immunity (more colds/flu’s for longer), high blood pressure and other heart disease.
So what is a good night's sleep?
Going to sleep is induced by the production of a neurotransmitter called Melatonin from a small gland in the brain, the pituitary gland. The release of melatonin will start about an hour before we are ready to go to sleep. This release of melatonin is affected by our own circadian rhythms and exposure to bright light. So as it gets darker at night, Melatonin secretion begins.
What can we do to regularly get a good night's sleep?
Screens - backlit screens such as our tv’s, phone or tablets stimulate parts of the brain which stop melatonin production. Getting off screens an hour before bed will better prepare you for a good sleep.
Stimulants - Avoid stimulants such as caffeine (coffee, tea, energy drinks), alcohol, sugar later in the day. Caffeine after lunch time and alcohol or sugar after dinner time will affect your ability to go to sleep.
Your room - make your bedroom a good place to sleep with little to no light (red light if you need a night light) and as quiet as possible.
Routine - One of the most important aspects of falling asleep at night is what time you consistently wake up in the morning. Waking up at a regular, consistent time will help you fall asleep that night and get a better rest.
Track your sleep - If you want to understand your sleep patterns better, there are some great products to help track your sleep. My favourites are the Oura ring or Whoop bands. Most smart watches also offer this feature, but make sure to turn it to aeroplane mode to reduce radiation overnight.
Want to learn more about your sleep?
Dr Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University has a great podcast, Huberman Lab about sleep. But my recommendation is to listen to Dr Huberman on other podcasts where he summarises his knowledge of sleep more succinctly.
There are also some great blogs on the Oura website about sleep and improving your quality of sleep.
What about my child’s sleep??
New born babies have a much shorter sleep cycle than adults of about 45-60 mins (adults are around 90 mins cycles) and many babies can struggle to link these cycles without needing some help to resettle. To improve their ability to settle themselves, caring repetition and consistency will help over time.
It is also important to remember that there are many aspects that can affect a child's sleep and a major one in newborns is hunger and feeding. Generally, breast fed newborns that are feeding well will want to feed every 3-4 hours at first. Formula fed babies will often have longer periods between feeds. This will increase as they grow and develop until they are a toddler eating full meals during the day and then will sleep through the night.
It is important to remember that healthy sleep in babies may be different for many reasons. If you are unsure, there are some great resources available including our Chiropractors who have all been through it a few times.