Eight tips to letting Mom snooze an extra hour

Between caffeine, continuous compromises and kids, moms are consistently challenged to get the sleep they need to stay moving in today's hectic world.

So an extra hour of morning shut-eye on Mother's Day could be the best gift you could give her, sleep experts suggest.

Dads, let Mom snooze that extra hour on May 13 - Mother's Day next Sunday - and let the kids serve her breakfast in bed.

“Mother’s Day is the perfect day to treat Mom and let her sleep for an extra hour,” said Richard Gelula, chief executive officer of the National Sleep Foundation. “By asking dads to step in and help, we hope the whole family will understand that a simple schedule switch can assist moms in getting the sleep they need to feel their best while juggling the demands of busy days.”

A recent foundation poll found that more than two-thirds of moms admitted to ‘accepting’ their sleepiness and forging ahead.

“Accepting sleepiness is not acceptable,” Gelula said. 

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Take the Mom Sleep Test to see if you are getting a good night's sleep most nights
or whether you should see a doctor.

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Tips to giving the gift of sleep

To let Mom doze that extra hour go without a hitch, some simple prep the night before will allow for dads and the entire family to pull it off:

•  Plan the breakfast-in-bed menu in advance and have all ingredients ready to go. Some breakfast items like French toast, quiche and frittatas can be whipped up and refrigerated until cooking.

•  Pre-set the breakfast tray with silverware, appropriate plates, etc – this will eliminate commotion and clanging in the kitchen.

•  Don’t forget a vase with freshly cut flowers.

•  Keep the kids quiet. Remind children that this is Mom’s special day and the family has made a pact to let her sleep in.

•  Have favorite “quiet” toys – books to read, coloring books, and kid-friendly DVDs – easily accessible so children can occupy themselves until Mom wakes up.

•  Send Mom an e-card. In addition to the traditional Mother’s Day cards, delight Mom when she checks her e-mail by sending her an e-card with a personalized message. The National Sleep Foundation’s Web site has information on e-cards.

•  Dress the kids and get them ready to go. Lay out the next day’s clothing before the kids get into bed. Older kids can dress themselves; younger kids may need some assistance. If outfits are chosen and agreed upon the night before, children can get dressed without a fuss.

•  Assign each child a task to ensure that Mother’s Day morning is memorable. Create a chart and give everyone a specific duty.

“By asking dads – and the whole family – to start Mother’s Day festivities an hour later, the National Sleep Foundation hopes that this will set a precedent not only for this special holiday but all year round,” Gelula said.

Moms need breaks year-round

He just may have a point: mothers need a break every so often throughout the year. The foundation’s poll numbers don’t paint a pretty picture of restful mothers.

In fact, 64 percent of the mothers in the poll reported getting a good night’s sleep only a few nights a week or less. Nearly 75 percent of the working mothers and stay-at-home moms experienced symptoms of sleep problems like insomnia.

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However, some sleep experts caution that sleeping even an hour late may screw up a person's “body clock.”

By the time the weekend arrives, many of us have built up a "sleep debt" from the previous five days and are ready to enjoy some extra rest. It’s tempting to sleep late on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but many experts say that changing your sleep schedule on the weekends can throw off your body clock and contribute to those "Monday morning blues."
 
Yet, Mother’s Day is a special day, so letting Mom sleep for another hour likely won’t mess things up.

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The 2007 Sleep in America poll targeted more than 1,000 women 18 to 64. Slightly less than half had children under 18 living at home.

According to the poll, nearly half of the mothers say they don’t get help with childcare during the night.

If that’s the case in your household, or in the house of a relative with a new infant, arrange for some help from family members and friends to handle some childcare, chores and meals so mothers can get a few more hours of sleep each week, foundation leaders said.

In addition, nearly half of them of the mothers said they don’t have enough time to spend with family and friends or do leisure activities.

Moms mirroring society?

To Kathryn Lee, mothers are mirroring what’s going on with women in general when it comes to sleep problems, which gives dad and the kids more reason to give Mom extra breaks throughout the year.

 “American women are struggling to cope with this lack of sleep,” said Lee,  a family health expert at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the foundation poll task force. “Although women’s lifestyles are compromised due to lack of sleep, they keep going.”

Women – and especially mothers – who spend less than seven hours in bed at night are more likely to doze off during the day, report symptoms of depression, drive drowsy and use coping mechanisms just to make it through their day, Lee said.

“Women tend to compromise the most important aspects of good health – diet, exercise and sleep – when trying to juggle the day’s ongoing responsibilities,” Lee said.  “Foregoing healthy lifestyle habits in favor of more time during the day is not the solution. In fact, it can be detrimental to optimum health and performance.”

Source: National Sleep Foundation

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