How Much Sleep Do Moms Really Need?

By: Chana Jenny Weisberg

A few days ago I was feeling really out of sorts. Grouchy, impatient, blurry-brained, wired, racing thoughts. And then I realized that my problem wasn’t that I was postpartum flipping out or borderline depressed or losing my mind.

My problem was simply that I was very, very TIRED.

So after I put my little kids to bed, I climbed into bed myself for about half an hour, and when I emerged from underneath my blanket, I felt like a different person. Energetic, relaxed, happy, clear-thinking.

So since that grouchy day, I have been trying to get to sleep half an hour earlier than usual But it is SO hard for me to get to sleep at a decent hour. Since it’s during that final hour of awake time that I enjoy my ME time: reading what I want to read, doing my Email chavruta, looking at interesting stuff people have forwarded to me.

But I’m working on getting more Zs. I really am…

So today I went to the website of The National Sleep Foundation in order find out how much sleep I am supposed to be getting. And I discovered that they only recommend the broad guidelines of 7 to 9 hours a night, since the need for sleep, they explain, is so incredibly individual.

Some moms function fine with 7 hours of sleep, and some moms need up to 9 hours in order to act and feel like a normal human beings. Factors like being pregnant or being woken up by babies/children in the middle of the night, or experiencing as elevated amounts of stress can also impact your need to sleep. Also, if, like many moms, you have a “sleep debt” or accumulated loss of sleep then that can also impact your need for sleep.

FYI, here are the recommended sleep guidelines of the National Sleep Foundation:
Newborns 0-2 months: 12-18 hours
Infants (3-11 months): 14-15 hours
Toddlers (1-3 years):12-14 hours
Preschoolers (3-5 years): 11-13 hours*
School-age children (5-10 years):10-11 hours
Teens (10-17) 8.5-9.25 hours
Adults:7-9 hours

How much sleep do YOU need? Do you feel like you suffer from lack of sleep?

*3 year olds are mentioned twice. I’m also confused about what this means…

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com user National Media Museum