Sleep Deprivation Is Common for American Single Mothers

STATES CHRONICLE – Among all others, sleep deprivation is common for American single mothers, researchers say. The funny thing is that single mothers take the crown for sleep deprivation from students, doctors, and IT developers all around the country.

The numbers have spoken, students during finals season are small children compared to mothers with actual small children. A study revealed that 44% of women with children under the age of 18 are in need of serious sleep. The percentage is not kind to single dads, either, 38% of them not being able to punch in the much-needed 7 hours sleep time recommended by doctors. A happy relationship doesn’t help that much, giving the fact that 33% of parents that are still together, combining their forces to raise a child are also sleep deprived.

Doctor Clete Kushida from the Stanford Center of Sleep Medicine says that when a total of five consecutive days has ended in late-night sleeping, the average person needs an additional five days of going to bed at an early hour in order to fully recover their strength. This is but a dream for working parents all across America that have to deal with late-night homework, baths, early breakfast and last-minute science projects.

Since sleep, which is the easiest way to get over sleep deprivation, is out of the question, there are a few tricks that can help a person feel refreshed during the day.

Drink a glass of cold water

It doesn’t really matter if you’re at the office working on a presentation, or doing chores, or scheduling the next soccer practice, if you feel very sleepy don’t just turn to coffee as the only solution for staying awake. A glass of cold water could as easily do the trick. Just make sure that you drink it slowly and take a few steps afterward.

I coffee is your only poison, have a cup and take a 10 minutes power-nap

We all know coffee kicks in 10-20 minutes after you drink it. If you combine the refreshing power of caffeine with that of a short power-nap you will be amazed by the result. When you wake up, you will feel rested because of the short snooze and the coffee will kick in almost instantly. The only thing that you must take into consideration is that you mustn’t exceed 15 minutes of sleep. If you do, you will fall into a deeper REM sleep cycle and you will wake up feeling much worse than you did when you fell asleep.

Limit your coffee cups at 2 per day

Medical officer in chief at the FusionSleep Center, Doctor Jeffrey Durmer, advises that coffee consumption should be limited to 2 cups per day. That is the amount of caffeine that actually does its job. The rest only tires us more.

Be wary of what you munch

Munching on fatty snacks makes our digestive system do extra work. This makes us feel tired. A good way to avoid this is to eat nuts or raisins if we really feel the need to nibble on something in between meals. Also, an easy lunch is advisable. Go for chicken or fish instead of pizza or a steak.

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