Sleep

I strongly believe that sleep has a lot to do with our health and our weight loss.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and University College London have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and has been shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes, sometimes leading to mortality. You can read the whole article here.

Even the scriptures talk about the importance of sleep. In D&C Section 88:124 the Lord instructs:

"Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated"

Adults should be getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night, according to The U.S. National Sleep Foundation.

I read a book a few months ago called The Happiness Project, and the VERY FIRST THING the author talked about was getting enough sleep in order to have a happier and healthier life.

So why then, does God send us little babies who disrupt our sleep?

I do believe that God has a reason for the things He does, even if I don't understand them. So I'm trying to make the best of it.

My little Zach is 4 months old. He is still really struggling with sleeping, and thus I am still struggling with sleeping. He is old enough and big enough to go for longer stretches at night without eating. So I actually started putting him in the basement for part of the night so the rest of us could actually get some sleep and so he could learn to go back to sleep on his own.

And can I say....it's been GREAT! I feel so much better! Sometimes I feel guilty for doing it, and sometimes I can even hear him from the basement, but a speck of sanity has been restored! He's slowly learning, and I am slowly regaining my energy. Maybe there is a light at the end of this sleepless tunnel!

How do you try to get enough sleep when you have a newborn? (or any other valid issue that interferes with your sleep?) Or how do you try to make the best of it if you really can't get enough sleep?