Did you know that recent parents sleep less than mothers?

Run a joke on the internet that says something like "I don't want to sleep like a baby; I want to sleep like my husband!", And in this of motherhood and fatherhood it is clear that those who sleep better, on average, we are the men, that we are the ones who care less for children at night (well, there is everything (When you find out that other parents do not get up at night to take care of their children because “they work and mom does not”)… there are couples in which man gets up more).

And if the mother breastfeeds, which is normal, I do not even tell you ... because at night when they wake up they want a tit and little else. Yes, it happens sometimes that they can't fall asleep with the tit and they end up falling on our shoulders, but I say, we usually sleep more and better than they do.

Except at the beginning. When a couple has had a baby recently, their first baby, it is fathers who sleep less than mothers.

In many cases parents do not arrive at 6 hours of sleep

Already. I know you will be thinking that for nothing, you will even be angry thinking that small nonsense people say. However, if you continue reading, you will see that it makes some sense. As we read in Fatherly, this statement comes from the recently published book "The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years"by Tara Haelle and Emily Willingham, a book in which they talk about the first four years of age based on arguments and premises in science, in what the studies say.

Well, apparently it is the belief, quite accepted, that it is the mother who always, always, sleeps less than her partner. However, when at the time of studying the parents were included something very curious was observed: counting 24 hours a day they ended up sleeping less.

The first study discussed in the book was conducted in 2004 and was done with 72 couples during the first month after delivery. They saw that dads were able to sleep less hours than mothers. Another 2013 study, with 21 couples, confirmed the hypothesis. And a survey with 241 recent parents from 2012 showed that most parents will work with less than 6 hours of sleep every night.

But how is it possible that they sleep more?

Surely you ask yourself this question. The answer is very simple. While the father goes to work, the mother stays at home with the baby taking advantage of her maternity leave. This means that they have more opportunities than the parents of have a little dream at some time of the day.

Thus, when assessing surveys and studies, they saw that mothers slept more than they did when they added the hours of the night to the hours of the day.

Mothers sleep more, but in a more fragmented way

Now, although the hours are not the same, studies showed that the dream of mothers is more fragmented than that of fathers, and here one does not know which of the two things he prefers ... because the total hours of women is greater, but sleeping more frequently waking up can make the new day arrive and you wake up even more tired than when you went to bed .

And yes, then the time passes and the tables change in favor of the parents (again, especially if the mother breastfeeds), largely as reminiscent of an inheritance of the care that falls on women (although they have to also to wake up to go to work, they take care of the children more than they do) and partly because it is like an extension of what they did during the maternity leave: as she already did, she continues doing it.

And I don't tell you anything if he is the second child, because then taking a nap for the day to recover sleep is ruled out, and there is no study that is worth it: except for some exceptions, once the first months pass, mothers sleep less than us, insurance.

Will the time come when fathers and mothers assume the responsibility of caring for children at night equally?

Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | Having a child would be wonderful and perfect if they slept all night. My children no longer sleep with me: conclusions after 9 years of schooling. If we understand that babies need us by day, why don't we understand that they need us at night?

Video: SLEEP HACKS FOR TIRED PARENTS. HOW TO COPE WITH NO SLEEP. EMILY NORRIS (May 2024).