Book Review: Sleep It Does A Family Good by Dr. Hart

I have always believed that sleep deprivation plays a large role in kid's misbehavior, marital issues, and even my own "misbehavior"!!! This book Sleep It Does A Family Good addresses all those points and more. Some of the issues were more technically dealt with than what interested me BUT there were so many truths through out the book that sunk in, that I already see a difference in my own sleep habits!

Here's a few things I learned from the book:

1. No two families have the same sleep patterns, habits or problems. The issues my family may be dealing with such as night terrors, snoring or staying up too late on the computer may be completely different than yours such as a neighbors dog, room temperature, or a new born baby. There are a ton of different factors that affect our family's sleep habits including how our spouse was raised. So this is a more complex issue than it first appears on the surface.

2."God has designed sleep into us as a fundamental need, as fundamental as eating food and breathing air." In our culture we treat sleep as optional. The average person sleeps 6.7 hours a night, compared to 1960 when the average night was 8 hours. If we miss one hour of sleep every night - then by the end of the week we are 7 hours into a sleep deficit - an entire nights sleep!

3. Lack of sleep produces more stress not less stress. For those of us who think that staying up late to get our work done is a way to relieve ourselves of stress - think again! The ability for us to think clearly, creatively and productively is reduced when we are sleep deprived. Hence, we take longer to complete tasks and only increase our stress levels with sleep deprivation. We would do ourselves a big favor to go to bed early and wake well rested to work hard during the day.

4. Sleepy teens is an epidemic due to text messaging, twitter, video games and late night television. It's our job as parents to monitor our children and be sure they are getting the correct amount of sleep for their age. Animals sleep based on instinct - but children must be taught or they literally will not sleep! Studies have even shown that 4 year olds are no longer getting their naps and night time sleep that they need in our fast paced, on the go culture, and it is affecting their learning and listening abilities.

5. There is a natural universal drive toward an early afternoon mini-sleep in all cultures. Some actually embrace it but in America we equate napping with being a waste of time, self-indulgent or a physical weakness. Our sleep intervals at night are on 1 1/2 hour cycles - so an hour and a half nap can be quite invigorating - 2 hours could make you drowsy! And he did recommend short 20 minute power naps, which I smiled at because those are my favorite type of naps - doable and they work!

6. You have 7 days to make up for a sleep deficit and after that you can never make up for sleep lost. Weekend naps are healthy and essential make-up times - so allow yourself to take a nap on weekends. If you lose sleep one night, try to make it up the next night or by the end of the week. Sleep can be made up within one week from when it's lost - but after that the effects are irreversible.

Do you want to improve your quality of life? Go to bed early tonight, tomorrow night and the next night - then let me know how you feel! I have a feeling GREAT will be the answer!

"The family that sleeps well, lives well!"

Walk with the King!