Sleep.
Glorious sleep.
If you're a parent, it's all you want.
If you're a new mom, it's what you never seem to get.
As a matter of fact, according to a study outlined in The Guardian, moms lose out on 6 years of sleep in their life, with the worst portion of that time being about 3 months after a child's birth.
Justin Worsham of The Dad Podcast wasn't surprised to learn this at all.
"Sleep becomes the most precious commodity when you have little kids. The interesting thing about this study is that it shows that moms never seem to bounce back. I feel like my wife is constantly tired and she isn’t even the stereotypical mom who is running around to soccer practice. But part of her exhaustion is what this study mentions. She wakes very easily. I can come to bed late and she doesn’t wake up, but if the kids cough she is wide awake. I would imagine there is a chemical explanation for this. When you have kids you’re just more aware of your surroundings.
The big thing that other research has shown regarding sleep, for both parent and child, is for the child to be in a separate room. Dr. Craig Canapari is a great guy to google and read articles from. He is the Director at the Yale Pediatric Sleep Center."
On another note, Greenville News reports that South Carolina is considering a bill regarding free range parenting.
Although Gary seems to think that means that people are considering raising their children like livestock in a pasture, that is not what it means at all. It is actually about leaving kids at home and allowing for more moments of independence, a practice that Justin Worsham is a fan of.
"Personally I am for Free Range Parenting. The research I have seen shows that kids of parents who are more authoritarian and let kids figure things out with restrained and purposeful guidance are more content and successful.
The interesting part about this is what it does when the law puts a number on it. The points made about the developmental age of a child effecting their ability to be at home alone is valid. On the other hand, if we can set an age for drinking and voting in this country, why can’t we do the same for being home a lone? Being afraid to leave your kid home alone is a natural fear, but like all fears, it can be confronted by focusing on preparing your child for the world. But when you allow your desire to hang on to your kid’s youth for either what you perceive to give them a better life, or for you to hang onto the purpose of being a parent and needed, you unintentionally make the transition from your house and into their own lives more difficult."
To hear more of Justin's take on the pains of parenting, free range parenting, and other parenting topics, you can check out all of his stuff at The Dad Podcast.