So the hot topic of discussion in clinic this past week has been sleep.
To no surprise, my patients are aware that I have a 1 year old and a 4 year old. Both of which have had sleep problems.
A patient asked me “how do you function without a full night’s sleep Kim?”.
Bearing in mind I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in the 5 years from my first pregnant bar a 9 month stint before becoming pregnant with my second child.
This posed the question: how important is sleep?
Sleep is incredibly restorative and if you relate this to babies, this is when they do most of their growing. So just think about how important that process is to them and extrapolate it to you.
Poor sleep has been related to health diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Personally, when I have attempted to lose any baby weight, this has been seriously dampened by periods where my sleep is heavily compromised.
So here are 3 tips to help with sleep.
- Reduce your caffeine intake, whether this be tea or coffee and don’t forget chocolate! Chocolate has a surprisingly high amount of caffeine in it.
- Reduce your screen time. A couple of hours before bed turn off the TV, laptop and phone. Hard to do but will reward you exponentially. Perhaps read a book instead and if you must look at technology why not try blue light filters; these can be in the form of glasses or phones commonly have a setting you can turn on.
- If you really struggle to settle your mind, my tried and tested method is to recollect what I’ve done that day BACKWARDS. From when I went for a wee to what I ate for breakfast. Go over each minute detail and if you forget something, start again. I promise you this will send you to sleep.
Patients often say coming to see me is like a therapy session, it’s not just about your physical well being. Your mental well being is just as important and sleep can play a crucial part in this.
When it is within my scope to help you, I will do my utmost for you.
Providing you with movement for life.
Kim
