Sound Sleep Guide

Archive for September, 2006

Naps have differing effects on adults and babies. According to research and the experiences of mothers, the length and quality of naps affects nighttime sleep and nighttime sleep affects naps for babies. For adults, naps can be beneficial if you find it hard to get a continuous period of sleep at night long enough to sustain you all day long.

Timing is everything when it comes to naps. Naps too late in the day will affect your baby’s night sleep. Certain times are better than others to nap because they suit your baby’s biological clock. These periods balance sleep and wake time to affect night sleep in the best way. Generally, the best times for your baby to nap are determined by the amount of naps he or she takes per day. If your child takes three naps per day, they should be taken mid morning, early afternoon, and early evening. For a two-nap baby, mid morning and early afternoon times are suggested. If your child is down to one nap, early afternoon generally works best. It is recommended that you put your child down for a nap when you first notice signs of sleepiness. If you wait too long, your child may become wired, overtired, cranky, and the inability to fall asleep. Wait for cues from your baby that say he or she is ready for a nap. These may include decreased activity, quieting down, rubbing eyes, eyes glazed over, fussing, yawning, and needing a pacifier or bottle to go to sleep. Get your baby down for a nap as soon as possible rather than deal with a fussy child.

For adults, naps can be beneficial or detrimental depending on whether you have a hard time falling asleep or not. If you do, don’t take naps during the day but if you must, make them no longer than 30 minutes. Naps will be beneficial to you if you find yourself during the day unable to get an uninterrupted sleep cycle at night long to enough to keep you alert enough all day long. If your busy lifestyle won’t allow you to get adequate rest at night, take a nap. Thirty percent of Americans nap four or more times per week.

Naps have many health benefits besides making you feel refreshed. Naps are great stress relievers. Studies show that your risk for heart disease drops significantly by taking regular 30 minute naps. Taking naps can strengthen your ability to pay close attention to detail and make critical decisions. Limit your naps to 15-30 minutes at a time. Longer naps will cause our bodies to fall into deep sleep which make it difficult to wake from. For the very sleep-deprived, don’t take naps longer than one and a half hours. A 30 minute nap is enough to recharge your whole nervous system and leave you feeling refreshed. If you nap in the middle of the day, be consistent and nap every day. An irregular schedule may throw off your internal clock. Brief daily naps are better for you than sleeping in or taking long naps on the weekends. Napping late in the afternoon is not healthy and makes falling asleep in the evening delayed and could possibly shift your biological clock. In work-related sleep studies, afternoon naps can boost safety and productivity. Humans are biologically programmed to be sleepy twice a day, between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. An afternoon nap will maximize alertness.

In insomnia populations, refraining from taking naps has been suggested for enhancing sleep on the following night. Excessive napping may be a signal of an underlying sleep disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea. Individuals with depression may also spend much time in bed even if they are not necessarily sleeping.

Many employers are beginning to approve of their employees taking naps at work. The benefits of reducing costs, related to employee errors attributed to sleep deficiency, are the catalyst. Employees who are under slept, or sleep deprived, are at a higher risk for errors and accidents, absenteeism, drug use, turnover, and decreased productivity. Corporate America is also looking to reduce higher group insurance premiums. Many companies may soon institute power naps as a benefit for their paid employees.

Caffeine is a drug that is found in many food drinks and medicine. I is colorless and lends very little flavor to whatever it is added to. When in its pure form it is white and very bitter.

Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic used to increase urine production. It is more commonly used to provide a boost of energy or heightened alertness. It’s often used to stay awake longer. College students and drivers use it to stay awake late into the night. Many people feel as though they cannot function in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them.

Caffeine is an addictive drug. It does many things including operating using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On a spectrum, caffeine’s effects are milder than amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels, and that is one of the things that give caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you cannot function without it and must have it every day, then you are addicted to caffeine.

Because of the physiological effects of caffeine, it has been linked to many sleeping disorders, namely insomnia. Insomnia occurs when you have difficulty sleeping. Many can not sleep at all. Usually its effects last for only a few nights, but it is possible for the symptoms to continue for months and even years.

Insomnia can be caused by several factors, including psychiatric problems, continual stress, use of drugs or alcohol, a lack of exercise, excessive noise or light, and certain physical illnesses. However caffeine is the most common cause for this sleeping disorder.

If your sleep has been disturbed for more than a few weeks and interferes with your ability to function normally during the day, consult your doctor or make an appointment at a reputable sleep disorder to get some treatment.

Caffeine may also interrupt your normal sleep cycle. Caffeine directly affects your kidneys. It may cause kidney infections and/or urinary track infections. These infections may also cause difficulty sleeping. You may also have to get up several times in the night to relieve your bladder. This will cause interruption of your REM sleep cycle, therefore making you tired when you get up in the morning. Reducing your intake of caffeine will reduce or eliminate this problem. Try switching to decaffeinated drinks. Caffeine does not change the flavor, so you should not notice anything different in the flavor. You may also consider drinking a glass of water before going to sleep at night to flush out your kidneys.

If you are already addicted to caffeine then you may want to consider doing the exact opposite. While giving up caffeine forever is the best option, it does not happen overnight. If you are addicted to caffeine there are ways to make caffeine work for you. Some people who have a caffeine addiction try drinking a cup of coffee about an hour before going to sleep. This usually mellows out their system. This works only because their body has become dependent on caffeine and requires it to function even in sleep.

If caffeine is still causing you problems when trying to sleep, there are other alternatives. You can try over the counter sleeping pills or even something as simple as warm milk. Over the counter sleeping pills have chemicals that make your body start to sleep. They can overpower caffeine and most other cause of sleeping disorders. Warm milk has lactic acid in it. When warmed, this acid releases a chemical that triggers your natural sleep cycle. Haven’t you ever noticed that a baby goes to sleep right after you feed it some warm milk?

Scientists have argued for years on weather or not caffeine causes sleeping disorders. They may never know for sure, but regardless of what they say, only you know what your body does. You can fix it if you just pay attention. Your body will tell you what it needs; it is up to you to deliver those needs. In the end, caffeine or not, you can make yourself have a normal sleep cycle.

All of us are familiar with the severe discomfort that a single night of sleeplessness or frequent arousals can cause to our normal routine and us. Sleep disorders or somnipathy, that affect millions of people in the U.S alone, create havoc in the lives of these individuals most of whom are even unaware that they suffer from a serious disorder and therefore, should be seeking the help of a sleep specialist. Almost every disorder, no matter what their nature is, cause emotional and mental problems and may further lead to complicated medical problems such as strokes, angina, coronary heart disease and so on. It is essential that all symptoms related to a disturbed sleep at night should be reported to a doctor as early as possible by the individual if he is aware of them or a roommate who is a witness to the sleeping disorder of the individual.

There are innumerable types of this disorder that affect people all over the world and Insomnia or lack of sleep is the most common of these this disorder. It is a sleep deprivation that is caused by numerous sleepless nights in a row. Insomnia varies in forms and therefore, the treatments for Insomnia also vary accordingly. Narcolepsy is another common sleep disorder that is characterized by excessive sleepiness during the day. This disorder is often marked by accidents because the individual keeps feeling drowsy throughout the day. Another common sleep disorder is the obstructive sleep apnea in which there is a cessation in the breathing of the individual numerous times during the night. This disorder is usually characterized by loud snoring.

Other than the common disorders mentioned above, there are various others disorders namely Sleep paralysis, snoring, S.AD, night sweats, Delayed sleep phase syndrome and several others that should receive adequate treatment from a sleep specialist. Every sleep disorder varies from the other in form and causes, even though the symptom of the obstruction of normal sleeping pattern is common to all of them. The treatment of the various sleep disorder varies according to the difference in the form and the causes of the disorder.