As part of this year’s campaign, the National Sleep Foundation will be presenting a briefing to Congress titled “Sleep Health is Mental Health”[1] that explores the relationship that sleep can have on mental health.
At Harbor, we’re no strangers to this connection. Approximately 70% of parents lose at least three hours of sleep each night during their baby’s first year, adding up to a whopping 133 nights of lost sleep in that year[2].
A 2023 survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that more than half of adults who got less than 7–9 hours of sleep each night were more likely to experience depressive symptoms. Conversely, more than 90% of adults who report good sleep health reported no significant depressive symptoms[3].
2 in 3 parents feel exhausted before the day even starts. 30% of couples who separate said child-induced sleep deprivation was a direct causative factor. The consequences of poor sleep for parents include[5][6]:
- Worsened symptoms of postpartum depression
- Mood instability and pessimism
- Increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and all major psychiatric conditions
- Weakened immunity, high blood pressure, weight, sex drive/fertility & memory issues
Infants and young children need sleep to:
- Keep their immune system healthy & grow
- Strengthen their memory & emotion regulation
- Establish healthy sleep habits for childhood and teenage years
- Develop motor skills
“…less-rested children had a smaller volume in the areas of the brain responsible for attention, memory, and inhibition control… lower volumes were still evident two years after the initial evaluation.”
Harvard Medicine highlights the importance of sleep in an article appropriately titled A Child’s Need for Sleep, sharing: [7]
Sleep is the most fundamental building block of health. It certainly does deserve at least its own week of recognition.
