Sleep Deprivation & Attachment Bonds

"Mothers are basically part of a science experiment to prove that sleep is not a crucial part of human life." - Unknown

This meme is meant to be a joke, but it's actually not funny, in my opinion, because it speaks to a problem in our society that says it's ok to live in a chronic state of sleep deprivation. That it's an acceptable part of being a mother.

But no one is giving out medals for the Most Sleep Deprived Mother!

So while this seems to be true on so many levels, it doesn't have to stay this way when a mother is sleep-deprived due to a child lacking independent sleep skills.

Science tells us that the levels of sleep deprivation that mothers & children face have dire consequences on our physical and mental health.

Our children's development, cognition, immune systems, emotional regulation, & so much more are negatively impacted by nightly broken sleep & poor naps.

When a child lacks control over their own sleep, when they lack independent sleep skills and are having frequent or prolonged night wakings, early morning wake-ups, short naps, or any other sleep difficulty, this means that they are carrying a sleep debt. They are sleep deprived. If this has been going on for more than a couple of days, they would be considered to have CHRONIC Sleep Deprivation.

As mentioned above, this can cause a whole host of problems for our children. However, you might not realize that it could affect the attachment bonds between parent and child.

Attachment Bonds 
Harming attachment bonds is one of the main things that parents are concerned about when considering sleep training; will the process damage those vital bonds? No, it does not; the way I teach it to families, sleep training can actually strengthen attachment bonds. 

Now let's consider the parent-child relationships when they both live in a state of chronic sleep deprivation. Parents are irritable, lack patience & can begin to detest bedtime & nap times, & even begin to resent their child.

​Parents get no space, no time for themselves, no time to keep up the house, no time with their spouse.  They get little time to enjoy being a parent, because so much time is spent in a state of crankiness on both parts. 

There becomes a battle of wills between parent & child. The child can't regulate their emotions & goes into fight or flight for bedtime, nap time & any other time.

Parents cannot parent how they want to & children can't thrive & grow as they are intended to.

Chronic Sleep-Deprivation like this can be fixed. Bonds don't need to be damaged any further & can be repaired.

I can help turn your family's sleep around & help you become a well-rested family.

Book Your Free 20-Minute Sleep Evaluation to discover how my sleep programs can help your family take your sleep success to the moon and back. Life becomes more enjoyable when you're well rested!

Book Free 20-Minute Sleep Evaluation

Author

Erin Neri - Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and Owner of To The Moon and Back Sleep Consulting since 2016. 

Proud mother of 2 young school aged boys who did not come into the world  preprogrammed with independent sleep skills. 27+ years of training & experience working with children and families including her BA in Applied Psychology, Infant Mental Health Training, Early Childhood Education & Experience. Completed Integrative Feeding Specialist Certification in Oct. 2022.