Everyone tosses and turns for different reasons
Your husband is on his third cup of coffee—and it’s not yet 8 am. Your teen is so bleary-eyed and grumpy that you want to run in the other direction. And you’re so tired you can barely remember your middle name.If your family is like most, everyone is seriously sleep deprived. A study from the CDC found that only 1 out of 3 Americans gets enough sleep all month long. And 16% of adults get less than 6 hours per night, says the National Sleep Foundation. That’s well short of the 7 to 8 hours needed to ward off obesity, high blood pressure, and other ills. To complicate matters, each family member deals with unique sleep sappers, says Susan Zafarlotfi, PhD, director of the Institute for Sleep-Wake Disorders at Hackensack University Medical Center.Follow these simple strategies to help every member of your family sleep longer and better every night. More from Prevention: 10 Ways to Prevent Insomnia
Best rest for your parents Changing circadian rhythms can play havoc with sleep patterns
As people get older, hormonal and brain changes cause a shift in the body’s internal clock, so they might find themselves sleepy very early in the evening. “This starts a vicious cycle,” says Zafarlofti. “If your parents go to bed at 8, they may rise at 3 or 4 in the morning. Then they take long naps. So when bedtime rolls around, they’re not tired enough to doze off, which deprives them of deep sleep.“Try these three solutions to help your parents snooze on schedule:1. Skip catnaps. Your parents should try to get all 8 hours of sleep at one time—or, if they must take a nap, have them set an alarm so they sleep no more than 20 to 30 minutes.2. Stick to light fare. Recent animal studies suggest that a high-fat diet can disrupt circadian rhythms. Though further research is needed, “greasy, heavy dinners and desserts may disrupt digestion, so you toss and turn,” says Bae.3. Turn up the light. Unlike teens, seniors may benefit from bright light exposure in the evening—it keeps them from falling asleep too early, explains Bae. Look for full-spectrum bulbs, which mimic natural daylight.More from Prevention: 8 Ways To Wake Up Happy
