Children disrupt their parents’ sleep for up to six years after birth, finds a study in Sleep. Researchers surveyed 2,541 women and 2,118 men in Germany around the time of the birth of their first, second or third child, and then again yearly for six years, asking the parents about sleep duration and sleep quality. On average, sleep duration and satisfaction with sleep quality declined sharply after childbirth and reached a nadir during the first three months of a child’s life. Sleep for these parents did not fully recover even four to six years later. In that period, the mothers were still sleeping an average of 20 minutes less per night, and the fathers 15 minutes less per night, than they had been before their children were born. (Monitor on Psychology)

Susie Bean Gives