Raising a kid as a single parent can be hard, but how does it affect your sleep? Reports from the United States show that there are more than 10 million single parents raising children, with over 80% of them being single mothers. This is a staggering number and one that highlights the need to understand how single parents are affected and what this could mean for your rest if you’re the sole parent in your household.
In this article, we’ll look at the unique challenges of single parenting, how it can affect your sleep and the health implications of these issues. We’ll even look at some of the best ways to get support and encourage better rest, no matter what stressors you face. Let’s start by exploring some of the common challenges single parents face when raising their kids and juggling their other commitments.
The Challenges Single Parents Faced Compared to Married Parents
It’s true: being a single parent is hard! Compared to those living with partners, wives, or husbands, single parents handle the challenges of raising kids, working, maintaining a house, and their own personal needs all on their own.
In many cases, single parents face far worse challenges due to unhelpful social support and more adverse experiences, such as situations where they feel incompetent, embarrassed, or stressed due to their various commitments (Source: PubMed). In essence, it’s not so much that they have more to deal with but that they must deal with it alone.
As you can imagine, this affects their sleep in drastic ways. Without a vast support system and the pressure of increased responsibilities while needing to provide for their kids on their own, this can all lead to horrible outcomes for their nightly rest.
How the Challenges of Single Parenthood Impact Sleep
Handling all of these concerns on your own can be hard as a single parent, but imagine what it does to your rest. Even for your kids, there are studies that show that they are more likely to get worse sleep quality as a result of being in a household with a single parent. Many kids in single-parent households also struggle with sleep-wake challenges and sleep disruptions.
However, for the parents, here’s what you can expect if you are a single mother or father:
- Less Sleep Duration: One of the most prevalent issues single parents face is less sleep overall as a result of stress. Due to heightened stress levels at night, experts have found that parents can lose sleep as cortisol fluctuates. However, sleep loss is directly related to stress levels, so the less stressed single parents are, the more sleep they can get (Source: PubMed).
- Poor Perceived Sleep Quality: Unfortunately, no matter how much sleep single parents get, many of them report low subjective sleep quality. They wake up feeling that they did not get a lot of good sleep, and part of that could be true. With less sleep duration, many may not get all the REM sleep they need to recover for the next day, leading to poor rest.
- Increased Sleep Deficits: Because of the impact of related stressors that single parents face, there is an increase in sleep deficits as well as sleep disruptions due to sleep. The more stressed single parents are, the less likely they are to get sound rest throughout the night, nor are they able to get as much rest as they need to feel their best (Source: PubMed).
- Single Mothers Affected More Than Single Fathers: One of the most interesting findings that experts have discovered is that single mothers report more sleep challenges, and they also find themselves to have poorer sleep quality than single fathers. It’s unclear, based on the literature available, why this is, but it does suggest that perhaps single mothers are uniquely burdened as single parents.
Tips for Mitigating the Stresses of Single Parenthood to Get More Rest
With so many challenges to getting enough rest, it’s important to find ways to get as much shuteye as possible. Whether you’re facing irregular, disrupted, or delayed sleep schedules, here are some tips to help you manage stress as a single parent so you can prioritize your rest and recovery at night:
- Stick to a Routine: One of the most difficult aspects of single parenthood is having enough time to yourself. It seems that there are never enough hours in a day, but if you stick to a schedule and establish a routine, you can enjoy better rest so you feel better when you get up in the morning. If you have routines for your kids and then also for yourself, this can help immensely!
- Manage Your Time Better: The worst thing you can do to yourself is to struggle with time management, especially as a single parent. Focus on taking the time to schedule certain activities and have a cut-off time for taxing tasks at night. If you schedule and make to-do lists, you can manage your time better and avoid the late-night bedtimes that hurt you later.
- Use Stress Reduction Techniques: Since stress is the likely reason you’re up at night or unable to get rest, incorporate some stress-relieving activities into your day. It could be as simple as listening to your favorite songs before bed, meditating, or even getting in a quick workout in the morning before the kids get up. Find ways to encourage your happiness and relaxation, and you’ll feel better and more rested!
- Cultivate a Support System: Being a single parent is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can lean on trusted friends and family to help you overcome your struggles. In times of need, it is often a phone call to a friend that can give you the stability you need to feel less stress and help ensure you stay healthy, too.
Take Steps to Prioritize Your Sleep as a Single Parent
It can be hard to be a single parent, but it’s not impossible. At times, you’ll feel like a superhero trying to do it all at once, but if you remember to prioritize your sleep, you can take some stress off your plate and enjoy a healthier lifestyle for yourself and your kids. How will you encourage more sleep as a single parent?
