We work in the sleep efficiency space, so I've thought about this quite a bit.
My thinking, knowing the research around the area, but not having researched this specific case.
1) we are having children later in life. Evolution designed child rearing age to be 16-25. We have pushed that later and later as we've matured as a species, and in Australia (and Canada) from my experience we are now regularly in the 30+ for first children. I know of many mothers who's first child was born when they were 40 or later.
2) Sleep does not return to normal levels until the youngest child on average reaches 6 years old.
3) Our sleep naturally degrades as we age. Particularly in mid-30s. So if you have a child at 33, and you return to "normal sleep" at 39, you are expecting to return to your restful self, but your sleep has declined during that time.
pedalpete|3 years ago
My thinking, knowing the research around the area, but not having researched this specific case.
1) we are having children later in life. Evolution designed child rearing age to be 16-25. We have pushed that later and later as we've matured as a species, and in Australia (and Canada) from my experience we are now regularly in the 30+ for first children. I know of many mothers who's first child was born when they were 40 or later.
2) Sleep does not return to normal levels until the youngest child on average reaches 6 years old.
3) Our sleep naturally degrades as we age. Particularly in mid-30s. So if you have a child at 33, and you return to "normal sleep" at 39, you are expecting to return to your restful self, but your sleep has declined during that time.