Feeling like you slept poorly might take a heavier toll on new parents than actual sleep loss
A new study published in Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation suggests that depression and anxiety may play a growing role in sleep problems among new parents, particularly as their baby gets older. Becoming a parent is often described as one of life’s most joyful experiences, but it can also be exhausting. Frequent night wakings, feeding schedules, and the stress of caring for a newborn can disrupt sleep for months. Previous research has long shown that poor sleep and mental health issues like depression and anxiety are linked, but most studies have focused solely on mothers and the early weeks after birth. Researchers wanted to better understand how sleep and mental health influence each other over time and whether the same patterns apply to fathers. Led by Avel Horwitz and Liat Tikotzky of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, the research team followed 232 couples from late pregnancy through their baby’s first year. Participants reported on their sleep and mental health during pregnancy (the third trimester) and again when their baby was …





