A Well Slept Home is a Happier Home

Having even just one grumpy head at the family breakfast table can turn everyone’s morning grey. Kids act up. Teenagers go rogue. Mom and dad have their moments. It’s all just part of life, really. No biggie.

But what if there’s a pattern of behaviour? Besides issues that any family might go through – at school, at work, financially, emotionally, or just a regular time in life – home life can become difficult, even disrupted, when there’s persistent unhappiness.

Often, it’s what we take for granted that we consider least. What if it’s also sleep-related? That is, what if a life challenge seems all the harsher because we’re just not being able to rest our minds away from it? We’re not getting the quality sleep we need to wake up the next morning and think more clearly, feel more energised, and be more constructive.

Let’s consider the obvious lifestyle changes that occur as a family grows:

1. It’s a thing. Newly married love has its practicalities. Like learning to sleep comfortably and properly together. Be mindful and confident in your relationship to find a sleep pattern that affords you both a full, quality night’s rest.
2. When those little ones start popping, the small hour interruptions and feedings begin. It's game on for parents, tagging as best as you can to at least get through the day with some quality sleep.
3. Then comes the school years. The kids need prepping, packing and dispatching. It’s the parents who get to work. And then go to work! The kids need their vital growth years of sleep. And parents likely sleep better when they know the kids are sleeping well.
4. Things will likely become a little easier to manage in young adulthood. This is where trust and independence develop. Hopefully you’re not up at all hours fretting about a young adult son or daughter’s whereabouts. Trust means everyone gets to respect the family’s sleep needs.

Through all a family’s “rites of passage”, routine, quality sleep has to be a key house rule. Your home environment and family health depend on it.

One of two things could be happening. Lack of sleep is causing disruption. Or life pressures are disrupting proper sleep. Likely, there’s a vicious circle of each impacting the other. Pay attention to typical behaviours, especially as they re-occur:

1. If your spouse sleeps restlessly, regularly gets up during the night, or isn’t getting to bed at their usual time, it’s likely impacting the quality of your sleep, too. Instead of starting a midnight therapy session, find a quiet daytime moment to discuss and resolve what might be causing the sleep interruptions.
2. Kids go through entirely expected sleep experiences. There’s bed-wetting. Monsters under the bed. Nightmares. Strange sounds in the night. Usually, re-assurance is all that’s needed. Again, a quiet daytime chat will likely reveal what’s happening inside that little head right now.
3. And then, lucky you, the teenage years arrive! The hormones kick in. Parents become the enemy. At best, they “just don’t get it”! That’s by no means every teenager, of course. But do expect behaviours to change. And do a gentle check-in on their routine sleep.

As families flourish, it is not uncommon for everyone to sleep for several years in their now adult-sized beds. Life carries on, day and night. Sleep is just something we do at night. Yet is the family still getting the proper comfort and support that growing kids and hard-working parents really need?

We become so used to our trusty beds that we may not realise how the resistance in the springs or foam may have diminished. Do a quick family mattress test throughout the home:

1. Check to see whether the mattress surface is still flat, rather than concave from years of body weight impression.
2. Press into the top, middle, bottom and around the sides to see if support resistance is the same throughout.
3. Take a closer look at mattress hygiene. Does it need a thorough, deep cleaning? Or is it really time to replace it?

The thought of replacing mattresses for the family might feel daunting, if not unrealistic. Who can afford to do that? Then again, if family comes first, who can afford not to?

At The Bed Store, the place to start is always with a realistic budget. Pop into a store together and test out the comfort and support of the latest design and manufacturing techniques. Inform yourself, and educate your kids, about the importance of sleeping on the very best mattress you can afford.

The Bed Store offers so many affordable options to make your all-important mattress purchase. Do you have a TFG card yet? Well, here’s your wake-up call. Your TFG card is not just a way of affording your best sleep. You also get to afford the best lifestyle brands, from homeware, to fashion, sportswear and then some. The kids will hang cool. And everyone will be dreaming their best lives, and living their dreams.

*TFG Money is a division of Foschini Retail Group (Pty) Ltd, a registered credit provider. NCRCP36.