初為父母連睡覺都是奢侈？研究表明：睡眠不足可能持續六年！

New parents face up to six years of sleep deprivation, study says

研究表明，新手父母將面臨長達六年的睡眠不足

素材來源：衛報 翻譯：世界播

The study found mothers lost about 40 minutes of sleep a night in the year after the birth of a child. Photograph: Getty Images

研究發現，母親在生完孩子後的一年裡，每晚會少睡40分鐘。圖片來源：蓋蒂圖片社

Starting a family is a well-known way to make a good night』s sleep a distant dream, but new research suggests the parental yawns might go on for six years.

眾所周知，組建家庭會讓一夜好眠成為遙不可及的夢想，新的研究表明，父母睡眠不足可能會持續六年。

Researchers tracking the sleep of thousands of men and women as their family size increased have found that shuteye hits a low about three months after birth – with the effect strongest in women.

研究人員跟蹤調查了數千名男性和女性在家庭規模擴大時的睡眠情況，發現孩子在出生大約三個月後，他們的睡眠質量會降至最低點，其中對女性的影響最大。

However, while parents gradually saw an improvement in their sleep as their firstborn grew, it seems their night-time rest was never quite the same again.

然而，隨著他們的第一個孩子長大，父母們逐漸發現他們的睡眠質量有所改善，但似乎他們的夜間休息時間再也不一樣了。

「We didn』t expect to find that, but we believe that there are certainly many changes in the responsibilities you have,」 said Dr Sakari Lemola, co-author of the research from the University of Warwick. He added that while children may stop crying during the night as they age, they may wake up, be sick or have nightmares, while the stress and worries that go with parenthood can also affect parents』 sleep.

該研究報告的合著者、華威大學的薩卡里?萊莫拉博士說：「我們沒料到會發現這一點，但我們相信，人們的責任感肯定會發生很多變化。」他補充說，隨著年齡的增長，孩子們可能會在夜間停止哭泣，但他們可能會醒來、生病或做噩夢，而為人父母所帶來的壓力和擔憂也會影響父母的睡眠。

Published in the journal Sleep, the study looked at data collected from adults in Germany who were surveyed in face-to-face interviews carried out once a year between 2008-15. Participants were asked to rate their sleep quality on a scale from 0 to 10, and were quizzed on how many hours of sleep they got on a normal weekday and on a normal weekend day.

這項研究發表在《睡眠》雜誌上，研究人員對德國成年人收集的數據進行了分析——這些成年人在2008 - 2015年間每年接受一次面對面採訪。研究人員要求參與者對自己的睡眠質量進行評分，範圍從0到10不等，並詢問他們在正常工作日和周末的睡眠時間。

The researchers focused on responses from more than 2,500 women and almost 2,200 men who reported the birth of their first, second or third child during the study, with participants followed for up to six years.

研究人員對2500多名女性和近2200名男性的回答進行了研究，這些參與者在研究期間報告了自己第一個、第二個或第三個孩子的出生，研究人員對這些人進行了長達6年的跟蹤調查。

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team found women reported a decline in sleep satisfaction in the first year after the birth of a child, dropping 1.7 points on the scale on average for the first child, and just over one point for both the second and third child compared with before their first pregnancy.

也許不出所料，研究小組發現女性在孩子出生後的第一年睡眠滿意度下降，第一個孩子出生後平均下降了1.7分，第二個和第三個孩子出生後睡眠滿意度都只比第一次下降了一分。

The mothers also lost about 40 minutes of sleep a night in the year after a baby arrived compared with pre-pregnancy levels regardless of whether it was their first or a subsequent child.

此外，與懷孕前的睡眠時間相比，母親們在孩子出生後的這一年裡每晚睡眠時間減少了約40分鐘，無論這是她們的第一個孩子還是第二個孩子。

Deeper analysis of data showed the first three months after the birth of a first child were particularly gruelling: women lost just over an hour of sleep compared with before they became pregnant.

對數據的更深入分析顯示，第一個孩子出生後的頭三個月特別難熬：與懷孕前相比，女性睡眠時間減少了一個多小時。

While similar trends were seen for fathers, the effects were less pronounced. Even at three months after their first child』s birth, fathers only lost 13 minutes of sleep.

雖然在父親身上也發現了類似的趨勢，但影響不那麼明顯。即使是在第一個孩子出生三個月後，父親們也只失去了13分鐘的睡眠。

Fathers only lost 13 minutes of sleep at three months after the birth of a first child. Photograph: Andersen Ross/Getty Images

在第一個孩子出生後的三個月里，父親的睡眠時間只減少了13分鐘。照片：安德森?羅斯/蓋蒂圖片社

Strikingly, the team found the impact of the first child lingered for both parents. Even once the impact of subsequent children was taken into account, women were still relatively sleep deprived, both in terms of quality and quantity, four to six years after their first child』s birth. Overall sleep satisfaction was rated just over one point lower on average, while sleep duration was about 25 minutes less.

令人驚訝的是，研究小組發現第一個孩子的影響一直停留在父母雙方身上。即使考慮到後來的孩子的影響，女性在第一個孩子出生4至6年之後，在質量和數量上仍然相對缺乏睡眠。總體睡眠滿意度平均下降了1分多一點，而睡眠時間減少了大約25分鐘。

By contrast, after the birth of a second child mothers』 sleep recovered to levels of before that pregnancy, and almost bounced back for the third child – findings Lemola put down to sleep duration and quality being worse to start with due to the impact of the first child. 「Your baseline is lower,」 he said.

相比之下，在第二個孩子出生後，母親的睡眠恢復到懷孕前的水平，第三個孩子出生後的睡眠幾乎恢復了——萊莫拉的研究發現，由於第一個孩子的影響，睡眠時間和質量開始下降。「你的基準線更低了。」他說。

The study has some limitations – not least that it was based on data collected once per year, involved self-reporting and some participants had dropped out.

這項研究有一些局限性，尤其是它是基於每年收集一次的數據，涉及自我報告，一些參與者已經退出。

Cathy Finlay, an antenatal teacher with the National Childbirth Trust, said there were ways for parents to mitigate the impact of disturbed sleep.

英國國家生育基金會的產前教師凱西?芬利說，父母可以通過一些方法來減輕睡眠障礙的影響。

「Sleep deprivation can be physically and emotionally draining. Try not to worry about non-essential jobs around the house and accept help from family and friends when it』s offered,」 she said, adding that coordinating your own naps with that of the children could help, as could one parent doing evening caring while the other rested ahead of the 「night shift」.

「睡眠不足會讓人身心俱疲。盡量不要擔心家裡不重要的事情，接受家人和朋友的幫助。」她還補充說，協調自己和孩子的午睡會有所幫助，一方家長做晚間護理，另一方家長則在「夜班」前休息。

But, she added, parents should take heart. 「The sleep disruption can be difficult and exhausting, but bear in mind it won』t last forever.」

但是，她補充說，家長們應該振作起來。「睡眠中斷可能很難熬，也會讓人筋疲力盡，但請記住，它不會永遠持續下去。」

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