A Woman's Guide to Sleep: Guaranteed Solutions for a Good Night's Rest

How many hours of sleep did you get last night?

Five? Six? None? You're not alone. Most women get far less sleep than they need -- in any given month more than half report symptoms of insomnia. Women's sleep problems are different from men's because they have a different biology, psychology, and sleep patterns. A Woman's Guide to Sleep is the first book to address your unique needs, and offer proven solutions that work.

Your sleep is affected by many factors. Fluctuating hormones -- whether it's PMS, pregnancy, or menopause -- can wreak havoc on your sleep. If you've just given birth, you stand to lose 700 hours of sleep your baby's first year! The "architecture" of your sleep changes as you age, and you might find yourself suddenly waking hours off schedule. Health problems that affect women disproportionately, such as depression and pain syndromes, also erode healthy sleep. What you eat -- or don't eat, if you're dieting -- can sabotage your nights, as can that nightcap you have. And social pressures -- juggling work, home, and parenting -- can fill your nights with anxiety instead of restful sleep.

These unique problems require unique solutions. Dr. Joyce A. Walsleben, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the NYU School of Medicine, and Rita Baron-Faust, a leading writer for women's health issues, explain how sleep problems arise and how to combat them with the right sleep-promoting foods, supplements, exercise, stress reducers, and biorhythm adjustments, as well as with prescription, over-the-counter, and alternative treatments. You'll learn to avoid the sleep robbers hidden in many common foods, medications, and supplements. Drawn from Dr. Walsleben's more than twenty years as a sleep researcher and clinician, many of these solutions are simple, surprising, and low-tech -- and they really work.

This book also tells you how to get a good night's sleep when your partner is the one tossing and turning. And how to help your kids if they have sleep
problems -- because getting up in the middle of the night to help a wakeful child destroys your sleep, too.

A comprehensive resource section will guide you to support groups, websites, and sleep clinics. With this groundbreaking guide tailored to your unique needs, you won't ever have to drag yourself through another exhausted day again.

JOYCE A. WALSLEBEN, Ph.D., is the director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the NYU School of Medicine. A council member of the National Sleep Foundation, she is the recent spokesperson for its survey on women and sleep. She has been interviewed on women's sleep issues on the Today show, Good Morning America, Lifetime, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.

RITA BARON-FAUST is an award-winning author who specializes in women's health issues. Her previous books include Being Female: What Every Woman Should Know About Gynecological Health, Mental Wellness for Women, and Breast Cancer: What Every Woman Should Know. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.