A Woman's Guide to Sleep

Unique Solutions for a Woman’s Unique Sleep Problems

“Women are probably the most sleep-deprived creatures on earth,” says Dr. Joyce Walsleben, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the NYU School of Medicine.

Fluctuating hormones—whether from PMS, pregnancy, perimenopause, or menopause—can wreak havoc on your sleep. If you’re a new mom, you could lose seven hundred hours of sleep in your baby’s first year! As you get older, your sleep schedule can slip off track. Depression and chronic pain can erode your sleep. What you eat—or don’t eat, if you’re dieting—can sabotage your nights, and then there’s the pressure of juggling work, home, and parenting.

Women’s unique sleep problems require unique solutions. The authors explain how to combat restless nights with the right sleep-promoting foods, supplements, herbs, exercise, stress reducers, and biorhythm adjustments, as well as with prescription, over-the-counter, and alternative treatments. You’ll learn how to avoid the sleep robbers hidden in many common foods and medications. You’ll also receive valuable tips on how to get a good night’s sleep when a tossing and turning partner or wakeful child is the problem. 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., has spent more than twenty years as a sleep researcher and clinician and was the spokesperson for the National Sleep Foundation’s landmark survey on women and sleep.

Rita Baron-Faust is an award-winning medical journalist who specializes in women’s health issues.

The authors live in New York City.