When it comes to new parenthood, feeling perpetually and outrageously tired is a universal truth. If you?ve ever put the milk carton away with the coffee mugs or forgotten where you stashed your car keys while holding them in your hand, you?re in good company. And as all moms and dads know, the sleep deprivation doesn?t end with baby?s first birthday. Travel, changes in routine and growth spurts can all spark sleep regressions at different ages and stages. At this point, you might fancy yourself an expert on exhaustion, but there are actually researchers who study this for a living. Read on for seven surprising things we?ve learned from sleep researchers.
1. You?ll lose about 21 days? worth of sleep by baby?s first birthday

New moms and dads are missing out on a lot of sleep, says Kelly Sullivan, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, who studies sleep deprivation in parents. ?Previous studies have examined the sleep loss associated with having an infant and determined that parents lose an average of two hours of sleep per night for the first five months [of baby?s life] and then one hour a night until age two,? she says. That adds up to a lot of lost shuteye. And if you have more than one child, the toll is even greater. ?In one study, we found that each child in the household was associated with a nearly 50 percent increase in a woman?s odds of insufficient sleep,? she says. 2. You can?t actua...