"Robert J. Chassell" wrote:
> When people work long weeks under extreme time pressure, they are more
> likely to make mistakes. That is why the Royal Air Force grew so
> concerned about pilot fatigue during the Battle of Britain. That is
> why nuclear plant operators are limited in the amount of time they may
> work.
>
> (This is not the kind of fatigue that comes from staying up 48 or 60
> hours, as soldiers and others often do, but the kind of fatigue that
> comes from weeks and months of heavy effort. In World War II,
> researchers for the US Army found that US soldiers' military
> efficiencies, which peaked after about 90 days in combat, dropped off
> after about 150 days.)
Throw the category of "mothers of infants" in there on the fatigue list,
as well.
About a month or so after Sam was born, I got to where I could count on
about 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night. If I got less than 5 1/2 hours of
sleep, I was no good the next day, but if I got somewhere between 5 1/2
and 7 1/2 hours of sleep, I could function adequitely. I could keep
this up for a month or two, but I was extremely grateful when he was
sleeping long enough that I could get 8 hours uninterrupted on occasion.
I'm still nowhere near there with the twins. We've had a handful of
nights in the past 2 weeks where I got a solid 7 hours, babies sleeping
long enough for me to get that, but the last such night was last
Thursday, and the nights since then have really taken a toll on me. (I
should be napping, but I need a minimum amount of nap time, and we
really need to get Catherine up to give her a bath within the next 20
minutes, so a nap for me isn't going to happen before dinnertime.)
I'm going to have to do something drastic about bedtime tonight, I
think....
Julia
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