Flying to Australia is fun! …until you think about the 20-hour flight and being jet lagged on 16 time zones away from where you started.

CNET editor Lexy Savvides has tackled this challenge many times, but thanks to our Lumos Smart Sleep Mask, she was finally able to arrive jet lag-free when she arrived in Australia! Here’s what she said in her recent Wearable Tech article:

“I was shocked at how much better I felt compared with previous journeys on the same flight. I was energized and stayed up until my usual bedtime… The next day I felt totally adjusted to Sydney time, with no jet lag symptoms. ”

To hear the full story, watch her trip to Sydney with Lumos.

Of course, we want everyone to share Lexy’s wonderful travel experience with Lumos. That’s why we are taking pre-orders from everyone now. Order your Lumos Smart Sleep Mask today and say goodbye to jet lag!

If you're a mom who’s running on caffeine and willpower, you're not alone—and you're definitely not imagining things. While everyone talks about the sleepless nights of early parenthood, the deeper story lies in the biological differences that affect how women sleep, how they respond to interruptions, and how their circadian rhythms are impacted by caregiving.

This Mother's Day, we’re shining a light on something moms don’t often hear: your sleep needs are different—and they matter.

🧠 The Science of Women’s Sleep: Not the Same as Men’s

Women May Need More Sleep

Research suggests that women may need about 20 more minutes of sleep per night than men. Why? One theory points to the demands of multitasking and more dynamic brain use throughout the day—functions that require more recovery time at night.

Hormones Play a Big Role

Sleep in women is highly influenced by hormonal shifts:

• During the menstrual cycle, fluctuating estrogen and progesterone levels can cause insomnia, especially in the days before menstruation.
• Pregnancy alters sleep architecture and increases nighttime awakenings.
• Postpartum and breastfeeding periods bring sharp hormonal drops, which can affect sleep quality and make falling back asleep harder after waking.

More Light Sleep, Less Deep Sleep

Women tend to spend more time in light stages of sleep (Stages 1 & 2) and less time in deep, restorative slow-wave sleep. This makes them more vulnerable to being awakened—whether by a crying baby or simply a change in room temperature.

Greater Risk of Insomnia

Women are nearly twice as likely as men to experience insomnia. Stress, anxiety, and hormonal transitions make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep—especially during intense life phases like parenting.

🍼 What Happens During the Parenting Years

Moms Lose More Sleep Than Dads

Even in households where parenting duties are shared, mothers tend to lose more sleep in the first year of a child’s life. They’re more likely to respond to nighttime wakings and often remain mentally “on call,” even while their partner sleeps.

Fragmented Sleep Hits Moms Harder

Interrupted sleep doesn’t just make you tired—it alters how your brain and body function. And because women are more sensitive to sleep fragmentation, those night wakings take a bigger toll, leading to lower sleep quality even when total hours look okay on paper.

Circadian Rhythms Shift More for Moms

Kids don’t follow adult sleep schedules. Many moms adjust their own sleep-wake patterns to align with their child’s—going to bed earlier, waking before dawn, or sleeping in short, irregular bursts. These shifts throw off the body’s circadian clock, leading to a sense of jet lag, brain fog, and emotional fatigue.

Additionally, the emotional attunement many mothers feel toward their baby can amplify sensitivity to their baby’s sleep cues, pulling them out of deeper rest more frequently.

💡 What Can Help

While you can’t always control how much sleep you get, you can support your circadian rhythm and make sleep more restorative when it does happen.

Here are a few small steps that can make a big impact:

• Get natural light in the morning. Try to take a morning walk with your little one. Even just 10–20 minutes of daylight soon after waking helps reset your body clock and boost daytime energy. It can also help establish your newborn's circadian rhythms!
• Align your sleep schedule with your child’s. When your newborn takes a nap, go take a nap as well. If your toddler goes to bed early, consider shifting your own schedule earlier.
• Use red light during nighttime wake-ups. If you're up during the night with a baby, use dim, warm-toned lights or a circadian-friendly device to avoid confusing your body clock.
• Don’t fight early bedtimes. If your child is asleep at 8 p.m., give yourself permission to sleep then too. The laundry will wait. If shifting to an earlier bedtime feels hard, try using light therapy in the morning to help move your circadian rhythm earlier—your body clock will adjust more easily with the right light cues.

This Mother’s Day, Give Yourself (or a Mom You Love) the Gift of Rest

Moms give everything—and that includes their sleep. This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating moms with a special offer of Buy 1 Lumos Mask, Get 1 Lumos BlueBlocker for Free using code Mom2025 to help restore and protect the circadian rhythm that keeps everything in balance.

Becoming a parent brings a lot of joy—and a lot of sleep disruption. From unpredictable night wakings to early morning feedings, caring for a young child often means putting your own sleep on the back burner. While the most obvious culprit is sleep deprivation, there’s another hidden factor making the fatigue even worse: a disrupted circadian rhythm.

What Is the Circadian Rhythm?

Your circadian rhythm is your internal body clock. It helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle, energy levels, hormone production, body temperature, and even your mood over a roughly 24-hour cycle. This rhythm is highly responsive to cues like light, meal times, and physical activity.

When your circadian rhythm is aligned, you feel sleepy at night, alert during the day, and more resilient overall. But when it’s off-kilter—like it often is for new parents—you might feel like you’re in a fog, even when you’ve technically gotten "enough" sleep.

How Parenting Young Children Disrupts the Circadian Rhythm

Sleep challenges change as your child grows—but both stages can knock your circadian rhythm off course in very different ways.

• The Newborn Phase: No Rhythm, No Rules

One of the biggest shocks for new parents is how unpredictable newborn sleep can be. That’s because newborns don’t have a functioning circadian rhythm yet.

Their internal clocks are still developing, which means they sleep and wake in short bursts around the clock—regardless of whether it’s day or night. Feeding needs, growth spurts, and comfort demands don’t follow a schedule, so parents are often up at all hours, with no consistent opportunity for restorative sleep.

This kind of fragmented, irregular sleep and the light exposure during the wake-ups makes it hard for your own circadian rhythm to stay aligned, which leads to:

• • Trouble falling asleep when you do have a window
  • Light-headedness or foggy thinking during the day
  • Energy crashes and mood swings

• The Toddler Phase: Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Once your child develops their own circadian rhythm, you'd think things would get easier. But for many parents, it’s a different kind of challenge.

Toddlers tend to have much earlier sleep and wake times than adults. Their natural rhythm may call for bedtime at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. and wake-ups at 6:00 or 6:30 a.m.—sometimes even earlier.

That means your own rhythm may need to shift earlier too, which can be tough if you're naturally a night owl or juggling evening responsibilities. Trying to stay up late for some personal time, only to be woken up at dawn, creates a constant mismatch between your biological clock and your child’s needs.

This misalignment often results in:

• • Sleep debt that adds up quickly, even if you're technically getting “some” sleep
  • Fatigue that persists through the day
  • Difficulty feeling alert and productive in the early mornings

Why This Matters

Sleep deprivation doesn’t just make you tired—it impacts memory, emotional regulation, immune function, and even long-term health. An out-of-sync circadian rhythm compounds these effects, leading to chronic fatigue, irritability, and a sense of never really feeling "caught up"—even on days when your child miraculously sleeps through the night.

What You Can Do

While there’s no magic fix (and definitely no pause button on parenting), you can support your circadian rhythm in small but powerful ways:

• Get outside in the morning light. Even 10–15 minutes of sunlight early in the day helps reset your clock and boost energy. You can arrange morning walks with your little ones, which will help them establish their circadian rhythms as well. 
• Align your sleep schedule with your child’s. Sleep when your newborn sleeps. Don't try to squeeze in work or chores during their nape time. If your toddler goes to bed early, consider shifting your own schedule earlier—even if it’s temporary. Going to bed shortly after your child can help sync your rhythm and improve your overall sleep quality.
• Use light intentionally. Use dim light or red light for your night time wake-up and baby duty. This will reduce the disruption in your circadian rhythm, and help them establish theirs. Some parents also use light-based tools (like a sunrise alarm or a circadian rhythm-supporting light mask) to help adjust to earlier schedules more efficiently.
• Prioritize sleep when you can. We know this one is easier said than done—but when the stars align for an early bedtime, take it. The dishes and laundry can wait. Rest is recovery, and you’ll be more equipped to handle everything else with even just a little more sleep.

A Note of Compassion

If you’re parenting a little one and running on fumes, know this: You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re navigating one of the most biologically and emotionally demanding periods of adult life. Your circadian rhythm will recover—and so will you.

Until then, giving your body even small cues of rhythm and routine can help make the fog a little less heavy—and the good moments a little easier to enjoy.