This morning began the same as the few before it, with a barrage of requests and demands.

She was hungry (and loudly!) and then threw a tantrum because she didn’t get juice but everyone else did. She needed help getting dressed, since navigating a turtleneck — does it go on before or after the sweater? — can be complicated. And then there was a “situation” in the bathroom that led to an urgent cry for assistance.

If you’re the parent of a young child, this may all sound familiar.

In this case, however, the “she” is 70 years old.

My husband and I are members of the “sandwich generation” — taking care of both young children and aging parents, specifically his Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother.

An only child, my husband shoulders much of the burden when it comes to identifying and researching care options and strategies for his mother. He also serves as a daily sounding board and one-man support network for his father. We both, along with our two young sons, spend as much time with them as we can.

Our situation, however, is not as difficult as that of many of the 65 million people in the United States who provide care to an ill or aging family member. For starters, my in-laws don’t live with us, so we don’t experience the morning routine I described above every day. Secondly, my father-in-law purchased comprehensive long-term care insurance many years ago, easing the crippling financial burden felt by many others in our place.

Women, in particular, are feeling the strain of the sandwich.

According to the AARP, the typical family caregiver is a woman who works full time and provides an average of 20 hours of care per week to one or more family members. About 24 million of those female caregivers are also raising children under 18. That same woman spends an average of $1,521 annually to help support aging parents.

The juggling act is taking a toll on women’s health — both mentally and physically. According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, women ages 45 to 64 have the lowest well-being of any age group or gender. The AARP reports that 40 to 70 percent of caregivers, most of them women, are clinically depressed, and may be at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

As Dr. Holly Thacker, director of specialized women’s health at the Cleveland Clinic, told ABC News recently: “Women that are excessively stressed have very high cortisol levels. Many of them crimp on sleep to put [first] all the dominions of work and home and caregiving — and everything else that they're doing for everyone else. So with not enough sleep, not enough time for exercise and good nutrition and high cortisol stress levels, you know it's a recipe for a metabolic disaster.”

The irony, Thacker said, is that these women may have shorter lifespans than those of the elderly relatives for whom they’re caring.

And considering that 10,000 people are turning 65 every day — and that children are living at home for more years than ever before (5.9 million 25-34 year olds live with their parents) — the sandwich generation isn’t likely to feel relief any time soon.