In news that won’t surprise any mum or dad – a new study has reinforced that the first year of parenting involves little to no sleep.
Research – commissioned by sleep technology brand Simba – has found that new parents get on average four hours and 44 minutes of sleep in the first 12 months of their child’s life, losing the equivalent of 50 nights of sleep in total.
This sleep deprivation has a significant toll on relationships, with more than two thirds of respondents arguing with their significant other over their baby’s poor sleep habits. Not to mention the impact sleep quality has on health.
Fortunately, the survey did offer some suggestions for overcoming sleep issues, with respondents reporting the methods they use to send their spawn off to snooze town. The top ten include:
1. Warm milk
2. Sticking to routines
3. Gentle rocking motion
4. Dummy
5. A warm bath
6. Comfort blanket
7. Reading
8. Gentle bouncing
9. Singing
10. Give them a favourite toy
And perhaps a bit of hope might help – the light of at the end of the tunnel is that most babies are sleeping nine to twelve hours at a time at night by six months. The study found that 64 per cent of parents look back on their first year of childrearing and are “amazed” they were able to function as well as they did. This will be you too, soon enough.
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