880 Hours of Sleep are Lost During the Baby’s First Year

Sleep when the baby sleeps is perhaps the most irritating piece of advice one can receive. Especially so when the baby never sleeps. It’s as helpful as saying wash up when the baby washes up and do the laundry when the baby does the laundry.

So really don’t wind up the exhausted new parents with their tiny newborn who are losing the equivalent of three month’s sleep during the first year.

More than 2000 parents took part in a survey for Eve Sleep, which also found seven out of ten pretended being asleep when the baby cries, hoping their partner would get up and do the hard settling them back to sleep.

Half of couples also row in the middle of the night about whose turn it is to get up and deal with their own crying child.

Of Eve Sleep, Kuba Wieczorek says: “New parents say that the lack of sleep is the hardest part of the first year of parenting.’’

“While it may sound like this is a well-known fact, interestingly, more than half of respondents said they were surprised by how little sleep they got during the first year of their child’s life.”

Around 880 hours sleep was lost in total during the first year adding up to 111 nights before their baby turned one.

The top excuses for not getting out of bed when the baby cried were:

1. I didn’t hear anything

2. I’ve got to get up early for work tomorrow

3. I did it last time

4. The baby prefers you

5. You’re better at feeding/nappy changes than I am

6. I had to work late

7. You had the opportunity to nap during the day

8. The baby needs breastfeeding and I can’t do that

9. You went to bed earlier than me so you’ve had more sleep

10. I don’t feel well so I can’t