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Baby bedtimes a joy or a crying shame?

Lifestyle

Baby bedtimes a joy or a crying shame?

The average British parent loses two whole weeks of sleep per year because their baby won’t settle down at night, according to new research.

“Getting your baby into a regular sleep pattern where they sleep through the night is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges that new parents face.” – Lucy Shrimpton, professional children’s sleep consultant and founder of The Sleep Nanny®

Mums and dads spend 2.5 full days discussing their little one’s bedtime habits every year, the poll by Silentnight Safe Nights reveals.

Data from the survey shows the average parent spends hours chatting about their baby’s sleep at a time, with 3 in 10 discussing it several times per day.

“If a baby has a continual period of poor nights’ sleep, this will have a huge impact on the mental wellbeing of the whole family so it’s hugely important for parents to seek help when they need and invest in simple, soothing products, such as the Silentnight Safe nights collection, that will make a difference and help provide optimum comfort and cafe.” – Lucy Shrimpton, founder of The Sleep Nanny

Hearing that a baby sleeps well is the thing most likely to prompt envy amongst British parents –  ‘they never wake in the night’ (41%), ‘they sleep for a long time (37%), and ‘they nap during the day’ (25%) are all capable of stirring up the green eyed monster.

Sleep issues even outranked some of life’s major baby milestones in importance among parents – including ‘they learned to walk easily’ (21 percent), ‘they’re not fussy eaters’ (34 percent), ‘they’re rarely sick’ (24 percent) and they started talking’ (25 percent).

Silentnight Safe Nights found that frustration at a baby struggling to sleep is leading some parents to despair – a quarter of mothers and fathers (24 percent) cry at least once a week because the baby can’t be settled into slumber. The average mum or dad loses 6.2 hours of sleep per week due to their baby not nodding off. That’s a whopping two-weeks-worth of sleep missed each year.

The Silentnight Safe Nights collection also researched the nation’s favourite lullabies. While classics like Rocka Bye Baby and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star retain their popularity, a quarter of parents now opt for Beyoncé or Ed Sheeran while serenading their baby to sleep.

Lucy Shrimpton added: “Gentle, soothing lullabies can certainly help calm a baby into sleep but my biggest piece of advice would be to get into a consistent bedtime routine with products that support you and your baby and stick to it. 

“Keep positive and don’t beat yourself up by comparing yourself to other parents; remember every child is different and needs their own unique sleep solution, for instance, a sleep bag or a swaddle wraps, to help them get a great night’s sleep.”

Silentnight’s Safe Night has a full suite of products designed to help with the issue. More information is available on their website.

Top 10 Most Discussed Parental Topics

Children’s bedtime
The amount of and quality of baby’s sleep
Children’s diet
Weaning and feeding
Breastfeeding
Napping schedules
Walking and crawling
Developmental milestones
Mum and dad’s lack of sleep
Vaccinations

The Top 10 Bedtime Lullabies

Twinkle twinkle little star
Rocka Bye Baby
Hush Little Baby
Baa baa black sleep
You Are My Sunshine
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
A pop song by Beyonce Or Ed Sheeran
Over The Rainbow
Brahm’s Lullaby
Frere Jacque

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