Mothers lose more sleep the more children they have, research shows
EACH child increases a mother’s chances of having her sleep disturbed by 50 per cent, research has shown.
Each child increases a mother's risk of not sleeping by 50 per cent
But the same does not apply to fathers, whose sleep appears to be unaffected by how many children they have.
Lead researcher Dr Kelly Sullivan said: “I think these findings may bolster those women who say they feel exhausted.
“Our study found that not only are they not sleeping long enough, they also report feeling tired throughout the day.”
The research found that mothers are not sleeping long enough
I think these findings may bolster those women who say they feel exhausted
The research team from Georgia Southern University in the United States analysed the results from a telephone survey of 5,805 people.
Participants were asked how long they slept each night, with seven to nine hours considered “optimum” and fewer than six hours “insufficient”.
Among 2,908 women aged 45 and younger, a clear link was established between a poor night’s sleep and the number of children they had.
The fathers sleep seems to be unaffected by the number of children
It appeared that each child in a household increased the chances of not getting enough sleep by 50 per cent.
Overall, 48 per cent of women under 45 with children reported getting at least seven hours of sleep compared with 62 per cent of those without children.
No other factors, including exercise, marital status and education, appeared to influence how long these younger women slept.
Mothers reported feeling tired 14 days a month
Having children also affected how long women in this age group felt tired during the day.
Mothers reported feeling tired 14 days a month, whereas women without children felt tired for 11 days.
However, children appeared to have no effect on the length of time that men slept, said researchers.