How fathers get a better night's sleep than mothers... and it's even worse if the children are still at home

Mothers spend 10 minutes longer on average trying to get to sleep
Almost three-quarters of mothers living with their children have insomnia
Two out of five mums reported feeling 'alone' as a result of poor sleep compared to just one-third of fathers

PUBLISHED: 21:05 EST, 8 March 2013 | UPDATED: 21:06 EST, 8 March 2013

Forget the flowers, the best present you can give a mother this Sunday is a lie-in.

Mothers are officially sleep deprived compared to fathers, says a new survey.

They take longer to get off to sleep, are more likely to wake in the night and suffer more sleep disturbance from their children.

It is well recognised that women are poorer sleepers than men, but findings from The Great British Sleep Survey show mothers fare worse than anyone.

In need of a lie-in: Mothers get far less sleep than anyone else, a new survey has revealed

Overall, mothers spend 10 minutes longer on average trying to get to sleep, and almost another 10 minutes extra awake during the night than fathers.

The survey of over 21,000 UK adults found men better sleepers than women.

The findings are based on questionnaire results about people’s sleep patterns and scores out of 10 for sleep quality.

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It found men are better sleepers than women, with an average score of 5.5 compared with 5.0.

But women living with children slept even worse - those with kids at home had on average a 12 per cent lower Sleep Score than the average UK woman.

Almost three-quarters of mothers living with their children had insomnia compared with around half of Britons on average.

One-third of mothers said their sleep was frequently disturbed by their children.

Sleepless nights: One-third of mothers said their sleep was frequently disrupted by their children

Worryingly, two out of five mums reported feeling ‘alone’ as a result of their poor sleep compared with just one-third of fathers.

And one-third of mothers with children at home blamed lack of sleep and poor quality sleep for affecting their ability to look after other people in their lives.

The survey was sponsored by Sleepio, an online sleep improvement programme which uses cognitive behavioural techniques.

Professor Colin Espie, sleep expert and co-founder of Sleepio, said ‘These results demonstrate the potential for poor sleep to affect almost every aspect of our lives from our emotions to our physical wellbeing and even our ability to look after our families.’

‘It is unsurprising that women are affected more than men - this reflects the general higher prevalence of sleep problems amongst the female population.’

Research suggests seven and a half hours of sleep a night is the optimum level for good health, with scientists at Surrey University last month that just one week of poor sleep can disrupt hundreds of genes linked to stress, immunity and inflammation.

Other research shows women are more likely to seek help for sleeping problems - but they are twice as likely to become reliant in medication.

Prof Espie said cognitive behavioural therapy techniques had been independently proven to help insomniacs more than sleeping pills, and mothers who completed the Sleepio.com programme spent an average of 30 per cent more time in bed asleep.

The survey findings are based on questionnaire results from last winter about people’s sleep patterns and scores out of 10 for sleep quality.

Launched by Sleepio.com in March 2010, the Great British Sleep Survey is an ongoing assessment of how Britons are sleeping, Research shows the £49.99 programme can help three-quarters of even long-term poor sleepers retrain their mind and body to achieve healthy sleep in six weeks without the need for sleeping pills.

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Basically, evolution has made sure that women are programmed not to sleep through the sound of a crying baby, men are not. Even being way past the age of reproducing, a baby's cry still goes through me and elicits a stomach churning response. Nature makes sure that we are best equipped to rear our young which is what some find difficult to accept. Nature does not understand feminism nor does it see a Mother's role as "unfair" to women. It's all about continuation of the species. We have managed to reverse the survival of the fittest though and have ensured that the gene pool is getting weaker and weaker by paying the the worst parents to have the most children.

- Morphic , Somerset, United Kingdom, 09/3/2013 09:49

Click to rate Rating 214

I'm currently sat here, feeling like absolute rubbish as I'm still suffering with morning, noon and night sickness and tiredness at 14 weeks pregnant. My little man was up frequently through the night feeling unwell, and he was up at the crack of dawn in a state where he felt poorly and was so tired. Yet my other half slept through it all and is still asleep in bed !! Yet, I can guarantee today all I'll hear from him is how tired he is....

- amazed , berks, 09/3/2013 09:47

Click to rate Rating 336

Understandable. The harder you work the easier it is to sleep!

- bigger picture , Stoke on Trent, 09/3/2013 09:44

Click to rate Rating 228

Jeez I must have a saint for a husband. If he hears OUR child cry he's up. If I do I'm up. Also every weekend our little boy toddles in for morning cuddles and its always daddy's side he goes too. We have cuddles then its daddy who does breakfast! He sees it as daddy time and i usually fall asleep only to be woken with shrieks of giggles. I've never asked he's just done it. He's always changed nappies and mucked in because he's wanted to. Admittedly the house usually looks like a bombs hit it and its not a forethought to tidy up but who cares they're having a ball!

- cupcake , Manchester, 09/3/2013 09:43

Click to rate Rating 176

God knows why any woman wants to be a mother, single or otherwise you end up doing the majority of child-rearing with little or no support only to raise ungrateful brats who will most likely not even bother to visit you when you're old and decrepit except when they want to squeeze money out of you then shove you in a home so they can sell the house. I'll stick with cats, thank you very much. Red arrow away, just saying it how it is even if people would rather keep their rose-tinted glasses on about how motherhood is the best thing ever, yeah right, most child-free women know they've dodged a bullet there! - Chelsea, London, 09/03/2013 05:50 There's always one mad cat woman......

- hev , England, 09/3/2013 09:42

Click to rate Rating 105

Where do they get this tripe? My wife is sound asleep before she hits the pillow! And yes we have 3 kids, whi gets up to them, ME!

- Nznick , far far awayland, 09/3/2013 09:30

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Genius!!!!!!!! I am sure this is a revelation to most new mothers....

- claire , oz, 09/3/2013 09:29

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I am really lucky. My husband lets me sleep in on a weekend and helps out every night with the kids.

- littlemissl , Sydney, Australia, 09/3/2013 09:27

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My husband used to tell everyone our eldest baby slept through from day 1... She was up every 4 hours for the first 6 months!

- kitty2013 , London, 09/3/2013 09:20

Click to rate Rating 200

God knows why any woman wants to be a mother, single or otherwise you end up doing the majority of child-rearing with little or no support only to raise ungrateful brats who will most likely not even bother to visit you when you're old and decrepit except when they want to squeeze money out of you then shove you in a home so they can sell the house. I'll stick with cats, thank you very much. Red arrow away, just saying it how it is even if people would rather keep their rose-tinted glasses on about how motherhood is the best thing ever, yeah right, most child-free women know they've dodged a bullet there! - Chelsea, London, 9/3/2013 16:50..........Don't worry about the red arrows, dear, I'm hearing you...believe me, I'm hearing you. :)

- Reubenene , Victoria, Australia, 09/3/2013 09:19

Click to rate Rating 29

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