Can you remember the last time you got a seriously good night of sleep? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. A recent study from Hatch Baby reports a large majority of moms and dads experience regular sleep deprivation. With sleep as a highly desirable thing during those first few months (and years) with babies, it begs the question “are there things you’d give up for a glorious stretch of sleep?” Turns out there are! Here is how much rest parents are getting and the luxuries moms (and dads) would give up for sleep.
How much sleep parents are missing out on
The Family Sleep Report from Hatch Baby showed that 94 percent of parents experienced sleep disruptions over the course of the last year. Babies complicate the sleep patterns even more. After you have a baby, the study shows you lose sleep for up to a whopping six years! In fact, 77 percent of parents with a baby or toddler lose sleep because of their child crying in the night. And 47 percent find their sleep disrupted when their little ones sneak into their bed during the night. This means that one in four parents are only getting three to five hours of sleep every night.
Here’s what parents would trade in for a good night of sleep
Because parents are so sleep deprived, they’d be willing to trade in some of life’s luxuries to get a good night of rest.
- Seventy-seven percent of parents with kids ages 5 and younger are willing to give up something they love or do something they dislike
- Forty percent of parents would give up social media for a month
- Thirty-nine percent of parents are willing to sit in traffic for an hour
- Thirty percent of parents were willing to get dental work done
Another survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ZzzQuil, upped the stakes a little bit and revealed very specific things parents would give up for a year of perfect sleep.
- One in four would shave their heads for great sleep
- Twenty-five percent would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch
- Over 22 percent said they’d only shower once a week
- The average person would pay over $300 for a single night of sleep
- Some people would even be willing to cut out alcohol (34 percent), reality TV (33 percent), sports (26 percent) and one in four would give up social media or coffee
- The survey also revealed that one in five would give up having sex while others would forgo chocolate (24 percent) and 18 percent would live without a cellphone all in the name of a year’s worth of sleep.
When it comes to sleep, it seems almost nothing is more important than feeling adequately rested. And it makes sense, if you ask any new mom she’ll tell you that sleep IS the biggest luxury she could possibly have.