The Truth About Sleep: Snuz Sleep Survey Results

Last month, we carried out a survey of over 1300 parents to get to find out just how little sleep new parents are getting. It’s pretty common knowledge that parents can expect to kiss goodbye to regular shut-eye during the early years, but quantified, these figures really put things into perspective.

Sleep thieves

They may be cute, but newborns are officially sleep thieves! As it turns out, a staggering 7 in 10 parents are losing an average of three hours’ sleep every night in their baby’s first year – the equivalent of losing a phenomenal 133 night’s worth of sleep* before their baby turns 1!

With the majority of parents losing over one-third of a year’s sleep - the realities of parental sleep deprivation can't be ignored. While parents are often advised to try and nap while baby naps, 45% admitted to being unable to grab a snooze during the day, with roughly 55% putting it down to household duties.

Nap Hacks

When it comes to sleep tips and hacks, a majority of parents surveyed said they've tried rocking their baby to sleep, and almost a third of people admitted to driving their baby around in their car to try getting them to sleep. Nearly half of parents (46%) have used white and/or pink noise to help their little one get to sleep. Haven’t tried it before or want to find out more, check out our blog post on Pink Noise and its benefits here!

Reassuringly, 96% of parents have their baby sleeping in the bedroom near them at night in their first six months, in line with safe sleep guidelines. To learn more about sleep safety, read our blog post all about it here.

a lack of support

In terms of sharing care duties, parents have overall not felt the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact, with parents seemingly more likely to share duties. Perhaps a positive side effect of the pandemic, though hopefully one that’s here to stay!

Not so positive is the number of parents who admitted to feeling massively unsupported. Nearly half of the parents surveyed (44%) expressed feeling like they did not have the support they needed or wanted with regards to their baby's sleep throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a separate poll we conducted on our Instagram to our army of 82k+ parents, when questioned about their baby not sleeping, 88% admitted to this being a cause of stress, while 77% talked about the anxiety they feel even before bedtime starts as they anticipate a sleepless night. Alongside these emotions, 65% of those questioned said they often felt lonely when up late with their newborn.

With stress, anxiety, loneliness, and exhaustion on the cards, it’s clear to see how the first year of parenting can take its toll. Concerned by these results and with an ever-growing awareness of the importance of parental mental health, we felt it was important to open up the discussion and provide an outlet for parents to connect with. This is where the idea for Sleep Support Month was born.

Our Answer to those sleepless nights

Sleep Support Month is our answer to all those sleepless nights, our national campaign to support sleep-deprived parents. Throughout March, we’ll be supporting and educating new parents in dealing with the challenges of sleep.

From 1st March, we’ll be giving parents a virtual high five and lauding our online community with weekly shoutouts, giveaways, and a wealth of sleep content from experts including The Honest Midwife, The Baby Guru, and many more! Information will cover everything from safe sleep practices and understanding your little one’s bedtime needs, to how to look out for yourself and your partner.

Sleep Support Month will be held with the support of The Sleep Charity, an organisation passionate about raising awareness of the impact of sleep deprivation, as well as providing training and advice. The Sleep Charity will be helping provide an expert voice and tips for parents, and in return, we will donate £5 for every SnuzCloud sold during March to support all the amazing work they do promoting understanding and awareness around the complexities of sleep.

We’ll also be introducing our Snuz Sleep Saviours, real mums and dads jumping online to share their experiences of parenthood and baby sleep with our digital community each week.

Parents are not only losing sleep in the first year, but they are also often feeling stressed, anxious, and lonely. We strongly feel it is our responsibility to help, and although we can’t turn up at their houses to offer a naptime for the family, we can commit a full month to trying to help from afar. A virtual pat on the back for the community of parents online. The month is bursting with advice, support, positivity and a large helping of ‘You’ve Got This’ to keep parents going and aid the ZZZ’s!