Sleep deprived mums

We have all done crazy things as sleep-deprived mums. You know what we mean, like popping the milk in the oven, or sticking the babies bottle in the dishwasher instead of the microwave. Wearing odd shoes to the shop or forgetting to change your clothes before heading to the corner store.

What research says about sleep deprivation

According to research, sleep deprivation can last for SIX years. Holy cow!

Researchers at the University or Warwick published a study in the journal Sleep. They found that new parents don’t get a proper night’s sleep for at least the first six years after giving birth.

The sleeping patterns of 4,659 parents, who had a baby between 2008 and 2015, were examined and it was found that mums slept one less hour than before pregnancy in the first three months after giving birth. Dads sleep decreased by 15 minutes, on average.

“Women tend to experience more sleep disruption than men after the birth of a child reflecting that mothers are still more often in the role of the primary caregiver than fathers,” says lead author Dr. Sakari Lemola.

The research found that the effects on sleep were more pronounced in first-time parents and also with mums who breastfed over bottle-feeding.

No wonder we do silly things due to lack of sleep! Check out just a few of those crazy moments below…

Weird things Sleep deprived mums have done

Here are just a few of the weird and crazy things mums have done while sleep deprived.

Fallen asleep at traffic lights & fallen asleep while driving, did a 180 and ended up in the gravel about 2 foot away from a huge gum tree.

Thrown my late Mum’s gold fob necklace away in the bin (accidentally)

Driven off to visit grandma for the weekend with baby still asleep in the house !

Spent hours trying to find my half slip petticoat to wear to work, only to realise I had it on already.

Wore clearly unmatching black boots for a whole day at work. For bonus points, did not notice until I was on the train home.

Peed on the toilet with the lid closed …. enough said.

Nearly had a car crash.

Tried to brush my teeth with haemorrhoid cream.

Put the car keys in the freezer.

Tossed the toddlers iPad out with the catalogues.