A new survey has revealed that teens disrupt their parents' sleep just as much as toddlers do (and, sorry, it gets worse the more children you have).
Parents will know that sleep is a luxury commodity once you have children. Dealing with lack of sleep becomes the norm and, when a full eight hours is no longer an option, working out how to look less tired replaces taking measures to actually be less tired because, let's face it, you're probably going to feel exhausted either way.
But if you know how much sleep teenagers need, then you might expect to get a couple more hours of shut-eye once your kids get a bit older, given that teens actually need more sleep than younger children. Unfortunately, research has shown that you can expect just as many sleepless nights as a parent of a teen as when your kids were toddlers.
According to a survey conducted by Expert Reviews, parents who have teenagers struggle as much with their sleep as those with children under four. They found that 60 per cent of parents and guardians of toddlers say they are not getting enough sleep - and 60 per cent of parents with kids aged 17-18 felt the same.
In addition, the survey found that 51 per cent of parents get less than seven hours of sleep, compared to 39 per cent of adults without children. Meanwhile, 44 per cent of adults with one child or less in their household get less than seven hours of sleep, compared to 55 per cent of adults with more than three children living with them.
So, contrary to the expectation that a parent's sleep improves as their children grow up, Expert Reviews' survey reveals that parents continue to struggle with sleep, no matter how old their children are.
That said, there was a slight improvement in sleep for parents once their children turned 18, as 52 per cent of parents with children over 18 say that they do not get enough sleep, compared to 54 per cent of parents with children under 18. But just 44 per cent of people without children agreed.
Key survey findings
- 44 per cent of adults with 0 children said they get less than seven hours of sleep
- 44 per cent of adults with one child said they get less than seven hours of sleep
- 52 per cent of adults with two children said they get less than seven hours of sleep
- 55 per cent of adults with three children or more said they get less than seven hours of sleep
If your kids are disrupting your sleep, you might want to check out these expert tips on how to recover from a bad night's sleep and how to wake up in the morning too. We've also asked the experts how to get rid of dark circles - here are nine of the best eye creams that might help.
