Dads should make sure they get enough sleep before taking their family home © RexA new study has revealed that fathers who don’t have enough sleep before taking their baby home can impact the safety of the newborn baby and its mum.
Almost six out of ten dads have less than five hours sleep in the 48 hours before driving their baby home, according to research carried out by OnePoll for a joint study by child safety firm Britax and Loughborough University.
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A further ten per cent said they had less than an hour’s sleep before driving their baby home.
This extreme lack of sleep impacts on the wellbeing of the baby and the new mum, as more than a third (36 per cent) of the dads polled admitted they did not feel safe driving their family home.
Shockingly, a quarter of dads said they couldn’t even remember the drive home, which took 21 minutes, on average.
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The study suggests getting a close friend or relative (who’s had plenty of sleep!) to pick up the family from hospital might be a better option.
If the father must drive, he should try and get a couple of hour’s kip before driving his family home. If this is impossible, the study recommends taking a 15 minute nap before setting off, at least.
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They should also have a couple of cups of coffee before leaving, and keep the windows open when driving. But remember to wrap up the newborn baby nice and warm first.
If the dad doesn’t feel safe to drive, they should pull over and take a break to ensure the safety of all passengers.