Study Says Oz Mums Prefer Sleep to Sex

Australian mothers would prefer uninterrupted sleep over sex, reveals survey. The figure is even starker for new mothers with 81 per cent of those with a child under the age of one choosing sleep before sex, a Mums' Confessions online survey found.

Just over 30 per cent of the almost 500 mums surveyed by the Daily Telegraph admitted to medicating their children to make them sleep or calm them down.

About 60 per cent of those mothers said they did it in order to get a good night's rest themselves, 19.7 per cent said it was to get some peace and quiet and 37.6 per cent said they medicated their children on a long flight or car trip.

Almost 40 per cent of mums said they had sent their child to school or daycare knowing they were sick, with the majority saying it was because they had no other option due to work commitments.

"There is not a lot of honesty in today's society about the reality of being a mother, we are led to believe that it's not at all difficult to be the perfect mother," News.aom.au quoted author Amanda Cox as saying.

Other survey results reveal that almost 30 per cent of those with two or more children admit to having a favourite child at least sometimes, more than one in 10 wished they had had a child of the opposite gender and one third say they feel jealous of their childless friends at least some of the time.

Also, interestingly, the survey revealed that if given the choice between losing five to 10 kilograms themselves or adding five to 10 points to their child's IQ, 33.2 per cent of mothers would prefer the weight loss.

Source-ANI