The findings are also being launched in recognition of Cow & Gate Good Night Milk, the first follow-on milk developed to help settle babies from 6 months onwards as part of their bedtime routine.
Bedtime is no longer seen as the mum’s domain as 52% of dads take their share of the evening routine. However, a quarter of sneaky dads avoid the task by hiding at work or leave mum to it as they kick back in front of the TV for some me-time. However, when mum is relieved of the bedtime duties, her chores don’t end as 26% start dinner and 25% take the opportunity to tackle the housework uninterrupted.
7 o’clock is officially baby bedtime with over a half of Britain’s babies going down just in time for the 83% of mums who de-stress in front of the TV to catch Emmerdale. 63% of modern mums also said that surfing the net helped them to wind down.
Although many mums said that baby’s bedtime was a relaxing (51%), enjoyable (49%) experience, nearly one third admitted that it was real relief to have baby in bed. Many mums have baby bedtime down to a fine art with nearly three quarters taking under an hour to whiz through the routine.
Most mums find a regular and consistent routine is invaluable to relax baby with the favourite being cuddles, bath, milk feed, and story. Interestingly, the classic technique of singing to baby is no longer seen as an important part with only 11% of mums claiming to croon their little one to sleep. In addition, more quirky tips that have been adopted to aid baby settling:
Classical music
Programme theme tunes to indicate that it is bedtime (Hollyoaks seemed to rate highly)
Recordings on mobile phones
Leaving the vacuum cleaner on
Baby massage with Lavender oil
Hot water bottle to warm up baby’s cot
Cow & Gate’s baby bedtime advisor, Carole Duck commented; “At the Careline we hear stories of both the joy and despair of baby bedtime from mums across the country looking for advice, but as the survey shows, a good routine calms baby, enabling them to settle – however traditional or quirky the technique! A feed plays an important part in this so Cow & Gate Good Night Milk has been developed to be thicker than regular follow on milk whilst being gentle on baby’s tum to provide a warm and satisfying end to your baby’s day, enhancing this special time together.”
New Cow & Gate Good Night Milk RRP £4.98. Available from all major retailers in selected stores.. For further information on the Cow & Gate range, please visit
www.cowandgate.co.uk.
