Parenting

Study: New Moms Push Their Strollers 639 Miles in the First Year

New mom strolling With a baby around, moms always seem to be multitasking and spending most of their day and night looking after the infant’s needs. Baby sleep time is therefore especially precious for moms when they can finish other chores or just take a breather. Now, a research conducted in UK proves that mothers indeed are so desperate to help make their infants nod off that they spend 639 miles walking the baby buggy in the very first year.

On average, the on-the-go mom take the stroller out 6 times a week which averages to about two miles of walking each time. The research shows that this adds up to about 639 miles in an year, the distance between London and Switzerland!

It is believed that the gradual motion of the stroller is a motion that is much similar to what babies feel inside their mother’s womb and therefore it lulls them to sleep.

The research conducted by Pampers Baby-Dry revealed that mom’s need to at least push the stroller between 2  and 2 & a half miles before their baby dozes off. It was also found that after rocking a baby to sleep, pushing the buggy was to the most popular choice to get a baby to sleep.

It was also found that 42 percent moms push the stroller purely with the intention to help their baby take a nap and 34 percent moms also take their baby for a drive in their cars for the same reasons.

Pampers sleep expert Dr Wendy Dean, a 42-year-old mother of four children, said, “There’s no doubt that pushing a buggy over 600 miles is a very long way indeed.Getting baby to sleep is a big source of stress for mums and you can understand why many resort to a long walk to get baby to drift off, as it isn’t always easy.”

The expert also says that there are both good and bad signs to the routine of strolling to help baby doze off.

‘I understand new parents’ desperation when they are sleep-deprived – you will try anything to get your baby to sleep. There’s definitely a positive side to going out with your baby as it means they can fit in with your daytime routine. It’s also important for new mothers to get out so they don’t feel isolated. But the danger is that when you stop your baby may wake up again. And you really don’t want to be marching for miles in the middle of the night.

She also says that it is important for parents to find out a more convenient sleep routine that helps the baby learn to sleep by himself.

‘Babies need to learn how to settle themselves with the help of the right sleep routine and environment – and where possible I try to encourage other methods to help both mum and baby” she said.

The research was conducted on more than 2000 moms with babies ranging from 0 to 36 months. Of these more than half of the mothers said that getting their baby to sleep was one of the toughest parts of being a parent.

It was also found that average parent takes at least half an hour to make a baby go to sleep again after he gets up abruptly. And in the first three year of a child’s life a mom sleeps an average 5 hours per night.

For most new moms it seems the strolling routine is a good way to ensure their baby dozes off  and a great way to get out of  the house to shed the extra baby weight. – Atula, Staff Writer

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About the author

Atula

Atula is a writer, traveler, and a nature-lover. She is also mom to a boy who seems to have inherited all her creative genes. When Atula is not busy making up stories with her son, she writes for numerous magazines, websites, and blogs. She is also working on her site on endangered species called indiasendangered.com.

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