I’m not a parent. And I’d never assume to know the unique pain of being kept awake all night every night by a loud noise that’s not my laptop.
But I’ve heard of parents doing some whacky things when sleep deprivation kicks in. I’ve got the science to prove it.
Research shows one in four sleep deprived parents have put their mobiles in the fridge and one in nine have cradled the cat while thinking it’s their baby…
… 20 per cent have also put breast milk in their coffee, and 33 per cent have left the house wearing odd shoes.
So yes, it's safe to say the poor parents of the world are losing sleep over raising their dear children. But have you ever wondered exactly how much - down to the hour?
Because it's 2017, there's now a website to calculate exactly how many hours you've lost since the moment you first assumed responsibility of a small human.
It's called The Lost Sleep Calculator, and you'll have a lot of fun with it.
Simply enter in the age of your child or children, press a button and hey there presto, you've got the *precise* amount of sleep you've lost summed up in years, months, days and hours.
As to what one could do with such information? The world is your oyster.
Now, we should mention we're not quite sure how this is calculated, but we won't dispute it.
Because nothing compares to the wrath of a sleep deprived parent.
How much sleep have you lost since becoming a parent?
Top Comments
Wait until they're teenagers, don't sleep so your sex life has zero privacy, and say they hate you. Enjoy the baby years.
I wish (some) parents ( I have three young kids) would just stop banging on about how tough it is and just get on with it.
Parents have been looking after children and loosing sleep since the dark ages. This is not a new phenomena.
Get over yourselves and suck it up. It's really not that bad.
Imagine how this tool could be used to introduce new, totally productive competitions between parents about who is the MOST tired, who works the HARDEST, and who needs the MOST cookies for being sleep deprived. Sounds totally positive and healthy to me.
That's a great attitude, especially when women everywhere are going through varying degrees of post natal depression.
Why is it so wrong to admit that being a parent is hard and just bloody sucks sometimes? Yes we get the drill, dust yourself off, get on with the job but I am more than happy to lead the "parenting is bloody hard work" movement. I've done a lot of stereotypically "hard" things in my life (Bachelors, masters and half way through a never ending doctorate at a presitigous uni, lived in a developing country, worked as a health professional, a lecturer, managed 25 people, lost a crap load of weight, built a house, paid a mortgage etc etc etc) but none of those things has been as difficult/as frustrating/as fricking soul crushing as trying for months on end to bloody toilet train a toddler who just doesn't bloody get that she's supposed to shit in a bloody toilet ARGH! (Rant over). Call me weak, call me a whinger, call me whatever you want. I'll wear it.