In the Channel 4 survey, one in three parents who had split up said sleep deprivation caused by their child was a factor.
As any parents of a young child who is a problem sleeper will confirm, permanent tiredness and constant irritability can put a huge strain on your relationship. In fact, according to a survey, lack of sleep is a big factor in divorce and separation for a third of couples.
Ahead of a new series on the subject, a poll carried out for Channel 4 suggests the average parent surveyed got fewer than six hours of sleep a night. It also found that three in 10 couples who had split up said sleep deprivation since having their child was a factor in the breakup. Nearly 45% said they had dozed off in a place they shouldn't have or was unsafe, with one in 20 admitting to falling asleep at the wheel of their car.
Children waking throughout the night, as well as the struggle to get children off to bed at a respectable hour, were equally important issues for parents. Nearly half of the 2,000 people questioned said getting their child to sleep at a consistent time was a nightly battle.
Around 11% admitted to pretending to be asleep in the night so that their partner was forced to deal with a crying child, while 11% said they had shut the door and 9% said they had turned up the TV to block out the noise of a sobbing child. A fifth of parents blamed the fact that their child had a television in their room for their failure to fall asleep.
But psychologist Tanya Byron, who is among a panel of experts taking part in the series, Bedtime Live, which will allow people to call in via video to the show and ask for help, said it wasn't about blaming parents – rather that family downtime was being eroded by the demands of work and the attraction of technologies, and that sleep was being lost as a result.
Sleep deprivation in adults was also a worry, she said, pointing to tests done on the sleep-deprived mothers. "Those without sleep were just as dangerous as those who had been drinking. One woman drove 100 metres with her eyes closed."
"What we have to remember is that fundamentally we are beings who run on circadian rhythms and we are just putting our brains under constant stress if we can't get our sleep."
任何家里有不肯好好睡觉的幼童的父母都会证实这一点，长期的疲倦和持续的烦躁会让你的感情关系承受巨大压力。事实上，调查显示，缺乏睡眠是三分之一夫妇离婚和分居的一个重要原因。
英国第4频道在推出一个针对这一题材的新系列节目之前，委托开展了一项调查。该调查显示，被调查的父母平均每晚睡眠还不到六个小时。调查还发现，十 分之三的离婚夫妻称有小孩后一直睡眠不足是导致他们分手的一个原因。近45%的父母说，他们曾经在不应睡着或不安全的地方打瞌睡，二十分之一的父母承认曾 在开车时睡着。
孩子整晚不睡，以及努力让孩子在正常时间上床睡觉，对父母们而言都是同样重要的事情。在接受调查的2000名父母中，近半数人称让孩子在固定时间上床睡觉是每夜的战斗任务。
约有11%的父母们承认自己夜里曾假装睡着，这样他们的配偶只好被迫去应对哭泣的小孩。此外，为了不听见孩子的哭声，11%的父母称自己把门关上，9%的父母称自己把电视音量调高。五分之一的父母把孩子不睡觉归咎于在孩子房间里安放了电视机。
心理学家塔尼娅•拜伦是参与制作这一名为《睡前直播》新系列节目的专家之一，她表示这一调查不是要指责父母，而是要指出家庭的停工时间正在被工作要求和技术的诱惑力所侵蚀，从而造成了睡眠缺失。《睡前直播》将让人们可以通过视频电话参与到节目中来并寻求帮助。
她说，成年人的睡眠不足也是让人担忧的一个问题，她还提到了对睡眠不足的母亲们所做的测试。“那些没有睡觉的人就和喝了酒的人一样危险。曾经有个女人闭着眼开车走了100米。”
“我们要记住的是本质上我们是按照昼夜节律来运作的生物，如果我们得不到睡眠，我们就会让我们的大脑遭受持续的压力。”