DRIVING MISS BABY

– Average parent drives 1322 miles a year getting their newborns to sleep

New research out today reveals that parents of newborns drive the equivalent of John O’Groats to Land’s End one and a half times a year ­ spending an average of £547 on petrol ­ to get their newborn to sleep.

Mothercare, the UK’s leading parenting and baby specialist, polled over 1,000 parents to understand the driving habits of new parents. Over half of all parents (56 per cent) admit they use their cars as a ‘drop-off-to-sleep’ vehicle at least once a week ­ with the average journey starting at 9pm and lasting nearly half an hour (29.40 minutes).  Intelligent Car Leasing, tell us that parents often put extra miles on their contract agreement without noticing from such journeys with their newborn.

New dads get behind the wheel the most driving an average of 1827 miles in the first year compared to mums who only drive 860 miles. Parents from London drive the furthest distance a year (2957 miles) closely followed by the East of England (1987 miles) and Scotland (1420 miles).

To help parents in their quest for a good night’s sleep Mothercare has recruited their youngest ever product tester – 17 month-old Zara Kazim from London – who has spent the last two weeks putting the retailer’s range of car seats to the test against an Average Baby Sleep (ABS) rating. Topping the list was the Mothercare Malmo Car Seat, which sent Zara to sleep in just 10.37 minutes. The Sport Car Seat came second registering an ABS of 15.25 minutes followed by the Madrid Highback Booster (18.41 minutes).

THE TOP TEN REGIONS WHO DRIVE AND SPEND THE MOST GETTING THEIR NEWBORN TO SLEEP

1.  London = 2957 miles (£547)

2.  East of England ­ 1987 miles (£367)

3.  Scotland ­ 1420 miles (£263)

4.  Northern Ireland ­ 1150 miles (£213)

5.  South East ­ 1140 miles (£211)

6.  Yorks/Humber ­ 1113 miles (£206)

7.  North West ­ 1069 miles (£198)

8.  West Midlands ­ 986 miles (£182)

9.  East Midlands ­ 911 miles (£168)

10. North East ­ 508 miles (£94)

Steve Abse, Director of Marketing from Mothercare comments: “We understand our customers’ needs and we’ve listened to the challenges they face with at bedtime.  Our vast product offering and expert car fitting service ensure our customers and their newborns are in safe hands when purchasing their first car seat.

Now with our tried and tested experiment we can help calm bed time stress, save time and save money for parents”.