Parents reveal lengths they go to for uninterrupted night’s sleep
Surrendering their phones for a day and cancelling social plans are just some of the sacrifices new parents are prepared to make in order to get a full night’s sleep, a survey by Amazon has revealed.
According to the study of 2,000 British parents, young families wake up three times per night on average, leading to a lack of sleep causing rifts between loves ones (42 per cent) and four fifths (80 per cent) claiming they would do ‘anything’ for a good night’s sleep.
In fact, over two thirds (73 per cent) claim that sleep is the thing they value most after having children and four in five (80 percent) declare that sleep deprivation affects them more than hangovers.
Whilst crying children (28 per cent) and snoring partners (39 per cent) are often the source of this disturbed slumber, half of parents (47 per cent) claim that loud voices are the number one annoyance waking them throughout the night – whether they come from outside, next door or even in their own home.
Amazon is hoping to help users go about their evenings without waking others in the house with the launch of Whisper Mode, a feature that means Alexa will respond to being whispered to by whispering back.
Once Whisper Mode has been enabled and a command has been whispered to Alexa, Alexa will also respond in hushed tones, ensuring the rest of the household doesn’t wake up. Now you can set an alarm or check what time your alarm is set without waking sleeping partners, or pets.
If you wanted to do a series of things with one whispered command, you can set up a routine that is triggered by a whisper. For example, you can set an alarm, turn off lights and play relaxing music simply by saying, “Alexa, good night.” You can also create a range of customisable routines using the Alexa app.
With sleep deprivation such an issue, over a third (38 per cent) of parents would sacrifice using their phone for 24 hours to sleep through to the morning uninterrupted, while a similar number would cancel all social plans (37 per cent) and not spend money on clothes for six months (35 per cent).
Parents have also named the other top annoyances that wake them up through the night, including their partner’s alarm clocks (16 per cent) and phone notifications (16 per cent). The survey also revealed the extreme lengths some would go to for a full slumber, stating they’d get into a heated conversation with Piers Morgan (23 per cent), listen to Baby Shark on repeat all day (20 per cent) and even take a pay cut (9 per cent).
How to set up Whisper mode on Alexa:
- Open the Alexa app.
- Go to Settings.
- Next, click Voice Responses.
- Then activate Whispered Responses.
Top ten common annoyances that wake Brits:
- Snoring partner
- House noises
- Voices outside on the road/ street
- Partner’s alarm clock
- Phone notifications
- Neighbours shouting
- Traffic
- The dog barking
- Sirens
- Loud voices elsewhere in the house
