Rest easy?

Is your man stopping you sleeping? Get our top tips for a good night's sleep

Women are sleeping less than they need to, says a new study - and guess who's to blame? Fidgety, noisy, demanding men are the chief disturbers of women's dream of sufficient sleep, followed by crying babies, restive toddlers, worried schoolchildren and teenagers who have not yet returned from a night out.

The result, says the first ever such survey, is that women aged 40-59 are sleeping around an hour and a half less they they should be. The women who took part in the Surrey University study were asked to record video diaries. The aim was to show how their roles as wives and mothers affected how much sleep they got, and how their partners as well as their children and social circumstances also influenced their quality of sleep.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults have an average of seven to nine hours' sleep a night. The women in the Surrey University study averaged eight hours in bed but only six and a half asleep.

Ladies night's sleep

• Women have 6.5 hours' sleep
• 80% of women say lack of sleep causes rows in their relationships
• New mothers average 4 hours' sleep a night
• 83% of mothers say lack of sleep affects their performance at work
• Women lose up to 5 hours sleep a week because their partners snore
• Women suffer 2.1 bad nights of sleep a week
• Nearly 1 in 10 women suffers from a sleep disorder every night
• Women cite anxiety, family conflict and life being too busy as the reasons for disturbed sleep
• 25% of women sleep badly most of the time

Sleep facts for men

• Men have 8 hours' sleep
• 1 in 3 men say anxiety disturbs their sleep
• Men suffer 1.4 bad nights of sleep a week
• 9% of men have their sleep disturbed by their partners
• 26% of men have overactive thoughts while sleeping
• Half of fathers say that lack of sleep affects their performance at work
• 52% of new fathers sleep while their babies cry
• Men cite late-night television, surfing the internet, digestive trouble or too much alcohol as the reason or disturbed sleep
• 37% of men do not sleep enough

Dr Hilary's advice

Dr Hilary thinks the new survey is a little tough on men and says that many people have sleeping problems with around 10% of all GP consultations sleep related. Some problems are related to factors like anxiety others due to environment.

Dr Hilary's Top Tips for a good night's sleep:

1. Make sure you relax/windown two hours before you go to sleep
2. Have a good sleep routine ie. light meal early on, bath, watch TV, book then bed
3. Avoid stimulants such as tea, coffee, cheese and alcohol
4. Offload worries, write anything down that's troubling you and forget about it until the next day
5. Make sure your bed is comfortable
6. If you can, make sure your bedroom is dark and well ventilated