Caring for a newborn is synonymous with sleepless nights.
Research suggests mothers who can steal a few moments of shut eye may be doing themselves the world of good – but fathers doing the same may have a worse relationship with their child.
New fathers were found to experience improved wellbeing, as well as a stronger relationship with their other half and baby, when they spent less time dozing.
Researchers believe new mothers may be more sensitive to the effects of sleep due to their 'heightened stress and [the] precarious nature of [their] well‐being'.
Fathers who get too much shut eye may struggle to get out of bed due to depression, whereas 'mothers [have] less flexibility in their sleep time', they add.
New fathers bond with their babies less if they get too much sleep, research suggests (stock)
The research was carried out by Pennsylvania State University and led by Dr Mark Feinberg, a research professor of health and human development.
'Some parents are happier or sleep better overall than others, but most parents experience some difficult days and some good days,' Dr Feinberg said.
'Most parents already have a good place to start from at least on some days, so it's a matter of figuring out what works on those days and then doing more of that.
'This would be an easier and maybe more effective approach than thinking that we have to help someone completely change their routines and emotional patterns.'
The early days of parenthood have been found to increase a couple's stress levels, risk of depression and tendency to argue, with sex, sleep and relationship satisfaction all plummeting.
'Ironically, this high‐stress period for parents coincides with the period of greatest vulnerability of young children,' the researchers wrote in the Monographs of the Society for Research In Child Development.
'When the provision of a contingent, consistent, and warm family environment has the greatest influence on development and long‐term health.'
Post-natal depression affects men as well as women, with new fathers being twice as at risk of the mental-health condition in the first year as the average male.
First-time fathers are particularly vulnerable, with one-in-ten also becoming depressed during their partner's pregnancy.
It is more common in men whose partner's have the blues. Some 24-to-50 per cent of men whose other half has post-natal depression develop it themselves.
Men with the condition are
