Washington, May 14 : A survey of 2,000 UK parents has found that one in ten new parents are still sleeping in separate beds a year after the birth of their first child.

A third of new parents said they sometimes sleep separately in order to get enough rest after the birth.

Almost a quarter of women said they had resorted to over-the-counter sleeping pills while 14 per cent said they were still relying on these 18 months after the baby was born.

"This study has shown that a lack of sleep can have a detrimental affect on your happiness and well being,” the Scotsman quoted Ali Blackwell-Cook, the director of the Baby Show, which conducted the survey, as saying.

Warnings about letting babies sleep in the same bed as parents have been heeded, with more than half of parents saying they never let their baby sleep in the same bed as them.

Only one in 12 mothers said they slept in the same bed as their newborn every night until they turned one. (ANI)