Are you driving your kids to sleep?

Many parents have some kind of ritual to put their kids to bed, but a survey has revealed thousands are driving up to 30km a week to lull babies to sleep.

The research commissioned by mycar, found up to 96 per cent of Aussies are resorting to this method. This is the equivalent of driving from Sydney to Adelaide each year.

Infant Sleep Expert, Jo Ryan, said, “For many caregivers, sleep-related issues are among the biggest daily challenges during the baby and toddler years.

“Every baby is different, but driving can mimic some of the characteristics of being in the womb, which includes constant, gentle, rocking motions and a muffled white noise sound. It’s also the light sway and low-level movement that has a really calming effect on babies,” said Ryan.

But here’s an interesting hook to the story. While parents are doing this, general car noises created by the suspension and brakes, uneven roads and speed bumps obviously don’t help the situation.

However, 74 per cent said they avoid the mechanic due to it being overwhelming and too costly. While 27 per cent rely on their partner to do basic checks instead of a professional technician.

So mycar, challenged their technicians prove to new parents Lydia and Mario to have their car serviced and see if it would help their little Lolo.

“Like many parents, we have had many issues with Lola sleeping and have tried just about everything, from dream feeding, driving in circles and even playing white noise on the radio,” said Mario Gonzalez.

Lydia agreed, “We had our doubts about using driving as a method to get Lola to sleep – our parents initially recommended it, but it just didn’t work.”

After a “Lullaby Ready” inspection and subsequent Logbook Service, it took just four minutes for Lola to fall asleep.

As a result, mycar has launched ‘Lullaby Ready’, a free inspection designed to provide parents with a recommendation on how to get their cars running as smooth as possible.