Stress Awareness Month: What it is and How to Handle It as a New Parent
(Updated: May 05, 2026)It’s Stress Awareness Month, but if you are raising a baby, navigating stress is likely a daily reality. Let us walk you through exactly what it is, how to handle it as a parent to a newborn, and how to reduce the 'kidmin' in your house.
What exactly is stress?
At its core, stress is our physical and emotional response to feeling threatened, overwhelmed, or under pressure. For parents, stress often stems from external things you simply cannot control – like an unexpected nursery bug, a sudden sleep regression, or a teething toddler. However, this unavoidable external stress is heavily magnified by the internal pressures we can control: the relentless daily chores.
New research commissioned by Bebello confirms what exhausted parents have long suspected: the burnout is incredibly real and widespread.
A staggering 89% of parents with a child under two report experiencing symptoms of burnout.
Across the board, 58% of all parents with children 18 and under admit to feeling stressed, anxious, and physically exhausted on a regular basis.
A major part of the problem? We simply do not anticipate the sheer volume of work. The majority of parents (60%) admitted they were surprised by the sheer amount of chores and tasks involved in having kids.
Let’s break down exactly why parents are feeling so stretched, and more importantly, how to control the controllables and start clawing back some well-deserved time.
The Heavy Burden of 'Kidmin'
The culprit behind this exhaustion isn't just the midnight feeds; it is the sheer volume of "kidmin" – the relentless administrative and physical chores required to keep a family running. The average parent is spending a massive 53.75 hours every single month solely on these household chores.
To put that into perspective, based on the average UK hourly pay of £17.40, the time parents spend doing chores equates to £935.25 in unpaid labour* every month.
- The most time-consuming tasks are tidying the house (3.6 hours per week), doing the washing (3 hours per week), and meal planning (2.1 hours per week).
- For parents with babies six months and under, washing and sterilising bottles and breast pump parts consumes over 30 minutes every single day, totalling 3.6 hours a week.
- For parents of children under two, changing nappies takes up an incredible 3.2 hours a week, and tidying the house takes up 4.1 hours a week.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking statistic of all is that parents report spending more time tidying the house (3.6 hours a week) than they do enjoying quality time playing with their children (3.4 hours a week).
The Ultimate Sacrifice: Self-Care and Relationships
With so much time dedicated to keeping the house afloat, parents are actively sacrificing their own wellbeing, health, and relationships. The research paints a stark picture of what drops off the priority list when parents are overwhelmed:
Physical health is swept aside
59% of parents with children aged two and under haven't worked out in the past month.
Mental relaxation takes a massive hit
61% of parents fail to pick up a book and 32% are unable to even watch a film.
Social connections suffer deeply
53% haven't spoken to a friend or family member on the phone.
Intimacy is heavily impacted
44% of parents with kids two and under admit they haven't had sex in the last month. Adding to the lack of sexual pleasure, 49% of these parents stated they hadn't even had time to masturbate.
Sleep remains elusive
30% of parents fail to get an early night.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. So where is the support?
Sadly, the "village" doesn't pull its weight when it comes to the physical labor. A massive 83% of parents surveyed stated they receive no support whatsoever with their parenting chores in an average month. One in two parents noted that while friends and family regularly offer to play with their children, they do not help with the household chores.
Interestingly, the level of burnout varies depending on where you live. Parents in Northern Ireland reported the highest levels of burnout at 71%, followed closely by London at 65%. Those reporting the lowest signs of burnout were located in the British Islands at 50%.
How to Handle It: Control the Controllables
Minimising stress in your life means ruthlessly getting rid of the stress sources you can control. Here is how to eliminate unnecessary friction in your daily routine:
Define What "Good" Looks Like (and Share the Burden)
Perfection is the enemy of a stress-free home. Sit down with your partner and discuss what "good" actually looks like for your household right now. Once you agree on a realistic baseline, divide up the jobs and share the burden. Creating a clear, shared plan prevents the resentment of the unseen mental load and stops you from micromanaging each other.
Hack Your Meals
Look at your weekly to-do list and actively try to cut out chores you don't really need to do from scratch. Cooking a fresh dinner every single night is a massive drain on your energy. Start batch cooking on weekends so you can simply reheat meals during the chaotic evening rush. Give yourself permission to treat yourself to semi-prepared food from the supermarket or invest in meal subscription boxes to eliminate the mental strain of meal planning entirely.
Automate Your Chores
While you can skip folding the laundry or choose not to cook from scratch, some chores are absolutely non-negotiable. Strict hygiene for baby bottles isn't something you can just "let go." However, you can change how you do it. Instead of dedicating your precious free time to manual labor, look for smart technology that acts as an extra pair of hands. Automating your most repetitive, time-consuming tasks is the ultimate way to buy back your freedom. That's where we come in...
How Bebello Helps Eliminate the Unseen Time-Thief
When looking for chores to cut, look no further than the kitchen sink. The unseen, biggest time-consuming task for new parents is the relentless cycle of washing and sterilising baby bottles by hand.
This exhausting manual process was completely disrupted in 2024 when the Bebello Washer was launched to support time-poor and burnt-out parents. Designed to help parents safely follow strict hygiene guidelines without the endless scrubbing, the machine automates the hardest parts of your day.
Massive Time Savings: The machine fits up to eight bottles at any one time and automatically washes, sterilises, and dries, saving time-poor parents up to an hour per day. Feeding parts are always ready for the next feed or pumping session within 30 minutes.
Physical Relief: It completely eliminates the painful, chapped hands that 50% of new parents experience.
Chemical-free Hygiene: Using the all-natural Bebello Detergent, it guarantees a 99.9% germ kill through natural steam, meaning no harsh chemicals are used.
Eco-Friendly: The washing function eliminates the need to hand wash, reducing water consumption by 88%.
By automating this massive daily chore, you're buying back an hour for yourself. That's an hour for extra sleep, an hour to connect with your partner, or more time to tackle other things that could be bringing stress to your life.
This Stress Awareness Month, take a look at your routine and reclaim your time. Drop the guilt, drop the dish sponge, and start controlling the controllables.
The research was carried out on behalf of Bebello by FindOutNow. 2,127 UK parents with children under 18 were surveyed and results analysed.
*This calculation is based on the average parent working 53.75 hours each month on parenting chores and hourly pay of £17.40 (the average hourly rate of Pay in the UK in 2023). Therefore, the total unpaid labour for each parent is £935.25.