An interactive study by Buyagift.co.uk examined the stress levels of top mummy bloggers, revealing the ‘most relaxing’ spa treatments for busy mums, according to science – and the results are surprising.
Spa Wars: Busy UK mums discover that a wash, cut and blow dry is more relaxing than a deep tissue massage
Buyagift’s research found that over half of 2,000 UK mums are stressed out by getting the kids to leave the house for school and miss having a lie in more than anything else. In response, the UK’s leading online gift experience provider launched a scientific study to determine which spa treatment had the most relaxing effect on busy mums by measuring the stress levels of 10 top UK mummy bloggers.
Having a back and shoulder massage came out on top, but surprisingly, a wash, cut and blow dry came in second – beating eight other treatments. Coming in third was a deep tissue massage, followed by a steam and sauna and a Swedish full body massage.
Spa Wars’ – the mummy blogger experiment
Ten UK mummy bloggers were each given a spa treatment and asked to measure their stress levels – or Heart Rate Variability (HRV) – once during the most stressful moment of their day and again after their spa treatment. Buyagift then compared the different readings to determine the most improved stress rates and unveiled which spa treatments truly reduce stress levels the most.
The survey reveals that mums need to take more time to relax as too little sleep and too much stress can have serious long-term physical and mental health implications. As 4 in 5 families don’t know which treatment to get their mother, this experiment was designed to reveal which treatments help mums de-stress the most by analysing mums’ stress levels. We did this by measuring HRV, which is an accurate, non-invasive measurement of the variation between consecutive heartbeats intervals. It reveals signs of physiological stress, as HRV is typically higher (more variation between heartbeats) during relaxing activities and decreases (less variation between heartbeats) during stressful activities.
Dr Daniel Plews, Physiologist and Buyagift’s stress experiment consultant
HRV readings were measured using HRV4Training, the first validated app able to measure heart rate and heart rate variability reliably.
Mummy bloggers self-identified the most stressful moments of their day, which included mealtimes, homework and getting out of the door. The treatments tested in the experiment were the ten favourite treatments as determined by the survey of 2000 UK mums.
2,000 UK mums have their say on Mother’s Day
Buyagift’s survey of over 2,000 UK mums also reveals interesting findings about mums’ sleeping habits, most stressful daily moments and what they think they’ll get for Mother’s Day:
Half of the mums stressed out by getting the kids out of the house
Half of all mums said that getting their kids to leave for school was one of the most stressful moments of their day. 40% of mums said that bedtime was the most stressful time of their day, followed by supermarket shopping (2 in 5 mums), long car journeys (1 in 3 mums) and potty training (1 in 3 mums).
2 in 3 mums are sleep deprived – and really miss a lie in
Parental stress could be driving sleepless nights for mums, as nearly two-thirds claim they get at least one hour less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep on an average night. 1 in 10 mums gets less than 3 hours of sleep on an average night, making them dangerously sleep-deprived.
Mums miss sleeping more than anything else
Not surprisingly, then, a huge 77% of mums also miss relaxation and pamper time, with sleep by far the most pinned-after relaxing moment. The next popular most-missed relaxing moments among mums are a bath or shower, followed by having the time to read a book or being able to drink a cup of tea before it gets cold.
Families mostly clueless on what mums want for Mother’s Day
Sadly, 75% of mums claim to want a relaxing spa day or experience for Mother’s Day, yet 4 in 5 also think their families are likely to be put off getting them one. Most mums believe this is because their families don’t know their availability, the treatment names or because there’s too much choice.
Find out more about the mummy bloggers or take a quiz to find out how much of a stressed mum you are: www.buyagift.co.uk/mothers-day/spa-wars
I would love a spa day for Mother’s day! Although to be fair I’d be happy with just a lie in!
It would be perfect, wouldn’t it?
This is so interesting! I certainly would say that a spa day would help me relieve some ‘mummy stress’. I think the most stressful part of the day in our house is meal times, but also some of my favourite times 🙂
Yes meal times are my nemesis for sure but it doesn’t help that I have one child who is an extremely fussy eater x
I do love spa treatments, but actually love getting my hair done! Especially when they wash it for me & give me a head rub:D
Yes a good head rub can be very relaxing 🙂
I would have to say that leaving for the school run in the mornings can be pretty stressful and a spa day would really help to relieve such stress.
Yes I often time the morning run quite stressful too, we do have good weeks but towards the end of each term things tend to get a little more stressful.
Oh I would go for the massage over the hair cut any day….I am not good at chatting which you need to do at the hairdressers!! As for mothers day I got completely forgotten last year!
Oh no that’s really sad, I hope it will be made up for this year!! Starting with a massage 😉
Oh how lovely would a spa day be? I can’t remember when I last had a treat like this. Kaz
I think it’s time you started to drop a few hins 😉
What an interesting study, I prepare a deep massage than anything else when I visit a spa.
I totally agree a massage is always top of my list too.
I’ve never wanted a spa day, am I weird?! A lie in and just some free time with the kids, without worrying about meals and school would be lovely!
Not at all, it’s not for everyone. Although, I took my Mum for a spa treat a few years ago, on the way there she said “I don’t get why people do this” – on the way home she was all “oh it was amazing” and has loved going ever since. I hope you get that lie in and free time with your children xx
I LOVE this post! Completely agree that a combination of missed sleep and too much to do (which somehow goes unnoticed by everyone else) all adds up and helps stress along nicely. Us mums definitely need more de stressing. Funnily… I have never been bought a spa gift. Should I be giving out hints do you think? 🙂
Absolutely, start leaving magazines open on spa pages, accidentally leave the computer on a spa web page or maybe even create a mood board of spa images and leave them on the fridge. It might just do the trick – good luck x
I miss sleep, and massages, and blow drys and my pelvic floor muscles and did I mention sleep?
Haha, it does get better eventually. In the meantime, I am sure a massage will help loads xx
Oh I really could do with a neck and shoulder massage right now! I can understand why that came out on top!!
A good neck and shoulder massage are the best, aren’t they? We hold so much stress there it’s good to unwind.
It is so nice, relaxing massage on time! I am interested in relaxing massage training. Moms do not have enough massage especially a lot. As I want my husbands to massage us more about it.
Oooh that would be great, good luck. I hope you manage to find a good course.