How to avoid the stress of the summer holidays

Once the kids have been put to bed many parents are eager to enjoy some well-earned ‘me’ or ‘us’ time and alcohol is often viewed as an easy way to relax. 

Parenting charity website Netmums surveyed 3,000 mothers and found that half of mums drank at home at least three or four nights a week, with almost a quarter of mums admitting to drinking more than the recommended limit. Of those who drank more than government guidelines suggest is healthy, more than eight out of 10 said they drank to wind down after a stressful day, while chatting with their partners or watching TV.   

Small amounts

A glass of wine or a cold beer can of course be an ideal accompaniment to that precious time when peace finally descends and may not seem like an unhealthy indulgence. Provided you stick to small amounts and aim to have regular alcohol free days, drinking need not necessarily pose a problem. But if one glass leads to two or three glasses, and before you know it, you’ve had half a bottle, you can be on the path towards harmful drinking.

Staying safe

It is important to ensure that you do not regularly drink over the recommended guidelines.  The Government advises that women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day and men not more than three to four. To put that in some kind of perspective, half a bottle of wine contains between four and five units of alcohol, and so if you drink that much wine – or more – every night you are drinking at harmful levels.

A good way to ensure you are sticking within the guidelines is it sign up for the Drinkaware drink diary, which enables you to track the units and calories in your drinks. Netmums also provide fun tips and advice  to make this school holiday as stress-free as possible.

Page last updated by

Root User, 19 Apr 2010.

Page checked on

26 Aug 2009