National Survey of Mothers With Kids Under Six Finds...

CINCINNATI, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ask U.S. moms with children under six what motherhood moment they most want to relive, and almost seven in 10 (68%) say it was the instant they first held their child.  

Once they got the baby home, being a mom, they say, has been a rollercoaster of demands – from trying to balance conflicting obligations in order to keep their kids on schedule to dealing with public temper tantrums to enduring dreaded diaper changes in public restrooms.

Yes, it's all worth it.  

But give these supermoms an extra hour in their day and almost half said they would either catch up on their reading (23%) or sleep (22%).  Just 7 percent said they'd opt for a little romance.  

According to the survey of 1,204 mothers from around the country who somehow found time to respond to the "Kroger Comforts Moms" survey, motherhood has been a journey of challenges and joys.  The survey was conducted online by Ipsos Public Affairs, a third-party, survey-based market research company.

"These findings capture the essence of modern-day motherhood in this country in all its bliss and chaos," said Paula Andruss, a mother of three and the official 'Chief Comforts Mom' on Kroger's ComfortsForBaby.com, a website designed specifically for mothers of young children.  "For moms and dads alike, our days are demanding, but our kids also have a way of reminding us of how special these days truly are."

When asked what the most hectic time of the day is, 43 percent of the responding mothers said mornings, followed by the evening bed time routine (35%).  While most moms try to keep their children on a schedule, one in two (50%) said outside activities and social commitments are what wreak havoc on their schedules. And even among employed mothers, outside activities are still the biggest barrier to keeping a schedule (46%), while one in four (27%) pointed to work as the biggest hurdle.

Speaking of challenges, when polled about the worst place to have to change a baby's diaper, nearly half (47%) agreed that a public restroom with no changing table is difficult, while one in four (27%) pointed to the occasions in public when no restroom or car were available. Airplane bathrooms were cited by 18 percent.

Diaper leaks were a source of embarrassment for mothers, noted by 14 percent of those surveyed.  For the majority of moms (52%), however, the moments when they were most mortified in public were over unrelenting crying or tantrums.  Twelve percent pointed to the time when their child asked an embarrassing question about a stranger.

When asked which transition is more difficult – the birth of a first child or the arrival of a second – mothers were decidedly split, mostly depending on whether they have one or more kids.  Three in four mothers (76%) with one child said that the adjustment to the first born is the hardest, but half (53%) of the mothers with more than one at home said that getting adjusted to the second child is more trying.

On the topic of adjustments, 41 percent of mothers who have sent their child off to pre-school or kindergarten found that it was harder on them than on the child, with one in four (26%) indicating it was equally hard on both mother and child.

Mothers confessed to not knowing it all, and almost half (45%) turn to their own parents or extended family for parenting advice. About a third (32%) seek out other parents.

"We hope that mothers of young children also will look to Kroger's new ComfortsForBaby.com website, which is available in both English and Spanish," Andruss said. "The site not only contains a cross section of original content – parenting tips, product information and so on – but it also is a place where moms can share experiences with one another. So for those mothers who want to learn from the experience of others, ComfortsForBaby.com can be a valuable online forum."

Survey Methodology

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted July 5-11, 2011. For this survey, a national sample of 1,204 moms of children under the age of 6 (and none over) from Ipsos' U.S. online panel were interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the U.S. mother population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire population of mothers of young children in the United States had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About Kroger

Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, employs more than 338,000 associates who serve customers in 2,449 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's. The company also operates 785 convenience stores, 359 fine jewelry stores, 1,035 supermarket fuel centers and 40 food processing plants in the U.S. Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, focuses its charitable efforts on supporting hunger relief, health and wellness initiatives, and local organizations in the communities it serves. For more information about Kroger, please visit www.kroger.com .

SOURCE The Kroger Co.