Will he pretend too? Andrew Flintoff and fiancee Rachel Woods with daughter Holly

London, Sept. 9 (Reuters): Half of British fathers either continue to doze or pretend to be asleep when their babies cry during the night, making many mothers resentful, a British survey released today shows.

In addition to the 52 per cent of dads who do not get up with their wailing children, a further 22 per cent only get up after their partner has already crawled out of bed.

The lack of support leaves six in 10 mothers feeling bitter towards their partners.

Restless nights also mean that 86 per cent of mums prefer sleep to sex.

?It?s amazing so many relationships survive the onslaught of a baby, but sadly, some never recover. And the problem is compounded because so many couples with a baby now both work and they feel ravaged with tiredness,? said Elena Dalrymple, editor of Mother & Baby magazine, which carried out the survey of 2,000 parents across the UK.

The magazine?s research also showed that most babies are about five months old before they regularly sleep for seven hours a night and a third don?t sleep through the night until they are 18 months old.