Jamie Oliver hires a night nanny for River Rocket after being 'battered' by lack of sleep

Jamie Oliver has revealed that he and wife Jools have hired a 'night nurse' for newborn son River Rocket.

Speaking during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, the father-of-five explained the reasoning behind the family's decision, saying: 'Sleep deprivation makes the most wonderful people just, unreasonable.'

'It's really, really hard whether it's your first or your fifth. It hit us hard this year, really hard, because you know we've got two teenagers and it's teenagers things, and you've got a six and a seven-year-old as well, and they're up as well, I mean it was hard this time round.'

In addition to River, who was born in August, the Olivers are parents to daughters Poppy Honey Rosie, 14, Daisy Boo Pamela, 13, Petal Blossom Rainbow, 7, and son Buddy Bear Maurice, 6.

'For the first time ever I've got a night nurse, and she started a week ago, so five weeks in, so you know, we got battered for five weeks, and I was trying to help out, and do the night feed, and then go and do 15 hours of filming at the end of Southend pier, and that was tough, I've got to say.

'But it is just routine really, routine, and all the classics like colic, and burping and not rushing the baby, and it's hard. Any parent out there knows the drill, I mean they use sleep deprivation as the most incredible form of torture.'

Jamie added that he and Jools hadn't had a night nanny for their first four children, but he felt it was the right decision for them after River's arrival.

'I do think routine - and when I say routine it's not just about roughly the same times every night and feeding patterns - does help because digestion is digestion and sleep is sleep, and you can kind of make things have a bit of a pattern,' he said.

'But every mother and father - especially the mothers - but every mother and father have their own way and I hope they all find their own way. We've generally done them all the same apart from this one, which is golden.'