Baby brain is real say parents who forgot the word celery and tell their co-workers they're going to go potty

A condition fuelled by over-tiredness, stress and constant multitasking

Sleep deprived mothers and fathers share their most scatter-brained stories (Rex Features)

It seems that swimming in a sea of nappies, scattered toys and speaking baby all day might not be doing your IQ any favours.

Parents have revealed their most embarrassing moments, and admitted that temporary parental stupidity is a real thing.

A thread on social media site Reddit beckoned sleep deprived mothers and fathers to share the most humiliating stories of their IQ apparently falling after having children.

And while it’s by no means a new phenomenon, so-called ‘baby brain’ seems to be rendering parents far and wide incapable of performing the most simple of tasks, remembering routine words or even putting cereal boxes back in the cupboard – rather than the washing machine.

The parent that started the thread sought reassurance for his lessening intellect, writing: "Now my only interaction these days is with babies as a stay-at-home-dad, I feel like I can barely get coherent sentences out,

"My wife constantly calls me out on my less-than-stellar words (which I deserve for reverting to some caveman-like state of communication sometimes)”

One parent responded: "The other day I was in the grocery store and forgot the word celery" while another with a Master’s degree in engineering added: “I literally forgot my phone number last week. I stared blankly and had to call my mom over to help."

But perhaps the most worrying are the tales of sheer infantile behaviour.

One anonymous parent went on to explain: “My children are grown and I still exclaim very excitedly (while pointing) 'Cow! Choo-choo! Horsies!'

"My husband doesn't like to take road trips with me anymore.”

Another added: “I tell my co-workers that 'I'm going to go potty, be right back' way too often."

But, it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel after-all with the reassurance that your intellect will be restored at some point, albeit not in its entirety.

“I wanted assure that it will come back," one parent said. "Once you get back into a normal-ish routine with sleep the synapses will re-fire and things will come back. Though some brain cells will be gone for good - like the remembering celebrities from movies brain cells.”

Earlier this year an article in the New Scientist said that there is very little evidence that baby brain exists, and even went as far as to say that women with young children may function better than they did before.

But for those who have experienced the often foggy brain that comes with being a new parent, the report will be taken with a large pinch of salt.