Baby Sleeping Patterns across the Globe

Baby Sleep Patterns across the Globe

Unsurprisingly, baby’s sleeping patterns vary greatly between different cultures, emphasizing the fact that there are various ways of putting babies to sleep and no one rule that fits all.

Global Trends - Baby's Sleep

Here are some interesting facts about babies sleep around the world:

In the South Pacific, babies generally sleep alongside their parents until they are three-years-old. During the day, rocking is a popular method of getting babies to sleep (1).
In the US, a survey conducted in 1992 found that 80% of babies sleep in a separate room after they turn 6-months-old (2).
In Bali, babies sleep with their mothers until they are 3-years-old (3).
Traditionally, Japanese families sleep in the same room and many babies sleep in the same bed as their parents (4).
Mayan babies share their mothers’ beds, breastfeeding at will during the day and night, until a new baby comes along (usually when toddler is 2-3 years old). There is no real sleep routine – baby just falls asleep when tired or when parents go to sleep (5).

References:
1. Le H-N. 2000. “Never leave your little one alone: Raising an Ifaluk child,” A world of babies: Imagined childcare guides for seven societies (J. DeLoache and A. Gottlieb, eds.) New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 199-231
2. Morelli GA, Rogoff B, Oppenheim D, and Goldsmith D. 1992. “Cultural variation in infants’ sleeping arrangements: Questions of independence”. Developmental Psychology Vol. 28, University of Michigan.
3. Diener M. 2000. “Gift from the gods: A Balinese guide to early child rearing,” A world of babies: Imagined childcare guides for seven societies (J. DeLoache and A. Gottlieb, eds.) New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 199-231.
4. Fukumizu M, Kaga M, Kohaga J, and Hayes MJ. 2005. “Sleep related night-time crying” (Yonaki), Japan: A commuity-based study. 115: 217-224
5. Morelli GA, Rogoff B, Oppenheim D, and Goldsmith D. 1999. “Cultural variation in infants’ sleeping arrangements: Questions of independence”, Developmental Psychology Vol. 28, University of Michigan.

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Global Trends - Baby's Sleep

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