Robert Sack, describing a normal night for the Efe. “A typical configuration is two adults, a baby, another child, a grandparent, a dog and perhaps a visitor, sleeping together in a 6-by-6-foot hut,” said sleep expert Dr. The !Kung people of Botswana simply sleep on the sandy ground the Efe people in Zaire perch between two logs or rest on leaves.
In warm regions, for example, there’s no need for heavy blankets and tangly sheets that can contribute to infant injuries, even death, in co-sleeping situations. “The idea of a crib or separating children physically to sleep would be considered unimaginable, even neglectful.”Įnvironmental factors, of course, come into play. “Sleeping patterns are so tied to the importance of kinship for most cultures,” Dr.
In fact, industrialized Western societies stand out amongst almost all cultures worldwide when it comes to family beds. The Western concept of sleep as a highly private affair simply isn’t universal. Many of the world’s mothers wouldn’t dream of placing a baby or young child in a separate bed. Globally speaking, the woman’s reaction wasn’t unusual. Schwarz’s Aboriginal host mother commented, “The poor child has to sleep by himself!” The scene depicted a mother tucking her child into bed, and then retreating to her own room.
#Weird west parenting movie
Carolyn Schwarz, a professor of anthropology at Goucher College, was completing her fieldwork in Northern Australia when a Western movie came on the television screen. Around the world, sleeping together in marriage isn’t normal and sleeping away from one’s children is considered weird. Bedmates wield an enormous amount of influence over our rest, from the quality to the duration, and are yet another factor proving that sleep patterns are as much cultural as they are biological.Īs it turns out, Americans are in the minority. But when it comes to literally sleeping with one another - that is, sharing a bed - Americans are more private than much of the planet’s population.īed-sharing (or lack thereof) is a consequence of customs, environmental conditions, cultural values, and affluence. Figuratively speaking, we love to talk about who’s sleeping with whom.
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