Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Clinical Handbook of Transcultural Infant Mental Health pp 167–179Cite as

Culture Sleep and Its Vicissitudes in the Perinatal Period and During Early Childhood

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 644 Accesses

Abstract

Sleep is a physiologic phenomenon present but not necessarily preserved across species. It is believed that this a process by which the body attains much needed energy restoration. However, for the brain, the act of sleeping (through rapid and non-rapid eye movement stages) is a very active event in which situations encountered during wakefulness are believed to be thoroughly processed. It is believed that this relates strongly to memory consolidation. Sleep nonetheless varies substantially not only across age groups, but also across social and cultural circumstances. Specific practices heavily influence the format and duration of sleep, supported by established and embedded surrounding beliefs about the properties, value, and meaning of sleep and dreams. This chapter examines the process of sleep in the pregnant woman, the newborn, and throughout early childhood as a social phenomenon, exploring cultural beliefs that surround the very complex physiologic nature of this process (sleep paralysis, dreams, among others).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • AAP. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (2005). The changing concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Diagnostic coding shifts, controversies regarding the sleeping environment, and new variables to consider in reducing risk. Pediatrics, 116, 1245–1255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adis Tahhan, D. (2013). Sensuous connections in sleep. Feelings of security and interdependence in Japanese sleep rituals. In K. Glaskin & R. Chenhall (Eds.), Sleep around the world. Anthropological perspectives (pp. 61–77). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aina, O. F., & Morakinyo, O. (2011). Culture–bound syndromes and the neglect of cultural factors in psychopathologies among Africans. African Journal of Psychiatry, 14(4), 278–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann de Litvan, M. (2012). La berceuse. Jeu d’amour et de magie [The lullaby. Game of love and magic]. Paris: Eres.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Academy of Sleep Disorders. (2006). Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. Sleep, 29(10), 1263–1276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R. (1998). Sleep, sleeping sites, and sleep-related activities: Awakening to their significance. American Journal of Primatology, 46(1), 63–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balendran, J., Champion, D., Jaaniste, T., & Welsh, A. (2011). A common sleep disorder in pregnancy: Restless legs syndrome and its predictors. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 51(3), 262–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, H. L. (2002). Reasons to bed-share: Why parents sleep with their infants. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 20(4), 207–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, H. L. (2003). Bed sharing, breastfeeding and infant sleep. Birth, 30, 181–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, H. L. (2009). Bed-sharing and co-sleeping: Research overview. New Digest, 48, 22–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, S. L., Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Vgontzas, A. N., Liao, D., & Bixler, E. O. (2014). Prevalence of insomnia symptoms in a general population sample of young children and preadolescents: Gender effects. Sleep Medicine, 15(1), 91–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coo, S., Milgrom, J., & Trinder, J. (2014). Pregnancy and postnatal dreams reflect changes inherent to the transition to motherhood. Dreaming, 24(2), 125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagan, Y., Lapidot, A., & Eisenstein, M. (2001). Women’s dreams reported during first pregnancy. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 55(1), 13–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drago, D. A., & Dannenberg, A. L. (1999). Infant mechanical suffocation deaths in the United States, 1980–1997. Pediatrics, 103(5), e59–e59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferber, R. (2008). Solve your child’s sleep problems. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedl, E. (1997). Children of Deh Koh. Young life in an Iranian village. Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukumizu, M., Kaga, M., Kohyama, J., & Hayes, M. J. (2005). Sleep-related nighttime crying (yonaki) in Japan: A community-based study. Pediatrics, 115.(Supplement 1, 217–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gettler, L. T., & McKenna, J. (2010). Never sleep with baby? Or keep me close but keep me safe: Eliminating inappropriate “safe infant sleep” rhetoric in the United States. Current Pediatric Reviews, 6, 71–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gollnhoffer, O., & Silans, R. (1973). Cadres, elements et techniques de la medicine traditionelle Tsogho [Context, elements and techniques of traditional Tsogho Medicine. Psychotherapeutic aspects]. Psychopathologie Africaine, 11(3), 285–321.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodlin-Jones, B. L., Eiben, L. A., & Anders, T. F. (1997). Maternal well-being and sleep–wake behaviors in infants: An intervention using maternal odor. Infant Mental Health Journal: Official Publication of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, 18(4), 378–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, C. (2011). Practitioner review: Effective treatment of behavioural insomnia in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(7), 731–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalal, B., Romanelli, A., & Hinton, D. E. (2015). Cultural explanations of sleep paralysis in Italy: The Pandafeche attack and associated supernatural beliefs. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 39(4), 651–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, W. (2000). Sleeping in the womb: Protracted pregnancies in the Maghreb. The Muslim World, 90(1–2), 218–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenni, O. G., & O’Connor, B. B. (2005). Children’s sleep: An interplay between culture and biology. Pediatrics, 115.(Suppl 1, 204–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenni, O. G., & Werner, H. (2011). Cultural issues in children’s sleep. A model for clinical practice. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 58(3), 755–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenni, O. G., Fuhrer, H. Z., Iglowstein, I., Molinari, L., & Largo, R. H. (2005). A longitudinal study of bed sharing and sleep problems among Swiss children in the first 10 years of life. Pediatrics, 115.(Supplement 1, 233–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotagal, S. (2009). Parasomnias in childhood. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 13(2), 157–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotagal, S. (2012). Treatment of dyssomnias and parasomnias in childhood. Current Treatment Options in Neurology, 14(6), 630–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kron, T., & Brosh, A. (2003). Can dreams during pregnancy predict postpartum depression? Dreaming, 13(2), 67–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latz, S., Wolf, A. W., & Lozoff, B. (1999). Cosleeping in context: Sleep practices and problems in young children in Japan and the United States. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 153(4), 339–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenox, M. F. (2000). Storytelling for young children in a multicultural world. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(2), 97–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lumeng, J. C., & Chervin, R. D. (2008). Epidemiology of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society, 5(2), 242–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margherita, G., Gargiulo, A., & Martino, M. L. (2015). Dream narration in healthy and at-risk pregnancy. Dreaming, 25(2), 88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna, J. J., & McDade, T. (2005). Why babies should never sleep alone: A review of the co-sleeping controversy in relation to SIDS, bedsharing and breast feeding. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, 6(2), 134–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, P., Barton, R. A., & Nunn, C. L. (2010). The evolution of sleep. Phylogenetic and functional perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milan, S., Snow, S., & Belay, S. (2007). The context of preschool children’s sleep: Racial/ethnic differences in sleep locations, routines, and concerns. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(1), 20–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minde, K. (2002). Sleep disorders in infants and young children. In J. M. Maldonado-Duran (Ed.), Infant and toddler mental health: Models of clinical intervention with infants and their families (pp. 269–307). Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mindell, J. A., & Owens, J. A. (2015). A clinical guide to pediatric sleep. Diagnosis and management of sleep problems. Philadelphia: Walters Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mindell, J. A., Sadeh, A., Wiegand, B., How, T. H., & Goh, D. Y. (2010). Cross-cultural differences in infant and toddler sleep. Sleep Medicine, 11(3), 274–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, K. H., Groer, M. W., & Smith, L. J. (2006). The controversy about what constitutes safe and nurturant infant sleep environments. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 35(6), 684–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mosko, S., McKenna, J., Dickel, M., & Hunt, L. (1993). Parent-infant cosleeping: The appropriate context for the study of infant sleep and implications for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 16(6), 589–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Musharbash, Y. (2013). Embodied meaning. Sleeping arrangements in Central Australia. In K. Glaskin & R. Chenhall (Eds.), Sleep around the world. Anthropological perspectives (pp. 45–60). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, E. A. S., Taylor, B. J., Jenik, A., Vance, J., Walmsley, K., Pollard, K., et al. (2001). International child care practices study: Infant sleeping environment. Early Human Development, 62(1), 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens, J. A. (2005). Culture and sleep in children. Pediatrics, 115, 201–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrat-Dayan, S. (1991). Bebes. Berceux et berceuses. Histoire du sommeil chez l’enfant [Babys, cribs and lullabies. History of sleep in the child]. Journal de Pediatrie et de Puericulture, 4, 191–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petit, D., Touchette, É., Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., & Montplaisir, J. (2007). Dyssomnias and parasomnias in early childhood. Pediatrics, 119(5), e1016–e1025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Profant, J., Ancoli-Israel, S., & Dimsdale, J. E. (2002). Are there ethnic differences in sleep architecture? American Journal of Human Biology: The Official Journal of the Human Biology Association, 14(3), 321–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, H. L., Walker, A. M., & Horne, R. S. (2010). Influence of swaddling experience on spontaneous arousal patterns and autonomic control in sleeping infants. The Journal of Pediatrics, 157(1), 85–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, J. (2003). A room of their own: The social landscape of infant sleep. Nursing Inquiry, 10(3), 184–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeh, A. (1996). Stress, trauma, and sleep in children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 5, 685–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeh, A., Tikotzky, L., & Scher, A. (2010). Parenting and infant sleep. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 14(2), 89–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spinelli, M. (2006). Infanticide and child abuse. Psychiatric Disorders and Pregnancy, 81, 603–622.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staton, S. L., Smith, S. S., & Thorpe, K. J. (2015). “Do I really need a nap?”: The role of sleep science in informing sleep practices in early childhood education and care settings. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 1(1), 32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Super, C. M., & Harkness, S. (2013). Culture and children’s sleep. In A. R. Wolfson & H. E. Montgomery-Downs (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of infant, child, and adolescent sleep and behavior (pp. 81–98). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (2011). SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: expansion of recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics, 128(5), e1341–e1367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, K., Staton, S., Sawyer, E., Pattinson, C., Haden, C., & Smith, S. (2015). Napping, development and health from 0 to 5 years: A systematic review. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 100(7), 615–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tikotzky, L., & Sadeh, A. (2009). Maternal sleep-related conditions and infant sleep: A longitudinal study from pregnancy through the 1st year. Child Development, 80(3), 860–874.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. (1999). CPSC warns against placing babies in adult beds. CPSC Document #5091.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF UK. Retrieved from www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/news-and-research/baby-friendly-research.

  • Valbuena Sarmiento, G. B. (2004). Conocimiento del niño a través de la música. El “efecto berceuse” acunamiento y canciones de cuna en diversas culturas. [Knowledge of the child through music. The “lullaby effect”, craddling and lullabies in different cultures]. Revista de Investigaciones en Música y Artes Plásticas, 1, 92–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentin, S. R. (2005). Commentary: Sleep in German infants—The “cult” of independence. Pediatrics, 115.(Supplement 1, 269–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Meijil, T. (2013). Maori collective sleeping as cultural resistance. In K. Glaskin & R. Chenhall (Eds.), Sleep around the world. Anthropological perspectives (pp. 133–150). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Van Sleuwen, B. E., Engelberts, A. C., Boere-Boonekamp, M. M., Kuis, W., Schulpen, T. W., & L’Hoir, M. P. (2007). Swaddling: A systematic review. Pediatrics, 120(4), e1097–e1106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van, P., Cage, T., & Shannon, M. (2004). Big dreams, little sleep: Dreams during pregnancy after prior pregnancy loss. Holistic Nursing Practice, 18(6), 284–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S. J. (2007). The social etiquette of sleep: Some sociological reflections and observations. Sociology, 41(2), 313–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S., & Bendelow, G. (1998). The “dormant” body: Sleep, night-time and dreams. In S. Williams & G. Bendelow (Eds.), The lived body (pp. 171–187). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, D. L., Barnes, M., Ellett, L., Permezel, M., Jackson, M., & Crowe, S. F. (2011). Decreased sleep efficiency, increased wake after sleep onset and increased cortical arousals in late pregnancy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 51(1), 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, Y. K., Lee, S. T., & Chen, C. N. (1994). Sleep paralysis in Chinese: Ghost oppression phenomenon in Hong Kong. Sleep, 17(7), 609–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winnicott, D. W. (1949). Hate in the counter-transference. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 30, 69–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wortham, C. M., & Brown, R. A. (2007). Companionable sleep: Social regulation of sleep and cosleeping in Egyptian families. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(1), 124–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshimura, A. (2015). To believe and not to believe: A native ethnography of kanashibari in Japan. The Journal of American Folklore, 128(508), 146–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, E., Xiong, S., Finn, L., & Young, T. (2013). Unique sleep disorders profile of a population-based sample of 747 Hmong immigrants in Wisconsin. Social Science & Medicine, 79, 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zito, J. M., Safer, D. J., Gardner, J. F., Boles, M., & Lynch, F. (2000). Trends in the prescribing of psychotropic medications to preschoolers. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283(8), 1025–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Hollywood, FL, USA

    Muhammad Farhan

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Truman Medical Centers, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Muhammad Farhan

  3. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Hollywood, FL, USA

    Andrés Jiménez-Gómez

Authors
  1. Muhammad Farhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrés Jiménez-Gómez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad Farhan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    J. Martin Maldonado-Duran

  2. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Hollywood, FL, USA

    Andrés Jiménez-Gómez

  3. Trauma and Grief Center, Texas Childrens Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Maria X. Maldonado-Morales

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Felipe Lecannelier

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Farhan, M., Jiménez-Gómez, A. (2019). Culture Sleep and Its Vicissitudes in the Perinatal Period and During Early Childhood. In: Maldonado-Duran, J.M., Jiménez-Gómez, A., Maldonado-Morales, M.X., Lecannelier, F. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Transcultural Infant Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23440-9_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation