Infant Sleep Habits in Kenya
Most mothers in Kenya think that it is amusing that women in the United States think that it is dangerous for an infant to sleep in bed with his mother, as has been proposed by many childcare authors (Harkness & Super, 2009). In Kenya, it is expected that a mother will spend almost 24 hours per day with her infant, and nighttime is no exception (Harkness & Super, 2009). To these women, it seems that it would be more dangerous and much less convenient for a child to sleep in a room by himself: what if there was an emergency and the mother couldn’t reach him in time? What is the point of getting up several times per night to feed or soothe a crying baby when it is so much easier if he is lying right next to you in bed? Also, these women state, even while they are asleep, their minds know that their baby is lying next to them, which subconsciously keeps them from rolling over on him.
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Infant Sleep Habits in America
In America, “the family bed” is discouraged (Meade, 2011). Some childcare authors state the potential danger of an adult rolling over onto the child in his or her sleep, but most state that the main issue is that children who sleep in the same bed, or even the same room, as their parents do not learn independence easily (Meade, 2011). I interviewed an American woman of Native American descent who is the mother of three grown children about how she handled sleeping arrangements when her children were infants. I will call her Kay X. Kay stated that her pediatrician was very much against the concept of Kay bringing her children into bed with her when they were infants, claiming that they would never learn how to self-sooth (Kay X., 2016).
Although Kay considered herself to be a modern woman, she also had ties to her Native American heritage, and rebelled against the doctor’s advice (Kay X., 2016). While her children didn’t sleep in bed with her and her husband, they also did not have a separate nursery until they were over a year old. Until that point, they each slept in either a bassinet or a crib right next to her bed. In this way, Kay was truer to her Native American roots than to what her American pediatrician was telling her was correct. Native American, much like Kenyans, expect the mother or another woman to spend a large portion of her day with her children. Native Americans often co-parent their children: many different women will help care for the children of the tribe, up to sleeping with an infant strapped to her chest. Americans, however, disagree, thinking that in order for children to learn to self-sooth and later be independent people, it is best for them to sleep in their own rooms (Healthy sleep habits for infants and toddlers, 2011).
- Harkness, S. & Super, C. M. (Jan 2009). Parenting across cultures. SGI Quarterly. Retrieved from: http://www.sgiquarterly.org/feature2009Jan-2.html
- Healthy sleep habits for infants and toddlers. (2011). health library. Retrieved from: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/healthy-sleep-habits-for-infants-and-toddlers
Kay X. (Oct 11, 2016). Personal conversation.
