Infants Sleeping Arrangements: Questions Of Independence

Mothers around the world have different sleeping arrangements for their babies. Because of this, researchers are trying to figure out the developmental and socialization issues that relate to infant sleeping and feeding arrangements. In Morelli et al.’s article, “Cultural Variation in Infants’ Sleeping Arrangements: Questions of Independence”, they examine the differences between the typical American and Mayan pattern of caretaking by listening to parents’ reasons for their infants’ sleeping arrangements. To figure out whether cultural variations impact mothers’ decisions for the arrangements, a Vietnamese American 42-year-old caregiver named Tammy, who was born in Vietnam and has a 21-year-old daughter and a 19-year-old son, was interviewed. Tammy’s pattern of caretaking is compared to the typical Mayan and American pattern of caretaking. Also, links are found between sleeping and feeding arrangements and some aspect of Tammy’s background or culture, and the article’s argument about arrangements, routines, and transitional objects are analyzed. The American typical pattern of caretaking is that parents do not sleep with their infants daily. Instead, the newborn infant may sleep near the parents’ bed in a crib. After a few months, the parents may move the baby into a different room as soon as possible to teach the baby how to be more independent.

When another child is born, the infant sleeps with another family member or sleeps in a different bed in the same room, even if there are enough rooms in the house. For night feeding, the baby on the same bed is easily nursed whenever required. Bedtime routines of Mayan families do not include objects, such as a blanket or doll, or activities, such as bath time, tooth brushing, and lullabies, (Morelli, Rogoff, Oppemheim, & Goldsmith,