Culture and Co-Sleeping Throughout the world, cultural and ethnic differences influence family decisions about sleeping arrangements for infants and young children (Li & others, 2008; Worthman & Brown, 2007). Among the indigenous Nenets people of Siberia, shown above, co-sleeping or shared sleeping is common, at least partly for the pragmatic reason of staying warm. Even in the United States, sleeping arrangements vary by racial and ethnic groups. Stephanie Milan and her colleagues (2007) found that Latino and African American preschoolers were more likely to sleep with a sibling or parent than were white preschoolers.

Maria Stenzel/National Geographic Society