Research
into the history of sleep is a growing field. While cultural factors strongly influence sleep
practices, these also change over time.
One of the major changes in modern
times is generally considered to have grown along with the change to living primarily in the
nuclear family rather than the extended family. That is the change to sleeping alone, or married
couples sleeping together in a separate room. Formerly, whole families often slept in a single
bed, parents and children together, or the mother slept with the youngest children, and the
father might share a bed with older boys.
In addition, the fixed prescription
of eight hours of sleep is relatively new and is linked to the regularization of industrial work
schedules.
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