ABSTRACT
In this chapter we considered cross-cultural differences in sleep-promoting parental strategies and child sleep characteristics (e.g., bedtime, amount of sleep). All participating cultures reported using passive strategies, like cuddling, more frequently than active ones (e.g., walking around) to help their children prepare for sleep. Parents from countries with a more individualistic orientation, short power distance, and an emphasis on indulgence, tended to use more passive techniques, allowing the child to cry it out more frequently, possibly due to emphasis on self-soothing. Despite differences in bedtime and waking hours across cultures, most children slept approximately 11–12 hours per night.
