Cosleeping in young Korean children.

Abstract

This study was an attempt to evaluate the present profile of parent-child cosleeping, to investigate the characteristics of those children who cosleep with their parents, and to determine the factors influencing cosleeping in Korea. Observed subjects consisted of 427 young Korean children aged 12 to 84 months. We used an interview method. The incidence of cosleeping was 377 (88.2%). Cosleeping decreased with increasing age. Cosleeping in Korean society was affected mostly by the age of parents and children, attitudes of the mother to cosleeping, and Korean traditional cultural values. The practice of cosleeping in young Korean children is very common and socially acceptable to Korean parents as a natural part of the child-rearing process. Korean family values and a cultural value system emphasizing familial bonds and interpersonal interdependence seems to act as positive reinforcing factors for the practice of cosleeping.