History of sleep

Children’s sleep patterns have varied significantly across history, both temporally and culturally.

Cultural norms for children’s sleep have shifted significantly across the world; Western countries’ customs of stories read to the family de-evolved into bedtime stories during and after the Industrial revolution, because of the increasing presence of the middle class. Meanwhile, siblings living together became less common for middle class families, both due to the increase in the availability of contraception, and the desire for children to have their own rooms, partly to avoid the stereotypes of poverty. In contrast, cultures including Italian and some African cultures encourage sleeping alongside children, and the sanctity of parenthood manifests in different concerns for children’s sleep.

Concerns for the sleep of the next generation have almost always been present in parents’ minds, however, recommendations to help improve the sleep of children were for the most part based upon speculation and observation. How and where to put a baby to bed was an important concern for Americans in the early 20th century, while some advice also blamed a lack of sleep quality among children on things such as reading, school and food. At the same time, different cultures prioritise sleep in different ways. For example, Japanese culture treats sleep insomnia much more casually than other societies such as the United States.

Sleep was also considered essential to the moral character of children. Worries of jealousy, anger issues and personality could come from bad sleep, thus parents tried to cultivate good sleep in their children. This was not helped in industrialising countries, where the separation between adult and child was increasing, and disturbances took longer to deal with.

While children’s sleep today is still a very mysterious subject, with more studies to unearth its effects on growing up, the past has revealed that parents across the world have lost sleep, over their child’s own.

The history of Insomnia

Insomnia has changed throughout history as our sleep patterns have changed. Before the 19th century when people would sleep in two blocks middle of the night (MOTN) insomnia wasn’t perceived as an issue. One of the first references to insomnia was in Thomas Elyot’s ‘Glossary Bibliotheca Eliotae’ in 1542 but the word wasn’t used readily until the 19th century.

As people dropped their second sleep MOTN insomnia became an issue many people reported whereas previously it wasn’t noted. So, MOTN insomnia could be a remnant of our previous sleep patterns but now it is a medical issue and viewed as something we need to treat.

Sleep remedies throughout history

There have been many historical remedies for insomnia. It was advised during the late 16th century that music or soothing sounds, such as the swaying of trees, could help someone with falling asleep. As treatment for sleeplessness was focused on a calm body and mind.
It was also viewed that sleep was caused by diminished circulation to the brain during the 19th century. So, remedies focused on soothing the nervous system and reducing activity of the heart, to reduce blood flow to the brain. This included using potassium bromide which was believed to assert an anaemic reaction.
During the 19th century Beechams pills were advertised as a cure for insomnia, and these are presently used as a cold remedy.
Nowadays, many over-the-counter remedies are usually antihistamines. There are also melatonin tablets which can be given by prescription but also can be bought online from unregulated sites as supplements.

Once a universal trait of life, polyphasic sleep is now perhaps something that has never crossed the minds of most before. Polyphasic sleep involves more than one period of sleep during 24 hours, interrupted by a period of awakeness. Most animals on earth are naturally polyphasic sleepers, including humans.

In the modern day, most cases of this sleeping pattern are from midday naps, or cultural norms such as siestas, involving sleeping after lunch. However, Historical sleep patterns show that polyphasic sleep was far more common than today: this took the form of two periods of sleep during the night, whereby people were awake for normally 1-2 hours. This mostly occurred during winter months when nights were far longer, therefore, the vast majority of society had little reason to stay awake, since candlelight was a rarity reserved for the elites of most societies across the world.

Nevertheless, the things that people did while briefly awake was very important. This involved cooking or preparing meals, writing, spending time with lovers, or even performing illegal acts such as robbery and thieving. These midnight awakening were clearly culturally significant too, since many cultures mention or depict polyphasic sleep patterns in art, literature and also medical advice.

What caused its extinction is a well debated topic, however, historians such as A. Roger Ekirch suggest that the Industrial revolution’s shift to regimented working schedules in western countries, as well as the availability of light through the invention of the lightbulb meant that people both had a reason to stay awake longer, since light was available, as well as longer working hours, thus demanding free time be spent after work.

In conclusion, if you ever feel guilty for taking a nap in the middle of the day, or waking up in the middle of the night, just remember that your ancestors did too.

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• Ekirch, A. Roger. 2015. ‘The modernization of western sleep: or, does insomnia have a history?', Past&Present 226 (2015)

• MacLehose, William. 2020. ‘Historicising Stress: Anguish and Insomnia in the Middle Ages’, Interface Focus, 10.3 (Royal Society): 20190094–94.

• Neubauer, David N. 2007. ‘The Evolution and Development of Insomnia Pharmacotherapies’, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine : JCSM : Official Publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 3.5 Suppl: S11 <https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1978321/> [accessed 16 February 2025]

• Schulz, Hartmut, and Piero Salzarulo. 2016. ‘The Development of Sleep Medicine: A Historical Sketch’, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12.07 (American Academy of Sleep Medicine): 1041–52.