Why modern parents feel more sleep deprived than our ancestors did

Post by jleyank » Mon, May 11, 2026, 2:04 AM UTC

mothballed wrote: post #76

tetromino_ wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mothers in the ancient past started at age 16-22 (note that fathers' ages at first child were extremely variable depending on the ancient culture in question) but then kept going giving birth every few years until age 40+. (Or until they died from childbirth complications, famine, disease, etc.) Please take a look at the very thorough demographic analysis of the ancient peasant class at https://acoup.blog/2025/08/08/…

They didnt have to deal with negligence laws. Modern parents probably spend most of their time eliminating small tail end risk. Kids need way less supervision if you're not trying to six sigma survival rates.

Post by wordpad » Mon, May 11, 2026, 3:08 AM UTC

garciansmith wrote: post #92

conception wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, the village 100% changed diaper, feed your children, nursed and generally helped out. Aunts, cousins, parents, friends all pitched in in the community to care for children.

Historically, what you speak of is an idealized and generalized image. What village are you talking about? Where? When? What was the socioeconomic status of the family? Etc. In reality it would vary whole lot, not just in terms of time and place in a general sense, but also for individual families. If you had many relatives nearby, perhaps, but in some cases you might not, or you might actually have to be taking care…

Post by blindriver » Mon, May 11, 2026, 4:22 AM UTC

esseph wrote: post #59

blindriver wrote: post #23

Is this a real question? Until the advent of electricity, when it was nighttime, it was mostly pitch black dark, and there was nothing you can really do except go to sleep. These days you're up a lot longer and there are more distractions like work and social media to keep you up well into the night. If you ever go camping with no cell phone signal, you'll go to sleep much earlier as well and get a lot more sleep tha…

> Until the advent of electricity, when it was nighttime, it was mostly pitch black dark, and there was nothing you can really do except go to sleep. Mfw torches and lanterns exist

Post by watwut » Mon, May 11, 2026, 8:11 AM UTC

conception wrote: post #42

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You got two 'village' responses which I fully disagree with because a dozen reasons. The village is not going to help you change diapers, feed the children, or do anything except have the children play together. I do not find parenting that difficult because I parent differently. The alternative: Teach them to entertain themselves. They clean up their own messes. I have the kiddos do tasks with me. Babies are easy en…

Historically, the village 100% changed diaper, feed your children, nursed and generally helped out. Aunts, cousins, parents, friends all pitched in in the community to care for children.

Post by rayiner » Mon, May 11, 2026, 12:19 PM UTC

camgunz wrote: post #98

rayiner wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think older people who have more patience are supposed to help. We moved to America when we were young so my mom had raise my brother and I by herself, which was very hard coming from somewhere people live in multi-generational households. She had very little patience for it. But she and my dad have way more patience for my kids. My mom lived with us for a year and then my wife’s mom lived with us for a year while…

I super agree; my partner and I talk all the time about how like, kids really benefit from having all kinds of different caregivers. Mostly from a place of "did we make a mistake"--we moved to the Netherlands away from our parents/etc. and, while we can compensate with day care and such, it's really not the same for all kinds of obvious reasons. We did have kids later: I was 39 and 41 when they were born, so that kin…