10 more sleeps til Christmas

Posted by Angela on February 27, 2006

When and why did we start telling our kids "10 more sleeps til Christmas" ?
I've found this a hard phrase to try and look up, because the number of sleeps always varies. Was is just coined to help kids understand the concept of time? Why do we say sleeps instead of days, nights or dinners?

• 10 more sleeps til Christmas Brian from Shawnee 28/February/06