diff --git a/markdownify/__init__.py b/markdownify/__init__.py
index 5575ca4..355b9fa 100644
--- a/markdownify/__init__.py
+++ b/markdownify/__init__.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import re
 
 
 convert_heading_re = re.compile(r'convert_h(\d+)')
+whitespace_re = re.compile(r'[\r\n\s\t ]+')
 
 
 def escape(text):
@@ -26,14 +27,14 @@ class MarkdownConverter(object):
         return soup.text
 
     def process_tag(self, node):
-        text = escape(node.text)
+        text = self.process_text(node.text)
 
         # Convert the children first
         for el in node.findall('*'):
             self.process_tag(el)
 
             convert_fn = getattr(self, 'convert_%s' % el.tag, None)
-            tail = escape(el.tail)
+            tail = self.process_text(el.tail)
             el.tail = ''
 
             if convert_fn:
@@ -48,6 +49,9 @@ class MarkdownConverter(object):
 
         node.text = text
 
+    def process_text(self, text):
+        return escape(whitespace_re.sub(' ', text or ''))
+
     def __getattr__(self, attr):
         # Handle heading levels > 2
         m = convert_heading_re.match(attr)
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index cde2d4f..3c9a9c0 100644
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ class BasicTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_soup(self):
         self.assertEqual(md('<div><span>Hello</div></span>'), 'Hello')
 
+    def test_whitespace(self):
+        self.assertEqual(md(' a  b \n\n c '), ' a b c ')
+
 
 class EscapeTests(unittest.TestCase):