Mother of the world … in Thailand

“But where do you have sex?” », Ask my French friends, when I tell them that in Thailand children sleep until the age of 7 in the same bed as the parents. With us, that is not a problem! When the little ones sleep, it’s very deep, anyway! At first, the mother often sleeps with her baby and the father on a mattress on the floor. Thailand is a country where we love children. We never let them cry. Never ! They are always in our arms. The magazine equivalent to “Parents” in our area is called “Aimer les enfants” and I think that explains it all.

The astrologer (in Thai: “Mo Dou”) is the most important person to see before the baby is born. It can also be a Buddhist monk (“Phra”). It is he who will decide if the date of the term is the best in relation to the lunar calendar. It is only after that we see our doctor again to show him the desired date – the one that will bring good luck. Suddenly, the majority of deliveries are cesarean sections. As December 25th is a very special date for us, on this day the hospitals are full! Moms-to-be fear pain, but above all they are afraid of not being beautiful …

When you give birth in a low voice, you are asked to remove your makeup, but if it’s a cesarean, you can put on mascara and foundation. Even though I gave birth in France, I put on some lip balm and used my eyelash curler. In Thailand, the baby has barely come out that we are already organizing a photo shoot… On the portraits, the mothers are so beautiful that it looks like they are going out to party!

“Each letter of the first name corresponds to a number, and all the numbers must be lucky.”

If the baby was born on a Monday,you must avoid all the vowels in your first name. If it’s a Tuesday, you have to avoid certain letters, etc. It takes time to choose a first name; besides, it must mean something. Each letter of the first name corresponds to a number, and all the numbers must bring good luck. It’s numerology – we use it every day. In France, I could not go to see the psychic, but I still checked everything on the Internet.

After a natural childbirth, mothers do the “yu fai”. It is a kind of “spa” session, to eliminate all that remains in our stomachs and to make the blood circulate better. The mother remains stretched out on a bamboo bed placed over a source of heat (formerly a fire) on which cleansing herbs are thrown. Traditionally, she has to do this for eleven days. In France, instead, I went to the sauna several times.

“We massage the baby’s stomach with it, two or three times a day, after each bath.”

Around one month, the child’s hair is shaved. We then extract the color of a flower with blue petals (Clitoria ternatea, also called blue peas) to draw his eyebrows and his skull. According to beliefs, hair will grow back faster and be thicker. For colic, we use the “mahahing“ : it is a mixture of alcohol and a resin extracted from the root of a plant with medicinal properties called “Asa fœtida”. Its rotten egg smell comes from the large amount of sulfur it contains. The baby’s stomach is massaged with it, two or three times a day, after each bath. For colds, a shallot is crushed with a pestle. Add it to the bath or put it in a small bowl filled with water next to the baby’s head or feet. It clears the nose, like eucalyptus.

Baby’s first dish is called kluay namwa bod (crushed Thai banana). Then we cook rice prepared in broth to which we add pork liver and vegetables. For the first six months, I breastfed exclusively, and my two daughters continue to breastfeed, especially at night. The French often look at me strangely, but for me it’s shocking not to. Even if Thailand is a country where we do not breastfeed, it is back in fashion. At first, it’s on demand, every two hours, day and night. Many French women are proud that their child “sleeps through the night” from 3 months old. Here, even my pediatrician advised me to supplement the feedings with a cereal bottle so that the child sleeps better. I have never listened to anyone… It is a pleasure to be with my daughters!