Contents
World tour of mothering practices
One does not take care of one’s child in the same way in Africa as in Norway. Parents, depending on their culture, have their own habits. African mothers do not let their babies cry at night while in the West, it is advisable (less than before) not to run at the slightest start of their newborn. Breastfeeding, carrying, falling asleep, swaddling… Around the world of practices in pictures…
Sources: “At the height of babies” by Marta Hartmann and “Geography of educational practices by country and continent” by www.oveo.org
Copyright photos: Pinterest
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Swaddle babies
Very popular with Western mothers in recent years, this practice of mothering has not been viewed favorably for decades. However, babies in the West were swaddled during the first months of their lives, in their swaddling clothes, with cords and crisscross ribbons, until the end of the 19th century. In the twentieth century, doctors denounced this method considered for them “archaic”, “unhygienic and above all, which hampered the freedom of movement of children”. Then came the 21st century and the return of the practices of yesteryear. Anthropologist Suzanne Lallemand and Geneviève Delaisi de Parseval, specialists in fertility and filiation issues, published in 2001 the book “The art of accommodating babies”. The two authors praise swaddling, explaining that it reassures the newborn “by reminding him of his life in utero”.
In traditional societies such as Armenia, Mongolia, Tibet, China … babies have never ceased to be warmly swaddled from birth.
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Baby rocking and falling asleep
In Africa, mothers never separate from their little one, let alone at night. Letting an infant cry or leaving him alone in a room is not done. Conversely, mothers can appear dry when washing with their child. They rub her face and body vigorously. In the West, it is very different. Parents will, on the contrary, take infinite precautions not to “traumatize” their child by somewhat harsh gestures. To put their little one to sleep, Western mothers think that they should be isolated in a quiet room, in the dark, to allow them to fall asleep better. They will rock him by humming songs to him very softly. In African tribes, loud noise, chanting or rocking are part of the methods of falling asleep. To put her baby to sleep, Western mothers follow the recommendations of doctors. During the 19th century, pediatricians denounced their excessive dedication. In the 20th century, no more babies in the arms. They are left to cry and fall asleep on their own. Funny idea would think the mothers of tribal societies, who cradle their little one permanently, even if he is not crying.
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Carrying babies
Across the globe, thehe babies have always been carried by their mothers on their backs. Retained by loincloths, colored scarves, pieces of fabric, topped with crisscrossing ties, babies spend long hours held against the mother’s body, in memory of uterine life. Baby carriers used by families in traditional societies are often carved from animal skin and scented with saffron or turmeric. These odors also have a beneficial function on the respiratory tracts of children. In the Andes, for example, where temperatures can drop quickly, the child is often buried under several layers of blanket. The mother takes her wherever she goes, from the market to the fields.
In the West, babywearing scarves have been all the rage for ten years and are directly inspired by these traditional habits.
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Massaging your baby at birth
Mothers of remote ethnic groups take charge of their little being, all curled up, at birth. In Africa, India or Nepal, babies are massaged and stretched for a long time in order to smooth them out, strengthen them, and shape them according to the beauty features of their tribe. These ancestral practices are nowadays brought up to date by a good number of mothers in Western countries who are followers of massage from the first months of their child.
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Being gaga over your baby
In our western cultures, parents are blissful in front of their little ones as soon as they do something new: screaming, babbling, movements of the feet, hands, standing up, etc. Young parents go so far as to post on social networks the slightest deed and gesture of their child over time for everyone to see. Inconceivable in the families of traditional societies. They think, on the contrary, that it could bring the evil eye in them, even predators. This is the reason why we do not let a baby cry, especially at night, for fear of attracting animal creatures. Many ethnic groups even prefer to “hide” their child in the house and his name is most often kept secret. The babies are made up, even blackened with wax, which would arouse less the covetousness of the spirits. In Nigeria, for example, you don’t admire your child. On the contrary, it is depreciated. A grandfather can even have fun saying, laughing, “Hello naughty! Oh how naughty you are! », To the child who laughs, without necessarily understanding.
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Breastfeeding
In Africa, the breast of women is always accessible, at any time, to unweaned children. They can thus suckle according to their desire or simply play with the maternal breast. In Europe, breastfeeding has experienced many ups and downs. Around the 19th century, a newborn baby was no longer to be allowed to claim the breast at any time, but to be forced to eat at fixed times. Another radical and unprecedented change: the fostering of children of aristocratic parents or wives of urban craftsmen. Then at the end of the 19th century, in wealthy bourgeois families, nannies were hired at home to look after the children in an English-style “nursery”. Moms today are very divided on breastfeeding. There are those who practice it over many months, from birth to even over a year. There are those who can only give their breast for a few months, for different reasons: engorged breasts, return to work… The subject is debated and arouses many reactions from mothers.
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Food diversification
Mothers in traditional societies introduce foods other than breast milk quite quickly to feed their infants. Millet, sorghum, cassava porridge, small pieces of meat, or larvae rich in protein, mothers chew the bites themselves before giving them to their young. These little “bites” are practiced all over the world, from the Inuit to the Papuans. In the West, the robot mixer has replaced these ancestral practices.
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Fathers chickens and the brood
In traditional societies, the baby is often hidden in the first weeks after birth to protect it from evil spirits. The father does not touch him right away, moreover, because he possesses a vital energy “too powerful” for the newborn. In some Amazonian tribes, the fathers “nurture” their young. Even if he should not take him too soon in the arms, he follows the ritual of the convent. He remains lying in his hammock, follows a complete fast a few days after the birth of his child. Among the Wayapi, in Guyana, this ritual observed by the father allows a lot of energy to be transmitted to the child’s body. This is reminiscent of the convades of men in the West, who gain pounds, fall ill or, in extreme cases, remain bedridden during their wives’ pregnancy.