babies

When Stefan's family was in town a few weeks ago, they asked what strange thing we did with Samantha each night when she slept:

Why swaddle her of course!  

I just assumed everyone swaddled their babies.  Everyone here talks about it as though it were a given.  Before we left the hospital, they made sure we knew several essential swaddling techniques.  And it's even one of the five Ss of The Happiest Baby on the Block.  (A soon-to-be parent must-read!)

But they don't swaddle babies in Switzerland.  And guess what!  Babies there turn out just fine.

So then it got me thinking about how different people raise babies around the world.

Did you know that in Finland, babies sleep in cardboard boxes?

from here

And that in Guatemala, Mayan mothers give their newborns freezing cold baths?

And that in Scandinavia, mothers leave their babies in strollers outside to nap in sub zero temperatures?

from here

But then in the Dominican Republic, babies are kept exclusively indoors?

And while today we're told to only let babies sleep on their backs, when we were newborns, parents were told the stomach was the safest spot to sleep.  And while pediatricians today warn against the dangers of taking a baby in public spots prior to her vaccinations, our parents' generation took us out on day one!

The fascinating documentary Babies is further food for thought when it comes how best to rear a child.  While the baby from Africa plays in the dirt with his brother and the baby from Mongolia is left swaddled on a bed and the baby from San Francisco is fawned over by her parents with constant visual stimulation and an endless narration of life from her mother (totally guilty!), they all end up reaching their developmental milestones right on track.

It's fascinating how different countries and generations and cultures do things oh-so differently, but how - guess what! - most babies turn out just fine.  
Which is a good thing to remember to keep First-Time-Mom Syndrome in check.  

xoxo

KK