Colic Baby Solution

Did You Know? The Use of the Side/Stomach Position Through the Ages to Soothe Infant Crying

In most traditional cultures around the world, babies like to hang out – literally. Their moms, sisters, aunts and neighbors carry them in baskets and sheets on their fronts, backs, hips, and shoulders for up to twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Few parents across the globe lay infants flat on their backs to sleep, and they usually put them on a curved surface, not a flat one. The mild arc of a small blanket suspended from a tree or tripod cuddles a baby in the softly-rounded fetal position, which helps activate the calming reflex and promotes more peaceful infant sleep.

The Lapp people of Greenland carry their babies curled up in cradles that hang on one side of a reindeer (counterbalanced on the animal’s other side by a heavy sack of flour.

The !Kung San people of the Kalahari Desert carry their infants in leather slings all day long. They keep them in a partially-rounded (semi-sitting) position, which they believe encourages a baby’s development.

In parts of Indonesia, loving mothers never let their babies stretch out completely; to them it is too reminiscent of the position of the dead. Infants, compactly bundled and suspended from the ceiling in a seated position, sleep like little floating Buddhas. (Even new mothers are advised to sleep sitting for forty days after delivery to ward off evil spirits who are believed to be attracted to people weakened by illness or injury.)

The Efé pygmies in Zaire don’t put their babies down – even for a moment. They keep their tiny tots happy by holding them in their arms all day long, and all night, too. Since it’s such a big effort for one person to manage all this carrying, the Efé rely on teamwork. For the first several months, moms pass their newborns back and forth – an average of eight times an hour – among up to twenty close tribal members!

Even when women in different cultures begin to let their infants out of their arms, they usually hang them over their laps, backs or chests, thus allowing the baby’s soft tummy to keep in constant contact with their mother’s warm, comforting skin.

The Side/Stomach position is a cornerstone of The Happiest Baby approach. When used properly, these methods can quickly soothe fussing and crying, calming even most cases of colic!

Tags: Colic