Indian Parents in USA-III

Baby baths.. I don't think any where in the world the process could be more elaborate than in India, especially in south India. Because it is cold and chilly for most of the months in the northern states, I am suspecting that they give a quick bath with warm water. But it is not so in south India, first a massage with oil from head to toe. Then massage with some kind of home made powder with milk for softness of the skin and to remove excess body hair naturally. Then one more round with the ordinary baby soap. Everyday they give head bath but not with baby shampoo, no it is just not enough, there is some green powder stuff for the hair. Then this process of cleaning the tongue is done. I have never seen anywhere else, when I asked why should you do that, it was told to me that the baby drinks mothers milk so the tongue becomes white and it smells like milk, so it has to be cleaned and when done everday, the baby will talk much sooner. Can anybody tell me how much of this is true? From the first step itself, the baby starts crying and by the end of this bath, both mom and baby are tired. Since the baby had head bath, it is very important to dry the hair properly or else baby may catch a cold, so for this process they bring red hot coals and put another kind of powder which gives lot of smoke and this dries the hair and takes out all water content. Then you need to clean those little noses which will be stuffed because of lot of crying and can't forget the ears, they must be cleaned too. By this time the baby is half asleep because of exhaustion and some how this is a good sign.

While we are at baths, the some what similar procedure is done for the moms too. After giving birth for the first month it is compulsory to take such kind of baths.. head bath every other day is a must. Another important thing is to dry the hair properly or else baby might catch a cold. I don't know who found the concept but to take away moisture content from the ears, garlic is crushed and wraped in some cotton and then it is put in the ears!! Never mind about the smell but the burning is sometimes unbearable. Haven't anybody heard about Q-tips??

If you are thinking bathing is pain, then the food for the new mom is even worse. It is believed that after giving birth, the uterus and other parts of the body are 'raw', so to heal properly, you have to eat certain foods. And also to have good milk production there are some foods which help. The later part is some what true, garlic, fish, red meat and milk do help in producing more milk. But I have serious doubts about the first part. In previous generations medicine was not as advanced as it is today, hence many other ways and means were applied to do the job of healing. Now a days antibiotics are given to everybody to heal and prevent any kind of infection to every new mother, so I strongly feel there is no need for home made remedies of healing. In US after delivery, that is after 2-3 days, you can eat everything, but it is not so in India. There are many many things which are not allowed to eat. Some are not good for the mom and some are not good for the baby. Even some of the fruits are not allowed, eating citrus fruits can cause the baby to have cold. Most of the times when the baby is not well the first question which is asked is did the mom eat something bad which she is not supposed to eat?? The mom feels guilty.. I just could not control my temptation...