Dare you try to put your baby to sleep this way? It is called "Pekung". The baby were put inside the hammock in a sitting position (legs are stretched out) and another cloth is wrapped around the baby, tied under the baby's neck so that his/her head are supported by the wrapping cloth. As I was informed, it is a common practice by some minority ethnic called the "Banjar".
I have never seen such practice before. Of all the districts and states I've been to, I have never seen anything like this being done to a baby. It was my mother in law who introduced me to this kind of practice. She did a demo on my daughter when she was nearly 2 months old. I was totally freak out and quickly asked her to unwrapped my daughter. She was crying out-loud and seems not to be happy on what is being done to her. My mother in law tried to convinced me that it is a safe practice and guarantees no harm are being done. I was not against any custom or practice, but I am totally disagree with her on this practice.
I am not a medical practitioner but personally I think this was just a simple math. You don't have to be a genius to calculate the risk that you are putting on the baby. I was trying to explain the risk of this practice by commenting on some social network but I ended up being labeled as "over-emotional" by some people. No hard feelings taken but from that point onwards, I would never care less of what they done to their babies.
Why am I against it? Please bear in mind that this is only in my personal view and are based on my shallow knowledge in science. Firstly, infants muscle and ligaments are not fully developed. Even the spinal are in its original convex curve (c-shaped). It has no strength to support the baby's head and upper body weight. Basically, all the upper body weight are supported by the wrapping cloth and distributed upon his/her internal organs. If you can visualize, the wrapping cloth has become an obstructive medium to baby's airways. It might lead to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) due to lack of oxygen taken. Try searching the internet and see how many reports are being made on SIDs abroad. In Malaysia, this type of death has never really been an issue. It is a secluded cases which rarely happened. If it did happened, no coverage was ever made and people has low awareness of this type of death syndrome.
Secondly, the baby's upper body are flexed forward, way more than 90 degrees. It is an unnatural curved position. Putting them in that position for long periods might prevent or delay proper development of the spine. It might also cause damaged to the spinal tissues. Even the slightest angle as much as 30 degrees of sitting are not recommended for infants. It might lead to asphyxiation.
Have you ever heard of kyphosis? It happens when your thoracic vertebrae are rounded forward too much making it appears like a hump. It' s rarely cause a health problem but you don't want to have a hump on your back right? I'm looking at a minor condition of it everyday. But, who's to blame.
Thirdly, it is in our biological nature that during sleeping time, our heart performed at its optimal level. Usually, our heart rate reduces due to no active movement. Not to mention, as we lie down to sleep, no gravitational stress is put to the heart, thus making it less work to supply oxygen to all part of our body. By sleeping in a sitting position, presence of gravitational stress makes our heart work harder. It seems like the heart was not even resting.
Once again, it is up to a person's view and consideration to take on new opinion or just to shut their mind to it. But keep in mind that an infants are vulnerable and very much expose to the danger at any time, anywhere. As a parent, we decide what is best for them.
I believed for those who have been really immersed with this kind of custom or had never been revealed to human biology would go against my word and totally shut their mind off the revelation. I was never accused them of being wrong, I was just trying to explain from the biological side. If only they were open-minded and tried to listen instead of back-firing at me.
Secondly, the baby's upper body are flexed forward, way more than 90 degrees. It is an unnatural curved position. Putting them in that position for long periods might prevent or delay proper development of the spine. It might also cause damaged to the spinal tissues. Even the slightest angle as much as 30 degrees of sitting are not recommended for infants. It might lead to asphyxiation.
Have you ever heard of kyphosis? It happens when your thoracic vertebrae are rounded forward too much making it appears like a hump. It' s rarely cause a health problem but you don't want to have a hump on your back right? I'm looking at a minor condition of it everyday. But, who's to blame.
Thirdly, it is in our biological nature that during sleeping time, our heart performed at its optimal level. Usually, our heart rate reduces due to no active movement. Not to mention, as we lie down to sleep, no gravitational stress is put to the heart, thus making it less work to supply oxygen to all part of our body. By sleeping in a sitting position, presence of gravitational stress makes our heart work harder. It seems like the heart was not even resting.
Once again, it is up to a person's view and consideration to take on new opinion or just to shut their mind to it. But keep in mind that an infants are vulnerable and very much expose to the danger at any time, anywhere. As a parent, we decide what is best for them.
I believed for those who have been really immersed with this kind of custom or had never been revealed to human biology would go against my word and totally shut their mind off the revelation. I was never accused them of being wrong, I was just trying to explain from the biological side. If only they were open-minded and tried to listen instead of back-firing at me.
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