為什麼非洲寶寶不哭 & 非洲式傳統育兒優點

Why African Babies Don't Cry:An African Perspective

by Claire Niala 原文出處：http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/claire_niala.html 這是一位非洲整骨醫生媽媽寫的文章，描寫了傳統以來非洲的育兒特色。 重點簡介： (前略) The first thing I noticed is that despite their ubiquitousness it is actually quite difficult to actually "see" a Kenyan baby. They are usually incredibly well wrapped up before being carried or strapped onto their mother (sometimes father). Even older babies already strapped onto a back are then further protected from the elements by a large blanket. You would be lucky to catch a limb, never mind an eye or nose. It is almost a womb-like replication in the wrapping. The babies are literally cocooned from the stresses of the outside world into which they are entering. 非洲寶寶通常都被包好揹在媽媽或爸爸身上，讓寶寶就像還待在子宮似地感到安心。 My second observation was a cultural one. In the UK it was understood that babies cry - in Kenya it was quite the opposite. The understanding is that babies don't cry. If they do - something is horribly wrong and must be done to rectify it immediately. My English sister-in-law summarized it well. "People here" she said "really don't like babies crying, do they?" 非洲寶寶幾乎都不哭，如果哭了，會被視為有錯誤需要立刻修正，他們不喜歡寶寶哭。 It all made much more sense when I finally delivered and my grandmother came from the village to visit. As it happened - my baby did cry a fair amount, and exasperated and tired, I forgot everything I had ever read and sometimes joined in the crying too. Yet for my grandmother it was simple - nyonyo (breastfeed her!). It was her answer to every single peep. 當寶寶出生後，寶寶哭了時，我忘了我讀過的一切也哭了，我奶奶說這很簡單，nyonyo(餵寶寶喝奶)，這就是寶寶要的。 There were times when it was a wet nappy, or the fact that I had put her down, or that she needed burping that was the problem, but mainly she just wanted to be at the breast - it didn't really matter whether she was feeding or just having a comfort moment. I was already wearing her most of the time and co-sleeping with her, so this was a natural extension to what we were doing. 除了有時候例如要打嗝時，我會放下寶寶，不然她總是愛在我胸前，無論是要喝奶或是安撫，我大部份時間都背著她，並且和她一起睡覺，她就像是連接在我身上無論我在做什麼。 I suddenly learned the not-so-difficult secret as to the joyful silence of African babies. It was a simple needs-met symbiosis that required a total suspension of ideas of "what should be happening" and an embracing of what was actually going on in that moment. The bottom line was that my baby fed a lot - far more than I had ever read about anywhere and at least five times as much as some of the stricter feeding schedules I had heard about. 我瞭解了為什麼非洲寶寶是安靜快樂不哭的，因為他們的需求是被滿足，我的寶寶很愛喝奶，比任何書上寫的喝奶次數都多，甚至是有些餵奶時間表較嚴格的書上之餵奶次數的5倍。 At about four months, when a lot of urban mothers start to introduce solids as previous guidelines had recommended, my daughter returned to newborn style hourly breastfeeding. She needed hourly feeds and this was a total shock. Over the past four months the time between feeds had slowly started to increase. I had even started to treat the odd patient without my breasts leaking or my daughter's nanny interrupting the session to let me know my daughter needed a feed. 四個月大時，通常是一些建議可以開始給副食品的月份，我女兒回到了新生兒時期的每小時喝奶模式，讓我覺得驚訝，明明之前她已漸漸拉長每次喝奶的間隔時間了。 Most of the mothers in my mother and baby group had duly started to introduce baby rice (to stretch the feeds) and all the professionals involved in our children's lives - pediatricians, even doulas, said that this was OK. Mothers needed rest too, we had done amazingly to get to four months exclusive breastfeeding, and they said our babies would be fine. Something didn't ring true for me and even when I tried (half-heartedly) to mix some pawpaw (the traditional weaning food in Kenya) with expressed milk and offered it to my daughter - she was having none of it. 很多我身邊的媽媽及小兒醫生等，建議我給寶寶米來延長餵食間隔時間，他們說這很ok，媽媽也需要休息。我試著給她pawpaw(傳統肯亞斷奶食物)，但是她一點也不吃。 So I called my grandmother. She laughed and asked if I had been reading books again. She carefully explained how breastfeeding was anything but linear. "She'll tell you when she's ready for food - and her body will too." "What will I do until then?" I was eager to know. "You do what you did before, regular nyonyo". So my life slowed down to what felt like a standstill again. While many of my contemporaries marveled at how their children were sleeping longer now that they had introduced the baby rice, and were even venturing to other foods, I was waking hourly or every two hours with my daughter and telling patients that the return to work wasn't panning out quite as I had planned. 我打電話問我祖母，她仔細解釋餵奶不是穩定線性的，“寶寶會告訴妳何時她已準備好吃食物，她的身體也會告訴妳”，妳就和以前一樣照常餵奶。我的生活放慢了像是再次停滯一樣，其他媽媽因為用副食品讓寶寶睡更久時，我每1~2小時被叫醒來餵奶。 (中略) At the wedding, the people whose table we sat at noted, "She is such an easy baby - though she does feed a lot". I kept my silence, then another lady commented, "Though I did read somewhere that African babies don't cry much." I could not help but laugh. 我去參加婚禮，我們坐的桌子被註明“她是個乖寶寶，但她很會喝奶”，我保持沈默，另一位女士說：“所以我在某處看到說非洲寶寶不會哭很多” 我忍不住笑了。 My grandmother's gentle wisdom: 我祖母的溫柔智慧： Offer the breast every single moment that your baby is upset - even if you have just fed her. 當寶寶不開心時給她含奶-即使他才剛喝過奶。 Co-sleep. Many times you can feed your baby before they are fully awake, which will allow them to go back to sleep easier and get you more rest. 同床睡，當寶寶還沒完全醒時，立刻餵奶可以讓寶寶容易再入睡，媽媽也更能休息。 Always take a flask of warm water with bed to you at night to keep you hydrated and the milk flowing. 晚上在床邊放瓶溫水，讓妳補充水份增加奶量。 Make the feeding your priority (especially during growth spurts) and get everyone else around you to do as much as they can for you. There is very little that cannot wait. 把餵奶當成最優先事項(特別是在成長期)，讓妳身邊的人幫助妳，很少事情是不能等的。 Read your baby, not the books. Breastfeeding is not linear - it goes up and down (and also in circles). You are the expert on your baby's needs. 判讀瞭解妳的寶寶，而不是讀書，喝奶量非線性穩定的，有時會增量有時會減量(會呈現循環)，妳是最瞭解妳的寶寶的專家。 J. Claire K. Niala is a mother, osteopath & writer based in Nairobi, Kenya. 作者J. Claire K. Niala 是位媽媽、整骨醫生及作家，居住於肯亞奈洛比。 感想： 這篇歐美的育兒網站的文章很有參考價值，非洲傳統式的育兒方式正符合近代的育兒研究建議，例如用背巾背寶寶、依想喝奶的訊號餵奶、與大人同睡等，以世界的觀點來說，非洲的育兒方式較維持傳統不變，以人性直覺回應寶寶的需求，這就是對寶寶最好的。以下附上一些相關優點的報導：  7 Benefits of Sleeping Close to Your Baby 靠近寶寶睡覺的7項好處 http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/7-benefits-of-sleeping-close-to-your-baby 包含睡得更安穩、方便哺乳、有利於成長等。 Scientific Benefits of Co-Sleeping 與寶寶同床睡的科學上好處 http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/scientific-benefits-co-sleeping 有益心理穩定、降低SIDS(嬰兒猝死症)、長期心理健康、比睡小床安全等。 嬰兒餓了再餵奶智商高？　研究：好心情助大腦發展 http://www.nownews.com/2012/03/19/11622-2796056.htm#ixzz2dnThbBrC 現今歐美的母乳推廣，其中一個特色就是餓了就餵不定時全親餵，這點和很多講求定時定量的訓練法不同，科學研究顯示其有益智商。以下研究也有相關。 Breastfeeding Linked to IQ (哺乳與IQ有關聯，可提昇嬰兒智商。 ) http://www.medpagetoday.com/TheGuptaGuide/Pediatrics/40724 Breastfeeding(哺乳)可增進語言認知，並提昇IQ。 另外以下這篇網誌(瓶餵與親餵的不同 & 如何改善瓶餵)綜合分析了多篇研究： http://wombat-ch.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post.html 其中Intelligence智商段落中寫到：由於親餵寶寶較不可能依照時間表(schedule)餵奶，而瓶餵寶寶較可能照時間表餵奶，基於這點若不能親餵，(需要更多研究來確認是否餓了就餵才造成親餵有益於智商，還是餓了就餵及親餵母乳兩者皆有益於智商。)讓你的寶寶在有需求時就餵奶(瓶餵或親餵)有益於較好的認知發展及智商。 相關議題： 8個父母應該知道的嬰兒睡眠真相 http://wombat-ch.blogspot.tw/2013/09/8.html  很多被視為“嬰兒睡眠問題”的問題，其實是正常的嬰兒睡眠模式 http://wombat-ch.blogspot.tw/2013/09/blog-post.html 安撫哭泣寶寶的簡單方法並擁有更平靜的夜間睡眠 http://wombat-ch.blogspot.com/2013/10/Simple-Ways-to-Calm.html 寶寶夜晚哭泣的可能原因 http://wombat-ch.blogspot.com/2013/10/reasons-babies-cry.html (本文歡迎自由轉載)