When you are a first-time mother, millions of thoughts cross your mind. You definitely want the best for your baby. Though many a time, your friends, family and well-wishers try and give you the best advices but at the end of the day, it is your motherly gut that takes the final decision. One such thing that I was sceptical about was massaging my baby. Though before the delivery, I had met a few ladies, who come specially to bathe the children and also asked them to give me a little massage, as that would help me judge if they would be gentle enough on the baby.
I had shortlisted one such masseuse. We have heard different myths and notions about massaging a baby before bath, about its importance and impact. Well, some of it is true and some of it is just a myth carried on for ages. Post my delivery, when I was being discharged from the hospital, the doctor gave me a few tips about how to feed the baby, how to swaddle the baby correctly, how to hold his neck, how to bathe him and also strictly told me not to apply much pressure on his scalp.
My son had a little-elongated scalp, which was normal amongst newborn babies because the bones of your skulls are yet to be joined. It takes about 18 months from birth for the bones of the skull to be somewhat strong enough. I would sit next to the masseuse and ensure that she did not put pressure on my child while massaging. There is a notion that if you put pressure on a child during massage, that too before bathing time, the child will become fair, its features will be better, the leg structure will change, but as my doctor suggested it was all myth. I mean use your common sense, how many adults do you really see with those perfect features? The other thing that I was more worried about was her pressing the wrong points and troubling the baby more.
For some strange reason, I could not tolerate someone else bathing my child and therefore after 28 days, I started bathing him myself. Another aspect that bothered me, was which oil to use for his hair care. Different people had different opinions and at the end of the day, I was very confused and did not get any solution at all. Finally, I decided to go ahead with Johnson’s baby oil and shampoo as it is very mild and gentle for newborns. As I was bathing my baby for the first time, I wanted something just that. Different people gave me different opinions about using 2 different types of oil and mixing it but I was not very sure about it. I am Johnson’s baby myself so it was easier for me to trust the brand.
With the perfect shampoo, oil and soap, my next worry was with respect to his tonsuring. Though we do not have any ritual for Tonsuring, I went for it only after he was shy of a few days for 18 months.
Always remember, let your relatives, or friends or massage wali bai say anything about massaging and its importance but always remember, your child’s looks will be based on his genetics and no external pressure can change that.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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