To follow US methods or traditional Indian methods for newborns?

It's up to you. There is no rule here. For my DD I used put bangles, anklets, ear rings. Given hot water bath, applied castor oil (still do). Applied coconut oil everyday in head etc.. In fact my pediatrician loved it when I dressed her up like that. He was fond of Indian culture and always used to say babies are no different whether here or India. I personally did not prefer turmeric and besan as I was not sure of the quality here in Indian shops. You should do what you have always wanted.

 

Hi,
I just delievered a baby girl 3 weeks back. I waited until her cord fell off and doc gave ok signal to bath her.
I am keeping Bindi for her. And we are giving traditional Indian bath to her. Also as per our tradition I'm going to have her weae bangles anklet and hip chain. I really want my daughter to have all possible things which we wud have done in India.

 

Hi,

I have a 19 month. I have followed the Indian traditions, I still apply the Kajal bindi on his forehead . I used to give him oil massage, only during the winters I stopped as it was snowing so heavily here. So go as per what suits the best for your little one

Lavanya

 

Follow your heart, thats my advise. When I was pregnant, I also had all these doubts. I put aside the distinction between Indian and American thing and concentrated on what would make my LO comfortable.

Bath: I did not use hot water. I bought an infant bathing tub and the water was warm; not hot. How I tested was pour the water on my wrist. If the water feels warm, then its fine. If its hot, then I mix cold water. I never used besan on my LO, not even now. I use Aveeno. Working really good.

Bindi: I used home made kaajal for drishti (nazar) for the first 1 year and then stopped.

Bangles and accessories: They were reserved for special occasions and festivals.
As I said, trust your instincts.

 

OP, I did all of Indian things.My baby hates baths but his features cleaned up well from my mom giving him baths.I wud avoid castor oil becoz its not same quality as indian one. Except that everything is okay.Always use johnson and johnson pink soap with made in usa ones. Also same for powder.except it shud be johnson and johnson blossoms one.Good Luck.

 

HI, I did every thing .Bindi ,yes ! oil massage ,yes! bangles and hip thing,yes! do whatever you want to. If the doc objects to those things leave that for the day when you are going to doctor's office.

 

Im in a similar situation then you right now and got similar advices too. I startet to feel really bit ensecure about certain things like for example the sort of oil to use for massage as westerners kept on telling me brands like johnsons are far better then castor oil or coconut oil which i planned to use. I got even told that the smell of coconut oil might confuse the baby as its smelling so heavily (never thought so actually) that they dislike or cant smell breastmilk anymore properly.....:confused2:thinkingsmiley bout bangles they said it might hurt them.... well both worked fine on me as i was baby it seems... the bathing discussion i just had today with my midwife...:crazy

I startet recently thinking that ppl might always prefer what they are used to, maybe its making them more comfortable.. and if we are comfortable with castor /coconut oil, bangles and applying kajaal our babies might feel its good.

This is what i planned so far:

I will try it with traditional massage and bath, kajaal bindi applied on forhead and cheek (nazaar) mom says it can be put below feet too if ppl talk or stare but i wont apply on eyes as im afraid i might hurt her, I will put bangles if she doesnt like i remove, castor oil for body and coconut for head, baby will stay with us in bed not in seperatet room, about turmeric and gram flour im not 100% sure i think i will try it out and if she dont like i stop, my mom told me to do so and (nearly) all children in my family had it, as it didnt harm them i think it might be really good to do...

Did you talk to any westerner about haldi and gram? Do you mean the atta style (with the kneated dough for hair removal) or the gram haldi curd/cream mixture (uptan)? I guessed second one actually. I will give it a try before massaging with oil.

 

One advise about haldi-gram flour to ladies living in west. It dries the skin, you need to follow it by a good moisturizing routine if you must use gram flour. Especially in winters when the skin is already prone to dry-spells, you need to be careful. Even if you do the oil massage, i heard it dries the skin.
Their skin is extremely tender, please be sure before you start it and get trained from an elder how to do it so that it doesnt go in the eyes etc. I didnt do it.