Jamaica

Many remarks have been made about caring for babies. Some have been old wives’ tales,

while others are mere conjecture, a result of modern research and technology.

My Granny loved babies. Even when she started to get old and senile, the first question Granny she would ask was, “Where’s the baby?” or “Whose baby are you again?”

Granny’s role in the family included giving advice to family members who were expecting. I remember being privy to several conversations my Grandmother would have regarding babies and pregnancy.

She would often urge the expectant mothers, “Make sure you look at plenty pretty pictures in the magazine.”

When Granny was questioned about this remark, she would say, “There is an old wives tale that says, if you look at pretty pictures, a woman was more likely to have good looking children.”

Then there was the advice about cravings, “Try not to crave anything unattainable or else your child will have a birthmark of what you crave.”

Then she would tell the story of the lady who craved strawberries, and since they were imported from abroad and out of season., her baby was born with a small strawberry tattoo.

Once the babies were born Granny set out on her mission. She showed most family members how to care for their babies.

Granny would go on and on with instructions, “You have to rub down the baby every night and evening with olive oil, so that the child have nice smoothe skin.”

“If you don’t rub down the baby from head to toe, the child will have skin like an alligator. Also, use plenty baby powder so that the poor little thing doesn’t get prickly heat.”

When questioned about her olive oil theory, Granny commented, “The baby won’t get cradle cap and the olive oil keeps evil away. You know, evil spirits like to be around babies, because of their innocence.”

Then she would give further explanation by saying, “If somebody dies and there is a young baby around, you have to pass the baby over the coffin, so that the ghost of the dead person doesn’t play with the baby.”

I have to admit that I found some of her thoughts a bit ridiculous. However, I can recall a time when I was taking care of my cousin’s newborn. My Granny would show me how to hold the baby so that their posture remains nice and straight. Sometimes I would get a bit carried away, because I liked to bathe the babies and dress them up in cute outfits. At nine years old, a baby reminded me of a live doll.

Whenever I went overboard with the powdering, brushing the hair and changing the baby several times per day, Granny would interrupt by saying, “Magsie, the baby is not your dolly or a plaything. If you bathe the baby too much, he/she will get pneumonia.”

Granny’s theory of “Ghosts and babies” became true to me one day after I had fed my little cousin. I stood burping the baby after her feeding, then I was going back and forth hushing the baby and happened to pass by a mirror. I saw the baby looking in the opposite direction reaching out and gurgling. Almost as if she had recognized someone.

The someone the baby reached out for was her Great-Grandad. He never had a chance to meet his grandchild, so he had apparently come to visit. After this episode, The babies pram, cradle and nursery were decorated with red. One of Granny’s favorite colors.

Granny always said that the color red, runs duppies away.

In Jamaica, Mothers and Grandmothers take so much pride into the grooming and cleanliness of their babies. Their babies skin is well cared for because they equate “peaches and cream” skin with healthy children.

Babies’ nappies or Pampers were washed and then rinsed in hot steaming, boiling water, with blue. This process ensured the elimination of bacteria and kept the babies’ nappies sparkling white.

If a child had sallow skin or jaundice looking skin, it would be assumed that he/she is not well cared for. The health of your skin was also determined by outbreaks. If it healed properly without turning into a sore or “fassey”, one was said to have good genes.

When it came to nutrition, old fashioned Jamaican mothers believed in feeding their babies cornmeal porridge or warm water and condensed milk. To give a baby “mixed up” formula was like feeding your child a T.V. dinner. Babies thrived on these beverages. If parents had a strong, robust baby, it was usually because they had a healthy diet of corn meal porridge, warm condensed milk, milo or ovaltine.

A Jamaican baby was never put to bed without one of these mixtures in hand. It was a sure way for any baby to sleep through the night.

Fruit Juices were rarely fed to babies after noon, because it was said to rotten their teeth prematurely. The babies would fall asleep with their bottles, and all the sugar from the juices would settle on their teeth. After a time, the residue of sugar was said to decay teeth.

Have you ever seen a toddler with rotten teeth?

If yes, nine out of ten times this problem was attributed to babies falling asleep with their juice bottles.

Today, Pediatricians shun such habits and discount them as old-fashioned ideas, but back then, children did not have as many ailments as they do today.

If a baby had an upset stomach or colic, the best medicine was plain old gripe water. A few doses in the baby’s drinking water and all tummy upsets were cleared up.

In modern society, they ply the children with drugs and chemicals which eventually result in side effects.

Granny believed in her antiquated ways and raising eight children and several grandchildren were her live testaments to her success.

You could often hear Granny putting her two cents in, “Nowadays, all they want to do is experiment with these babies. They are not dollies or toys! They are real-live human beings.”

Granny felt that our generation has used modern technology to label everything. In her opinion, most childhood maladies could be cured with love, attention and home-made remedies. If the child did not respond to either of these options, then and only then, the Doctor was called.

God, old-fashioned remedies and plenty of prayers were her mainstay for health and well-being. After all, God was the supreme Doctor. Granny would often times ask, “What if the Doctor did not have an answer?”

When she asked this question, I always thought of this Jamaican nursery rhyme, “Carry me baby go a doctor, Doctor sey him no want it, wey mi fi do, wey mi fi do……Dash him dung a gulley?”

So if the Doctor has no cure, are people going to throw away their children?

Absolutely not. They are going to try alternative remedies until something saves the day.

So, Caribbean mothers will continue to rub down their children with rose water when they have a high fever, bathe them in tamarind leaves when they have eczema and tell them to spell their names with water when they have the hiccups.

Although babies are cute, cuddly and lovable……They are not for experimenting. God made them and whatever God does, you can believe it is First Class all the way!!!!!

If Granny were here she would say, “God never makes a mistake! Everything he does, is quality assured!”