In traditional African parenting style, it was expected that in the early days I would be with the baby 24 hours a day and that necessarily included the nights. What was noticeable by its absence was a lack of ‘nursery’ for the soon-to-arrive baby there wasn’t even a cot. She had specially installed a new bathroom complete with adjoining purpose built changing room. When I first returned I was living with my mother who had kindly adapted her house for our impending arrival. ![]() Those living more in tune with natural rhythms find this less of a problem, but I was returning to the city of Nairobi which is much the same as any Western city in the way in which it functions. How wrong was I.Īfrican Time is different to European Time in that the emphasis is based on the action that occurs rather than the arbitrary time to which it is assigned to occur. Until then I had assumed that given my propensity for sleep, my baby would turn out to be exactly the same. The first time that I had considered the concept of Nighttime parenting was when I encountered a Sears’ book with that very title. ![]() I was also (like many first time parents) incredibly naïve. I had grown up in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and the UK and was keen for my then unborn child to grow up with an understanding of interdependence. When I returned to the country of my birth Kenya after over a decade and a half of living in the UK, it was a strong maternal instinct that drove me. Having experienced both cultures I would say that they can learn from each other but ultimately the choices that parents make can have a profound impact dependent on their cultural context. This stems from perceived benefits of interdependence vs. ![]() There is a fundamental difference in the way children are raised in the Majority World compared with the West. I am so thrilled she has decided to share this with us and hope you enjoy it! Well, here I present a guest article by the same author, the very talented JC Niala, on sleeping from her very unique, personal history as an African-British woman. Many of you know the very viral (and imo, wonderful) piece “Why African Babies Don’t Cry: An Afri can Perspective”.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |