Lessons learned from Mayan mothers

By: -Akesha Baron, PhD, sociocultural anthropology

Mayan baby in a sling, Norman Montifar

Mayan baby in Guatemala, Alyssa K. Cabrera

A personal account of babywearing in Chiapas

As an anthropology student, I spent a lot of time living around Mayan women in Chiapas, Mexico. These women all carry their babies for much of the day, either in handwoven lengths of fabric that are tied and knotted over one shoulder, or more commonly these days, in basic shawls that can be purchased cheaply that are tied the same way. (Many women put the breast that might get in the way of the shoulder tie above the fabric.)

I always knew that when I had my own baby, I would carry it in the same way. I liked the ease with which the baby could be transferred from back to front when sitting down. The physical closeness that the carrying provided also appealed to me as a more instinctive way of mothering. The babies went everywhere the mother did, and were only put down sometimes when they were already asleep. Newborns as well as older babies were almost always carried on the mother's back, except when breastfeeding, to allow the mother to cook at a hot fire or do other types of work. Most of the time, the younger babies were completely enveloped in the sling, without even their faces showing. I marveled that the women were not concerned about their babies' ability to breathe like this. I suppose generations of carrying had taught them that the infant's breathing while wrapped up was not a problem. (Of course, the traditional wraps were cotton, whereas newer ones can be polyester--personally I would trust the flow of air to be better in a cotton sling.)

The baby-carrying in the village was only the first stage of a childhood in which children could be expected to be pretty much everywhere adults were, even where serious work was being done. Children thus never disrupted the flow of social life, but had the opportunity to learn about the entire spectrum of social existence from the very beginning of their lives. Babies and children in Mayan villages are a natural part of every day life, creating an ideal situation for the development of linguistic and social competence. Because children are not disallowed in adult and work settings, parents do not have to cope with the social isolation that child-rearing brings about in western settings. The natural closeness and rythms of carrying a baby tends to keep baby content, so that mother is free to socialize or to work. I observed all of this firsthand, and while I did not have the extended family and community around to keep isolation at bay when I had my own infant, I was able to work part-time at a friend's shop for part of the winter by carrying my baby on my back. This was a life saver for me as New England winters are far too long, especially if parents are confined to baby-focussed actitivities!

Because of my experiences in Mexico and with carrying my baby, I am always a bit jolted when I see a newborn in a stroller. I believe, as does Jean Liedloff based on her time with Amazonian cultures in The Continuum Concept (a book I recommend to anyone considering carrying their baby), that human babies are born with an expectation and a need for near constant physical contact with other humans--something that our primate relatives provide for their young, but that we are in danger of failing to provide with our focus on gadgets, sophistication and convenience when it comes to rearing young.