On the function of swaddling as traditional infant-care practiced by Native South Americans

Abstract

Placing the infant in a device which restrained his/her movement was a traditional custom of infant caretaking in a number of parts of the world, and is still observed in some of them. An example of such practices, swaddling, was investigated with Native Americans, the Aymara, in Bolivia, and caretaking behaviors in 24 swaddling and 18 non-swaddling families were compared. Results did not support the notion that swaddling was a form of infant neglect on the part of caretakers. Swaddling caretakers actually exhibited as strong interest in the infant as non-swaddling caretakers, and spent more money on his/her clothes. The mother spent less time for infant care in the swaddling family. However, other members of the family took more time to take care of the infant than those in the non-swaddling family. It is argued that swaddling effectively encourages non-mother family members to participate in infant caretaking, in addition to serving a potentially beneficial function to protect infants from unsafe and insanitary home environments.