Shaping The Babies Head

lol. Gamine who told you that?

When babies are born, they are very soft, so they can be given dimples but moulding the head, lol. i dnt know abt that o

 

Dimples too???

Yorubas do shapen the heads of their newly born babies. I don't know about other tribes. However, when the shape is okay at birth there may not be need but if it looks sort of odd, grandma or whoever bathes the baby moulds/shapens it to  correct it. _{But e dey some head wey no dey mouldable oh}

@Seun, haba it's not hammer that's used to shapen the head nah! Which one is brain damage in simply moulding a head? Ask you mum or grandmother if your head was not moulded at birth! Am sure the practice is more common among the Ijebus 

Seun is right. too many abuse jare.

why work your baby's head, tummy, hands, back, dimple, etc??

i have seen mothers doing the above to their children.

yes the shape of baby's head is oblong at birth but it later looks normal. all those do dos mothers take their baby's thru are unnecessary.

i have seen the one they press one kin hot leaf into the navel

chie

lol@ogor
Nothing wrong with it as long as its done in moderation.a little pressing/ massaging with lukewarm water and towel wont harm the brain.
@Seun,hehe   

oh well

like what ify said

nothing wrong in massaging ooh!

Ah thanks!

A mother at last!

lol@ eyes full of children with ogor 

     Moulding the head of a newborn ( Ori shishu in Yoruba ) is a traditional practice which could be quite dangerous .
     I think it's based on the fact that during delivery, to aid passage of the baby through the birth canal (ie vaginal delivery), the skull bones can readily overlap. This can give the baby's head a funny shape. However, there is a gradual return of the bones to normal position.
     In some cultures, however, they don't wait for this and they prefer to manually "re-arrange" the "ogo". Over-enthusiastic shaping of the head could affect the brain and lead to brain damage like Seun has said.

     The brain of the newborn is relatively large when compared with the adult. Meaning that any trauma to the cranium or skull could easily affect the brain.
     Let's also remember that the baby's brain is still developing and myelination (wrapping nervous tissue with a protective layer) of the nervous system is still actively going on especially in the first 2 years and even beyond. With this protective layer still under formation it would be best to avoid traumatising the delicate nervous tissue.
     Also if the underlying delicate network of veins under the skull is affected, it could cause bleeding (intracranial haemorrhage) which has resulted in the demise of many a newborn.

     I think if one was to choose between a child with "ogo" or a mentally retarded ( or even a dead ) child the choice would be obvious.
     The consequences of deliberately moulding your child's head could be dire. Please let's be careful not to damage our future heads (pun intended)  in the guise of harmful traditional practises.
     

abi o tell them to stop those things our forefathers did and some parents do to their babies.

what a baby needs is love and attention. not molding the head, nose, eyes and ears 

lol.

 
na wa o

 i 've seen it being done before ! and the baby did not have any brain damage or other health issues

lawdy! _{the thing wey mordernisation go cause for this land?} 

i can't stop lauging at most of the theories people post about babys head. you are all right but let us embellish it.
the baby comes out with a head that is yet to completely close because of what we call SUTURES LINES. however, unless or otherwise the babys head is under tension as in HYDROCEPHALUS, the sutures lines soon become closed after birth. that is why you have the dimple in front and at the back of the head which closes over a specific range of time. you can hardly influence the baby head by the so called moulding because the suture lines even when they are not closed don't leave enough room for any manipulation. the brain is very delicate and significant pressure on the head can easily lead to brain damage, what we call cerebral palsy which is a non progressing albeit permanent damage to the brain cells. the woman that said she moulds her babys head after 3 months will achieve exactly nothing apart from punishing the poor child. do you know that a lot of baby develop cerebral palsy simply because a lot of pressure were mounted on their head during child birth. if the baby is having hydrocephalus, please see your doctor,
if you need further clarifications, feel free to ask

jaundice can be a cause so to say.
the yellowness you see in jaundice is usually due to bilirubin a substance that is released when you break down red blood cells. in babies the bilirubin when released in excess can cross the blood brain barrier and attach to brain cells causing what we call kernicterus thereby leading to permanent brain damage, cerebral palsy.
but that is just one of the causes, there are several other causes one of them is what i described earlier. cheers.

Well, i dunno if its done now

i saw my mum do it about 13yrs ago

and my sis turned out fine