Old-wives tales would have us believe that we can tailor our babies’ features according to our own preferences, be it aquiline noses, skulls straight at the back, wide foreheads or huge eyes. The fetish for ‘making’ the perfect baby starts as soon as the mother starts expecting. Some profess that drinking dairy and coconut milk in generous quantities will make the baby fair. Others swear that shaving the head frequently ensures a healthy hair growth. Many believe that the eyes can be made bigger by regularly applying surma.
The more zealous will try to shape the nose, chin and forehead by massaging each one vigorously while for others it is a matter of honour to shape the baby’s head perfectly, be it by means of a rice stuffed pillow, a saucer or binding with a rope. One of our house helpers once told me, beaming with pride, that she had ‘made’ her son’s head brilliantly by putting a brick under the head and another on the forehead when he was a few months old!
Here’s what a medical professional has to say about these ‘designer baby’ attempts:
Dr Taeed Butt, Professor and Consultant Paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital, Lahore, says that the notion of shaping the head is deeply ingrained in our population. He says, “Try observing people in a crowded place like a railway station and see if you notice anyone who has an odd shaped head.
Everyone looks fine. The westerners don’t ‘shape’ their children’s skulls and their heads don’t look any worse than ours. In fact, using objects like ropes and plates to train the skull is like meddling with nature’s subtle and accommodating way of balanced body growth.”
