African mothers see baby strollers as abhorrent fad

[~clover~]

I wish our society was more like that. A pram, cot/bassinette etc are all must have 'necessities' when expecting a baby. Noone has a baby without these items. Some people don't even realise that you can have a baby without them!

I was one of those people. & I still have all those 'necessities', they just sit there unused A pram won't entertain DD when I'm trying to get the cooking done, so she goes on my back!

[Sagres]

I do agree with a lot of points in this, about over indulging children (especially older children) in prams who are perfectly able to walk, it is something I find annoying also. I do think on the whole we over use prams massively. But I also think it is a bit over simplistic to say we shouldn't have strollers in our modern world. I mean I don't do physical work day-to-day like the women they are referring to, so I take my 6mo and 2.5yo for 6+ km walks in a pram for exercise. And I don't have the same rich natural environment in my neck of suburbia, so I have to roam further afield and cover more ground than my girls legs are able to get a similar experience.
I don't think just because a child is in a pram some times means they don't also walk a lot, have a lot of physical contact with their parents, have high level of physical activity, spend a lot of time in a sling etc etc. I think in many cases there is a correlation between the two, but it doesn't have to be that way. I think the pram is often the tool parents employ to parent they way they want to, but the tool itself is not the core of the concern.

[AngelPants]

ah love it, now to convice DS that he should walk or stay put on my back once hes wrapped.....

[beckoes]

when we had DD1 we bought all the things on the 'must have baby list' . half that stuff i havnt used for dd2. cot, bassinette, change table....barley used! Used carriers with both kids for the first few months, BUT i couldnt live without my pram!! Two kids, all the stuff that goes with them and i dont drive. I walk alot and couldnt get around without it. And i dont feel that it has affected the relationship between my children and I.
But i just cant imagine them in africa! Hope it stays that way.

[Cherished]

Power to them but gawd I couldn't think of anything worse than carrying ds around when I go out. I carry him around at home enough and my back and neck are sore as it is. As for the bonding he is 19 months and still breastfeeds around the clock and we co-sleep which is enough for me.

[Starfish]

I don't think that the article is implying that mothers shouldn't use prams at all, it's just saying that they shouldn't be thought of as "necessary". I agree that prams are useful, e.g. you can put your shopping in the bottom, but I also agree with the sentiment that carrying your baby is more natural and should be encouraged where possible. Western society has gotten too used to the line of thinking that babies shouldn't be worn. E.g. many mothers I know really believe that carrying a baby a lot will give you back problems, etc, which is simply not true (unless you get a bad sling/carrier or use it incorrectly).

[onthefly]

I get that prams can be useful for carrying stuff. But the number of people I see holding their baby or toddler in one arm and pushing the pram with the other.... a good sling, that's all you need! I wore DD at a picnic, at home and at the shops today - several hours all up - and I feel fine. I think carrying your baby in your arms a lot may very well give you back problems, though.

[Cranky Kitten]

I cheat and roll up my beco and tuck it into the basket on the pram. So when DS gets sick of being in the pram and grizzles, I pop him into the beco and off we go. Or if I've bought a lot of stuff and am running out of carrying capacity I have been known to do the same thing

[misty]

I cheat and roll up my beco and tuck it into the basket on the pram. So when DS gets sick of being in the pram and grizzles, I pop him into the beco and off we go. Or if I've bought a lot of stuff and am running out of carrying capacity I have been known to do the same thing

This is what I do alot of the time too. I always keep two or three carriers in the pram and will alternate between the pram and carrying. I love my pram as muchh as I love my carriers in truth. I couldn't function without both the pram and the carriers; often I will have two kids loaded in the P&T's and one in a carrier, Or sometimes even two in carriers and the pram loaded with shopping. It is a very rare occaision when I don't have the pram AND at least one carrier of some type.

Also I think this article is talking more about the introduction of prams into a society that has previously had no use for them, NOT nessecarily about western society. Anyone who has travelled abroad will find alot of differences in simple terms of terrain, between western societies and other societies. Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to use a pram in a place like Thailand, India or Africa - there are too many situation where they are just more of a hindrance then a help. In western societies though, there are always elevators, ramps, and even footings to use.

I do think the different cultural perspectives do raise quite a few good points that us westerner perhaps don't think to consider sometimes. Babywearing IS the traditional method used by humans to care for our young, and sometimes we forget the benefits of it, and the drawbacks of what we do currently consider 'normal'.


Both babywearing and prams have their pro's and con's; but the great thing about Australia, is that you don't have to choose between them, you can choose BOTH.