#cradle boards

[pwlanier]

Native American and First Nations cradle boards.

Museum des la Civilisation Quebec

[huitzilitzin]

Helping Mom work in Vaida and Coaltzin’s cradle boards to give them this weekend. Coaltzin’s is the unfinished one.

[localareamom]

So I've always been interested in cradle boards and I'm not really sure why they're not in use any more after being very popular and successful across cultures for a lot of human history. I'm gonna just go ahead and chalk it up to that weird totally racist "it's primitive" backlash that undid most useful things about birth and early child care in America. Anywho, as I am knocked up I'm a little obsessed with the idea, and I spent a wee bit of the other day trying to research to see if there are contemporary cradle boards, and the answer is yeah, kinda, depends. 

The ones that are available are mostly made by craftspeople for particular tribes and cultures. Modern minimalist cradle boards are not yet a thing. (HOLY CRAP NOTE TO SELF: FB contact that guy you went to highschool with who now makes canoes and bends wood - see you can commission one.) Basically I've been stalking the message boards of mommy websites where people discuss using them.

Anyway. I really love the idea, but I don't want to be a dick by using one. And this seems inherently like a fraught thing that I may not be able to achieve. I'm not sure I can use a cradle board without inherently being culturally appropriating. But they are such a good solution.

Newborns like to be swaddled. It makes them feel safe, especially while sleeping. Cradleboards swaddle while being in an upright position, allowing awake babies to be comforted and take in their surroundings. 

They're practical, adaptable, minimal, and portable.

Every baby I've seen in them IRL looks happy and calm. Although, it's been a while since I've seen one in action. Anecdotal, but I've never seen a baby cry in one. Ergo, BABIES NEVER EVER CRY IN A CRADLE BOARD. Logic.

They are only used for the first few months and only for part of the day, contrary to perception, so you know your babe is safe and contained nearby, rather than strapped in a swing in the other room. 

I'm confident that all the negativity regarding cradle boarding as a practice is just racist bullshit, on account of native american, nordic, and chinese tribes not having any cultural-wide developmental issues.