By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Baby sling – eban (Kankanaey), efan (Bontok), ufan ( Balangao), ufian (Barlig)
The “eban” is a survival contraption. In Igorot culture, this “eban” is just a rectangular piece of cloth, long enough to wrap the baby with around your chest and still be able to tie a knot. It is designed to make the task of child rearing easier, keep the baby warm and enable parents and other caregivers do multitasking. There are no nannies in traditional Igorot households and thus Mom and Dad and older kids have to take care of the baby while doing all the other myriad activities of living. Other indigenous cultures around the world have versions of our “eban”.
In our Igorot culture, a newborn (up to some months) is cradled in front with the baby sling tied at the back and in Besao we call this action “bakyog”. This is the appropriate style as the baby cannot hold his/her head up yet. With my apo who is nearly one year old, I still do this sometimes when he’s asleep as it seems more comfortable. When the baby is older, s/he can now be carried at the back and this action is called “aba” or “afa”. With the baby sling, the baby is carried around while the mother or father goes about cooking, feeding the chickens or pigs, getting camote leaves or going to a seminar or meeting. Take note, the baby sling has no gender preference – it is used by women and men alike. I particularly like that Masferre picture of a group of men looking curiously at a camera – one of those men was carrying a baby in a sling.
In the house, with the eban, the mother or father will then go about peacefully doing what needs to be done – not having to worry that the baby will crawl to the fireplace or put ash in his/her mouth. Remember we had one room houses then with the fireplace in level with the rest of the house. Today in our multi-room houses, the more we need the baby sling if we want more things done. Some households have cribs but the baby will be bored there after a short while. If you can afford to have househelp to baby sit and another to do housework AND if you can convince somebody to babysit, then life would be easier. In any situation, the “eban” is a necessary accessory.
With the baby sling, the baby is kept warm – you just can imagine the cold in this season and how cozy it is for a baby to be in a baby sling. This style is even used now in some countries for prematures in place of an incubator and this is called kangaroo care. Locally, we have also had premature babies “incubated” by their mothers and have survived – wrapped in warm blankets and cuddled closely by their mothers. You see premature babies have such thin skins and they can die of cold. The human chest is warmer that the rest of the body and can adjust its temperature to keep the baby comfortable. Isn’t that amazing.
For the caregiver, the baby sling helps carry the weight of the baby. I can carry my apo longer if with an “eban”.
The “eban”, though, is not only for convenience. With the baby closely tied to your back or chest by the “eban”, you develop more bonding with the baby – not just physical bonding but emotional and psychological. Note how we hug tightly a child who is “nakigtot” or hurt and this would give so much comfort and assurance to the child, or to anybody, for that matter. The baby who is “na-aaba” , I suppose, would feel more secure than one who is just left on the floor or left alone in the crib. If our children grew up feeling secure, then they would be more trusting and loving to others. And if we nurture children to be more loving and trusting, we can live peacefully with each other and avoid war.
Further, the parent who is carrying the child would also have better peace of mind since the child is with him or her. If you have the baby held close to you all the time, you would sense if something is wrong with the child – parents learn through time as they experience child rearing if the baby is breathing fast, coughing or has fever or simply not well. Thus they would be able to detect changes in the condition of the child like symptoms of ill health early if they use the “eban”.
The usual practice is when the baby is in deep sleep (“na-uyeng”, “na-enek”), “oligem” meaning you put her/him down on the bed or any safe sleeping place while you continue whatever you are doing. The “eban” now will be used as the baby’s blanket. At night, the “eban” can transform as a sheet or blanket for the family. I am really amazed at how practical we Igorots are.
As the years went on, we see the “eban” evolving into a variety of contraptions which enables the modern young mother and father to go malling or sightseeing with baby securely close. Also called baby carriers, there is the backpack carrier, front carrier, wrap carrier, sling carrier, etc. The strap version, though, doesn’t provide warmth as they are only straps. I still prefer our old-fashioned cotton “eban”, aka blanket. LET THERE BE LOVE, PEACE & JUSTICE EVERYWHERE & IN EVERYONE!
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