Name: Shilpa

nisha, i fully agree with you.Our lifestyles,culture are sometimes hard to follow & very demanding.we are from hydrabad,andra family and my sister is married to north indian family in rajasthan. lifestyles and habits even though same country, are so diverse that during our social functions sometimes is a mess.
also, i very well agree to you. my sister is not told to do many things that her other elder sister in law is told to follow. in our family, we dont have tradition to cover our head, in front of anyone except for husband.but in north india they have this culture. she is not expected to follow it. she tries to remember it but its new for her and she has never seen in my family doing that so they know that she will take time to accept habits. so they dont mind she happens to forget it, they just tell her if she forgets but is not commented anytime.while her sister in law always makes it a point to cover her head as soon as she is out of her own bedroom. once during our functions,sari slipped from her head and her hands were busy with her baby so my sisters mother in law took baby from her hands and she was told to cover her head first.she also commented on her to pin her sari well so that it does not slip from head.
so i surely agree with you nisha. things are differently treated and freedom is given to those who are from different culture.

rebecca even i was told my american dr to start solids at 4months onwards.you might have worked in health care internationally but are you a healtcare practioner or a dr. if not, i am not sure about your contents.i have found your post are ditto to tips from baby book by martha and william sears.many drs including american have accepted that indian babies are healthier than american babies who often are having allergy problems at their young age.which practically means that our babies are reared in much better way and habits than what american lifestyle and food is all about.
you will be surprised to know many of american books on rearing kids like the famous baby book by william and martha sears book for babies are on attachment parenting and it is what we follow in india from thousands of years. i recently read a book on potty training by some american author, one of the recommended style is derived from indian family with examples and places & names from india & others from china,and other parts of asia.it also includes using cloth diapers & nappies.but nowhere she has mentioned US ?
i am not anti-US, i respect this country for ammenities that it provides but when it comes to providing warmth,feelings & following natures rules and a decent lifestyle with family, this country has failed. there is no wonder why most of marriages break and there are many single mothers who never married in their life and had babies. also kids here by the time at 4-5 years old they loose their innocense and become more like adults because of open & untrusted culture that is prevailing here.in india we dont have that culture & environment. you are lucky you are married to an indian, you will have a stable, decent life with family.

i have lots of american friends in US. i am very well settled in US.And in your post about cloth diapers i have to disagree with you that majority of american use cloth diapers. out of 15 people i know in my office, none are using cloth diapers. i was one of them inclined to use it but all of them suggested me pampers or huggies.some told me to use luvs.my neighbour who is chinese suggested me diaper service from hospital that is cheap & timesaving.it was tiring. we dont have time after cooking 2 times meals for our family, attending social to wash those many diapers. and if you are like me with a family of 4 in house, no way you will have time for it.

also like you said, its not easy in US context where mothers opt for formula. all my american friends were bf for 1 year and when i was struggling with latching and breastfeeding later on, i wanted to wanted to offer formula.it was mother in me that wanted to see my baby drink on time because i was not able to latch properly.but it was them who have hold me very well to continue bf and have patience in latching.also, they had very well supported me to start solids at 4th months when i asked them and they said its good to start on time.i have known there are organisations here in US who promote breastfeeding.and i had taken help from one of them.

i am sorry to disagree with so many points.but i felt from your posts that you are making things appear in general for whatever experience you personally had and trying to clarify things about US.also your post about cloth diapers was very informative but we are not a supermom like you. we have a different lifestyle than you have and we cannot afford to spend that much time washing diapers.
i am not sure that you know that most of us here are in US or any other country than india at present and we respect this country very much only because of its lifestyle and good pays.

i understood from your post that you are a very mature person and will not take my comments personally.
Regards.

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