Traditional practices used in infant care

Abstract

This descriptive study was conducted in order to determine traditional practices used in infant care. In total, 2,786 mothers with 0–12-month-old babies living in central Kars, Turkey were enrolled in the study and 2,060 mothers participated. The data were collected between June 3, 2006 and August 28, 2007 via an open-ended questionnaire to determine the mothers’ socio-demographic characteristics and what types of traditional approaches they used. It was found that 17.7% of the mothers were using traditional practices for jaundice, 33.2% for oral moniliasis, 28.3% for nasal obstruction, 27.3% for infantile colic, and 22.9% for napkin dermatitis. It was also that mothers with a higher level of education referred to traditional practices less often and the difference was significant. The present study found that mothers refer to various traditional methods for infant care and this was influenced by their education levels.