My MIL has been telling me to bithayofy my little one’s forehead by keeping my hand on her forehead when I nurse her. Honestly, I’m not too bothered about it but my MIL keeps insisting I do it (I didn’t do it with my older one too and her forehead is a bit uthaa hua, but its not at all noticeable as she has tons of curly hair :p)
How many of you did this or have this cultural practice? And is it a good idea to do it?
Re: Maatha bithaana
Ive never heard of this in my entire life...what does it mean?
I dont mean to be rude MIA to ask like this but is she saying this to correct her forehead? Like agar maatha thora sa utha huwa hai to usko dabana? What is wrong with an utha huwa maatha? I think mine is a little utha huwa but I also have curly hair like your daughter.
Isnt pressing bad for a baby's head?
Re: Maatha bithaana
Tell her to bugger off. Seriously , desi and their jahil pun. 
It will be child abuse , do not do it and report her to social services if she tries to do it herself or forces you to do that. 
Re: Maatha bithaana
Lol at Mirch Bhai. I have never heard of "Maatha banana" I know people take measures to make the head round but nothing about the forehead. I would think that'll hurt the baby in a wrong way. Head is the most sensitive part of the baby.
Oh & by the way Mabrook :)
Re: Maatha bithaana
This concept was there in my family (grand parents & great grand parents generation) and when my daughter was born some women spoke about it. I did not let anyone do that to my daughter I strictly told everyone to not practice any mathaa bithana nonsense on my baby . Now my daughter has a fine matha alhamdolillah .I don’t think we should mess up with nature . As the baby grow so many things changes. So many women told me kay uski naak khari nahi ki tumko aisa karna chahye tha wasa karna chahye tha. I don’t know why people believe that they can mould the baby in any shape they want If you want MiaiNva I can PM you my baby’s recent pic u can check out her matha 
Re: Maatha bithaana
If this advice were coming from a western source, you lot would quickly grab on to it, but since it comes from the bad, jahil, and stupid Pakistani culture, everyones harping on it.
Shaping a baby's head is very common in the west as well. Doctors routinely advise the use of headbands, and even helmets in extreme cases, which help shape heads that border on misalignment. The forehead is a part of the head as well, and since the skull plates are not fused together in a baby, his/her head can easily get lopsided if he/she spends too much time in one position.
Im sure all the mothers here know this anyway, but since the advice you got was from a jahilana desi source, its crap. Grow up kar jao.
Re: Maatha bithaana
^ LOL Silaaj it's not about desi or non desi. The head shape issue you are talking about does happen my daughter head was so called flat from the back till she started rolling over. But forehead I don't really know my main concern has always been that babies are so so fragile and it's not wise to experiment with their sensitive & little bodies like that. It is quite risky in my opinion and I believe in nature taking care of everything with the passage of time.
Re: Maatha bithaana
i have a heard the same thing n it is practiced in many families...... i never noticed before but my MIL pointed someone that they didnt do this to her n now c her forehead n yeah i noticed it was awkward....... but i dont belive that by pressing head can do anything it remains the way GOD has created everyon n u cant change the featurs of ur baby by pressing or something else
Re: Maatha bithaana
I wish my head had been shaped when I was a kid 
Re: Maatha bithaana
Why ? I think that you are not a fat head.
Re: Maatha bithaana
i was born in sindh where my mom had moved after marriage and man those people are very strict about shaping the head and forehead.. so they wont even let my mom hold me but instead I was in the jhoola with a "plate" or a "rice bag" underneath my head.. I turned out just fine with a flat head and maatha :D
people do it in my family too and I dun see any harm with it.. I will do it or not, I dunno.. right now I dun see a big deal about it but things may change once we have a baby and I turn out to be that over protective mom who hates everything her parents did to her such as giving me honey, shaping my maatha, etc etc.. but if I do it worst case scenario will be they will turn out like me and I think I can live with it :D
ps: you are not hurting the baby to shape the maatha.. what I have seen people doing is pressing it gently on and off and same thing for the flat head, people these days use the bean bags and not the pirch plate!!
Re: Maatha bithaana
i was born in sindh where my mom had moved after marriage and man those people are very strict about shaping the head and forehead.. so they wont even let my mom hold me but instead I was in the jhoola with a "plate" or a "rice bag" underneath my head.. I turned out just fine with a flat head and maatha :D
people do it in my family too and I dun see any harm with it.. I will do it or not, I dunno.. right now I dun see a big deal about it but things may change once we have a baby and I turn out to be that over protective mom who hates everything her parents did to her such as giving me honey, shaping my maatha, etc etc.. but if I do it worst case scenario will be they will turn out like me and I think I can live with it :D
ps: you are not hurting the baby to shape the maatha.. what I have seen people doing is pressing it gently on and off and same thing for the flat head, people these days use the bean bags and not the pirch plate!!
You won't know if there is something wrong with your head. Only other people notice and they will not tell you for fear of breaking your heart. :D
Re: Maatha bithaana
u’ve never seen my head 
Re: Maatha bithaana
You won't know if there is something wrong with your head. Only other people notice and they will not tell you for fear of breaking your heart. :D
people usually compliment the flatness of my head.. other head(brain) issues, lets not bring them in... we all have those with the round and flat heads :-p
Re: Maatha bithaana
I am referring to how you behave. 
Same reply for you.
Re: Maatha bithaana
Okay, call me crazy but isnt the baby's head so soft in the early days? Like their skull isnt even fully attached?
Re: Maatha bithaana
Head and bones are soft....and can bee 'bithaa'ed',and 'shaped'.....doctor told me that...
btw..some people (jaanglees) even try to shape the nose of the kid......like they want it to be a 'teekha' naaak..:D
Re: Maatha bithaana
That is why we have so many crazies roaming around our country , their mattah was bithaoed which resulted in brain injury. 
Re: Maatha bithaana
I can't tell my MIL to bugger off, I have a great relationship with her and my husband will probably kick me out of the house if I said that to his mom.
Plus I dont think flattening the forehead harms the baby is any way. I'm just too lazy to do it lol.... I would rather play with my baby or get some much needed sleep myself, rather than sitting with my palm on her forehead.
Wish I could find some way to satisfy my MIL, every time I call she asks me if I'm doing the head shaping. Naak kahri karna is also a very common practice in my in-laws, but thank God my baby's naak is already khari huee :p
GTG, thanks for your input :) We are Sindhis actually and I' so glad I had my kids abroad so they didn't have to go through all that torture.
Re: Maatha bithaana
I am so dumb. I thought your MIL is asking you to keep your hand on her forehead 
and I was like what?