The Controversial “Bigkis”

When I gave birth to my firstborn, my mother in law had her first major “tampo” when I did not obey her advise to put bigkis (binder) around my newborn son’s waist. She said it’s necessary to “avoid kabag”, “keep tummy flat when he gets older” and so on.
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I, of course had my counter-tampo because she totally ignored the fact that I am a doctor, a pediatrician at that. To add to that, my own mother agrees with her! My mother said she put bigkis on me when I was a baby and nothing bad happened. But then again, maybe nothing good came out of it either. It didn’t even make my tummy flat!

The problem with the bigkis really is that if you put it snugly (which is how they want it), it may actually make the effort of breathing a little bit more difficult for your baby. It may also serve as a wick where urine could easily seep through and contaminate the umbilical cord stump. Plus, it may actually delay the drying of the cord stump, making it more prone to infection. And if the cord stump is hidden by the bigkis all the time, you may actually miss any signs of infection.

So what do you do now? I usually tell first time moms to try to explain calmly to their moms or moms-in-law. But if it is going to be a cause of much misunderstanding, it wouldn’t hurt to put a loose little binder when lola is coming for a visit. But if you’re in the same household, you are really going to need a lot of diplomacy and convincing power. So, good luck!!