History of Baby Hammock (Sarong)

I believe a lot of you have been wondering, where did the baby hammocks come from and why people loves the baby hammock?

Where did the baby hammocks come from?
Sarong or traditional "batik" is basically a large length of fabric often wrapped around the waist and worn by men and women especially in the South East Asia region. Long, long time ago, instead of using the cotton cloth hammock, people mostly use the sarong or the old-fashioned batik because it is a large fabric and easy to make as a hammock. Several generations of babies have slept in the sarong before being transferred to a bed, cot or crib. They are hooked to a spring mostly from a ceiling or bars from the staircase. They are well-known with various name of sarong, sarung, baby cradle, sarong buaian, "yao lan" in mandarin. Therefore, these hammocks have gone back decades ago and not did not just came out recently.



Here are pictures of the batiks whereby, long time ago, people use this as the cloth of t he baby hammock.
































Here is a picture of a baby sleeping in the sarong several decades ago.





















Here is how the people would hang the sarong decades ago. Their concept is exactly the same as now, except that we use 100% cotton.






















Why people loves the baby hammock?
From our previous blog, babies especially newborn loves to feel as if they were still in mama's tummy. Spending averaging 37-40 weeks (some premies spend less time in mama's tummy), it is hard to adapt to a foreign environment. If you notice, that is why when babies are born, they tend to cry and they usually throw their hands up as if they are struggling, the reason is because they are so used to be cuddled and in a swaddled positon. Therefore, being in the sarong makes them feel as if some one is cuddling and hugging them. Newborns and babies loves the rocking movement. The gentle up and down movement mimics in mama's tummy because mama walks and works and babies feels the up and down movement. Also, the weight of the baby actually pulls the fabric in around him, creating a womb or common like environment. Also, according to the older generations, in order to have a round and nice shape of the baby's head, they need to sleep in something that molds the shape of the head. You can tell with all the benefits that we have stated with using the baby hammock but we would sure love all to know where it all started....