Infant Observation by Tanay Shah

Observation Number - 10
Observation Date - 21st January 2019
Observation Time - 12.30pm to 1.30pm
Baby’s age - 3 months
Date Presented – 23rd January 2019

I received a call from the father on the day of observation in the morning which
was to inform me that he and the mother had a function to attend on that day
and therefore none of them will be available at the time of observation. He also
informed me that the mother-in-law would be at home with the baby and I can
still come for the observation. I told him that I will come at the same time.

I reached on time and rang the doorbell. As expected, the-mother-in-law opened

the door and let me in. She gave me a smile and asked me to sit. It felt like she
was really happy to see me. As usual, I pulled a chair from the dining table and
placed it near the diwan on which the baby was lying. The baby was wide awake
and was not tied up in a shawl this time. He was wearing a bright red t-shirt and a
nappy. The mother-in-law handed me a glass of water and sat beside the baby on
the same diwan.

As she sat, she started talking to me: “X and Y have gone to attend this function
held by one of our relatives”. “Yes, X did tell me about this in the morning”. She
then started to speak about the relative who had held the function, as she
proceeded to tell me about what work this relative does and how close their
family is to theirs and other details about them, I couldn’t help but begin to feel a
little disinterested in listening to her. I nevertheless maintained a curious
expression on my face and kept nodding my head in response.

The baby, meanwhile, looked busy playing on his own. Ever since I had entered
the house neither me nor the mother-in-law had been paying any attention to
him. He was moving his hands and legs back and forth vigorously in different
directions, along with making playful and loud noises. The mother-in-law
commented on how active he has become in the last few weeks. I agreed and said
his hairs have also started to look lot more grown now, to which she said: “yes,
we don’t cut their hairs until they turn 5”. I knew about this tradition in their
community and told her that.

After some time the baby’s noises had started to become louder. As if he wanted
immediate attention. The mother-in-law turned to him and picked him up in her
arms and started to talk to him. “you are missing mumma? She will be back
soon”, “see, kaka has come. Say hi to him”. Even though she held the baby in her
arms very promptly, and was talking to him lovingly, he started to cry. I wondered
if the baby was hungry or was he upset that the mother-in-law was distracted
from him while speaking to me.

The mother-in-law continued to coo to him to calm him down. She then stood up
while still holding him in her arms and started to roam around the living room
showing him different things to distract him and stop him from crying. She moved
from one object to another, which included TV, salt/pepper bottle lying on the
dining table, letters of the baby’s name still glittering on one of the walls, before
finally moving on to the window. I was rotating my head left and right to follow
them.

After some time, the baby suddenly stopped crying. Looking at his expressions, it
felt like he never was in any kind of distress, but the tears which rolled down his
eyes a while ago were still visible. The mother-in-law turned to me and asked me
how my parents are doing? I responded by saying they are doing fine. She then
asked me what I would like to eat. I said “nothing, thanks!”. I went on to ask her
about the massage lady, to which she said that she will not be coming today.

The baby had gone quiet by now and looked drowsy. She put him back on the
diwan and started to tie him in a small shawl after checking his nappy. It looked
like he was tired after being wide awake for so long and crying loudly for a few
minutes. In no time, the baby fell asleep. I looked at my watch. There were still a
few minutes left.

The room suddenly started to feel very quiet after he had fallen asleep. There
seemed to be a sharp contrast between the wailing of this baby and the mother-
in-law’s cooing a few minutes ago in comparison to the silence after he fell
asleep.

I asked the mother-in-law when the mother and the father will be back. She said
they will be back by 5pm. We both sat quietly for last few minutes before I finally
took her leave and left as soon as my time was over.

Discussion Notes

D.O.B 23rd October 2018

Session: 7
Age: 8 weeks
Date of Observation: 17th December 2018
Date Presented: 19th December 2018

Infant Observation: Tanay Shah

Summary

• The baby was sleeping outside in the cradle while the mother was in her room
(maybe she wanted privacy, and because others were present in the house,
she felt she could go in and get a break)
• The mother-in-law’s parents-in-law were staying at their house for a few days.
• Everyone was busy in their chores while Tanay sat
• The baby was finally awake during the observation (was pretty much asleep
the other observations)
Discussion

• It seems that everyone seems to think of Tanay as family

• The mother in law tells the baby that Tanay is ‘kaka’
• The mother went inside - maybe because she felt comfortable enough
not to attend to Tanay now.
• The mother in law gives him something to put in his mouth every week
(chips, to sweets to rose milk)
• The great grand father don’t seem to care about the baby
• The great grandfather is smoking where the baby is sleeping. He also
didn’t look at the baby
• We wonder if the family has truly understood what ‘observation’ consists of.
• The mother in law seems quite attuned to the baby
• She came to soothe him as soon as he started crying
• It seems that the family is putting up a show/setting the stage which was
discussed previously. This is because the mother in law tells Tanay he was a
little late and that just before he came the baby was in playful mood.