Gransnet forums

Chat

Strange habit of other Grandmother

(95 Posts)
LilyoftheValley Sun 25-Feb-24 01:49:59

I am shortly to become a Grandmother. I have never met any of the father's family who are uncommunicative to say the least!

I was told today, that the other Grandmother has kept the umbilical cord, or part of, the cord from each of her grandchildren! has anyone else heard of this peculiarity? Why on this earth would anyone do such a grisly thing. I wonder if it is used as a toy at Halloween or to chew on?!

DamaskRose Mon 26-Feb-24 15:14:01

All the first teeth went in the latest declutter - they thought it was weird to have kept them! 😂 Hospital bands etc I’ve kept. For now. Umbilical cord no, but to each his/her own.

Fae1 Mon 26-Feb-24 14:59:46

Full set of baby teeth kept here (for 38 years now) + lock of hair. Umbilical cord no but the clip tying it off I've kept. So a bit weird maybe ?

Ikiesgranma Mon 26-Feb-24 14:56:39

When my daughter had her second baby, born at home in a pool the midwife cut the placenta into “portions’ for my daughter to eat and then put them in the freezer. A couple of months later dd threw them out. She couldn’t face eating them.

sharon103 Mon 26-Feb-24 14:47:29

Yuk.

grandtanteJE65 Mon 26-Feb-24 14:37:50

This is a common practise in Japan, amongst indigenous peoples in the Americas and Canada, as well as being practised in the Balkans. Keeping it is supposed to safeguard the child throughout his or her life.

I don't think it has ever been usual in Northern Europe, where on the other hand the caul was kept if a baby was born in one.

Please tread carefully when dealing with these kind of practises, as a grandmother who attaches importance to the tradition will not take kindly to adverse comments on it.

She may well too be unwilling to hear the child's name mentioned before baptism or whatever ceremony the family practises.

Trottoir Mon 26-Feb-24 13:49:32

I kept hair from the last and teeth from all. It feels like a lovely reminder of when they were tiny

AnD1 Mon 26-Feb-24 13:42:15

I kept my children’s first tooth that fell out but then couldn’t remember who’s was who’s so threw them all out! I mean what young adult would want to inherit his first tooth let alone the afore mentioned

Mojack26 Mon 26-Feb-24 13:37:54

Two words YUK! WHY?

NotSpaghetti Mon 26-Feb-24 13:27:03

‘keep hair, keep care’ - another interesting thing. I wonder what she'd have thought of Victorian memento mori made of hair??

I personally don't fancy wearing earrings and necklaces etc made of hair...

Daddima Mon 26-Feb-24 13:18:58

Didn’t the cord have a big plastic clamp type thing on it till it withered and fell off? Like so many other things, I can’t remember.

I kept hospital bands, the name label from the cot, the first pair of shoes, the baptismal candle, and the newspaper from the day they were born, but handed them over when they married.
My mother was horrified when I suggested I might keep a curl, ‘keep hair, keep care’, apparently.

Damdee Mon 26-Feb-24 12:58:47

My eldest was born in 1979. I kept the little bit that dried up and fell off, along with the hospital band. It's so special having a baby that you want to keep everything.

notnecessarilywiser Mon 26-Feb-24 12:45:03

Sounds a bit strange to me, but provided your daughter's happy with the arrangement that's OK.

Be grateful that you weren't planning to do the same thing - I conjure up an image of a bizarre tug of war between two grandmothers!

Fiala Mon 26-Feb-24 12:44:55

When mine were born back in the 80s it was common (in Greece) for the father to keep the bit of cord that falls off.

win Mon 26-Feb-24 12:41:12

Interesting thread but weird not

NotSpaghetti Mon 26-Feb-24 12:39:55

I think the title is interesting!:
Strange habit of other Grandmother

It makes me think of something she does all the time! grin

Mallin Mon 26-Feb-24 12:25:36

SAGO
Your Wuff ‘s actions gave me the first belly laugh of the day!
Thank you so much for letting me ( and others ) know of your Labrador’s living up to his breeds reputation for eating anything and everything. I can just see in my minds eye, the look of triumph on a labs face if something he could eat got dropped down for him by the new baby.
Priceless.

suelld Mon 26-Feb-24 12:21:41

Yuck…it’s weird! That’s all I have to say!
Placenta eating seems to have a logical medical reason behind it but I never even thought of trying it!
The oddest thing tho seems the fact that it’s the -Grandmother- who is doing it…. A Mother I could at least understand slightly…but a -Grandmother- ???

Calipso Mon 26-Feb-24 12:19:04

waitforwhite.com

Calipso Mon 26-Feb-24 12:16:12

Oopsadaisy1

Umbilical cord stem cells.
Can be used it the child has problems, but not if it’s kept in a cupboard.
I think it’s kept frozen in a Medical facility somewhere.

Its nothing to do with this Oops
Stem cells can be harvested shortly after birth from the baby's blood that remains in the cord. It's a controversial subject: delayed clamping of the umbilical cord gets that blood back into the baby where it belongs. If you're interested for the sake of clarity, Google "Wait for White"

Nannan2 Mon 26-Feb-24 12:06:28

Yeah i'm guessing its an American thing to do.Or started there & a few British have copied idea?

Nannan2 Mon 26-Feb-24 12:04:47

Yes i had some 'first tooth' as well from my own kids-but recently i had a huge clear out and they went as the AC hadnt bothered to claim them over the years.I still have the little cards from their hospital cots though or the tiny baby arm tags from when they were born.But thats as a mum..Ive never had any of the GC's momentoes like that.

Lip56 Mon 26-Feb-24 12:04:30

futurehealthbiobank.com/stem-cell-banking/cord-blood-stem-cell-banking/

Bazza Mon 26-Feb-24 12:00:01

My youngest DD had her placenta taken away and turned into tablets. She certainly recovered very quickly from a difficult birth, but I did wonder if the tablets were actually her placenta although I didn’t say! Who would know?

NotSpaghetti Mon 26-Feb-24 11:58:07

Annma

It seems avery strange custom.The cooking and eating of the cord is another weird practice which makes me heave.

I have never heard of this.
Placenta I've heard of.
Unusual!

Nannan2 Mon 26-Feb-24 11:51:49

Curls are different‐ a lot of mums keep a lock of hair.But Mums not grandma's even then.Very strangè i thought.Maybw she had one at first then the other AG all felt they had to give her theirs too and it snowballed into that?