Uzbek babies don’t use diapers

Non-biodegradable diapers are not only an environmental nightmare, but they often cause terrible rashes and cost a fair sum too. Cloth diapers are one viable alternative, but washing them is time consuming, requires energy and water expenditure, and frankly doesn’t look like an awful lot of fun. So how about mitigating all of these problems by building a Beshik cradle from Uzbekistan? Hit the jump to learn more about baby’s first bed pan.

After sleeping with their mothers for six weeks, Uzbeki babies are treated to their first major celebration — the Beshik Toyi. This involves a gathering with family members who show up with armfuls of food and other essentials, and baby’s new cradle.

The elder women leave the younger generation to create a festive environment while they bed baby down in this unusual contraption using blankets and straps. The cradle is decorated with all sorts of colorful tassels and trinkets, and they come in varying degrees of opulence.

There’s a hole at the base of the Beshik, which appears to be an exit point for baby’s number two, while a bucket at the end of the cradle catches urine transported via a short pole that looks like a very thin and hollow eggplant.

Since boys and girls have different apparatus, it stands to reason that different mechanisms are used to capture their waste.

Having met a handful of talented Uzbeki musicians, I can attest that they seem perfectly normal and not at all traumatized by starting out life strapped to a cradle.

That being said, we are uncertain how long they stay in their Beshik or how they stay clean and dry when running free.

Still, we are big fans of indigenous solutions to daily needs and this is no exception.

More on Diapers and Babies:
Are Cloth Diapers Green Even in Water-Scarce Middle East?
Going Halfway on Kushies Washable Diapers
All About Cloth Diapers