On March 7, the government announced the distribution of a “French-style baby box” distributed to young parents in 353 maternity hospitals. But the content of this “Bag of the First 1000 Days” is already criticized.
Why is the baby box criticized?
Initially called “baby box”, this Bag of the First 1000 days has been given to young parents since March 7 in 353 maternity wards in France, and will initially concern 180,000 births. It contains a sleeping bag, a natural soap, a bib, a youth album and a moisturizing cream. A content that is already highly criticized because this bag does not contain any product for the young dad but a cream that encourages the young mother to take care of herself. “Once again, the message sent is that parenthood is above all a woman’s affair.s”, denounces Amandine Hancewicz, president of the association Parents and feminists in The Parisian. Other specialists believe that the content of the Finnish baby box, launched in 1938, is much more adapted to the needs of young parents because it offers baby clothes. and sometimes diapers.
The government nevertheless wanted to explain the benefit of this First 1000 Day Bag. “These few daily objects of any young parent are as many invitations to adopt practices beneficial to the safety, health and development of the child., specified the State Secretariat for Children and Families, in a press release dated March 7, 2022. These products are accompanied by the Booklet of our first 1000 days, guide Step by step, my child eats like a grown-up and a “Welcome booklet” to provide advice to young parents.
What’s in the First 1000 Days bag?
- A sleeping bag (sleeping bag) to promote a safe sleep of the child;
- A natural soap to encourage people to limit exposure to chemicals and be alert to domestic accidents;
- A bib to accompany breastfeeding and food diversification, it is associated with the small guide to food diversification established by Public Health France;
- A children’s book, to encourage reading and more broadly the artistic and cultural awakening of children;
- A moisturizer for mom, to encourage her to take care of her after the baby is born and take time for her.
Who are the priority parents?
From March to August 2022, this experiment will initially concern 353 maternities located in municipalities in the Rural Revitalization Zone (ZRR) or with at least one Political Priority District of the city (QPV). In a second phase, the experiment could be extended to all maternity wards.