Factors Affecting Infant Care in the Kipsigis

Abstract

This study has two objectives: (1) to establish measures of infant care among the Kipsigis that bear specific relation to the infant's chances of survival and healthy development; (2) to determine the effects of the individual caregiver (mother or caretaker), the marital status of the mother, the size of the residential unit, and the number of available caretakers on the quality of care experienced by a Kipsigis infant. Examination of variations in the quality of infant care and the symptoms of infant distress in Kipsigis infants (aged eleven to fifteen months) yields the following results: (1) mother's absence does not diminish the quality of infant care nor increase the distress exhibited by the infant; (2) caretakers provide infant care of quality equal to that provided by the mother, and they maintain greater proximity with the infant; (3) polygynously married mothers are absent from their infants more than are monogamously married mothers, but the quality of infant care does not otherwise differ betw...