We bought a baby hammock for Nora before her birth. In Malaysia it’s the norm for babies to have a hammock rather than a cot.

It was a surprise for me when Nora totally rejected it! I’ve never experienced a baby who doesn’t like being swayed in a hammock before. So after weeks of sleeping on the daybed or with us in bed (yes, I know the danger warnings of having you baby in the same bed as you) we bought her a moses basket so she can sleep separate from me but still wake me up several times a night! She does prefer to sleep on my tummy…

To my surprise, yesterday Nora was sleeping for hours in the hammock! It took me ages to wake her up for her evening feed! Since I did wake her up for feed and change, she woke me up at 2am, 4am and 6am…

Oh well… she’s in the hammock again. Grumbling… but hopefully she’ll be in deep sleep again and give me a couple of hours to do stuff around the house.

As for the title… buai is what we call the hammock in Malaysia. It also means the swings you find in playgrounds and under trees or where ever. And this is the song/rhyme you recite when you’re playing on the swing or swaying the hammock to get the baby to sleep.

Buai laju-laju
Sampai pucuk sena
Apa dalam baju?
Sekuntum bunga cina

Directly translated to

Swing really fast
Until you reach the top of the sena tree
What’s in your top?
A Chinese flower