Parenting in Ghana

So one of the cultural aspects that I respect but also struggle with here is communal parenting. Everyday somebody trys to help me parent Thomas. I have seen them do this with other Ghanains but coming from a different culture sometimes it really grates on me. Here is an example – I have Thomas in the Ergo with the hood covering him because he is asleep and his head will hang back without it, also the sun is very strong. I am walking down the road, going home to put him down, and a car full of well-dressed ghanians, going the opposite direction, flips a u-turn and pulls over. A man exits, “please, I beg of you, you are suffocating the child, wear him like the Ghanaian women so he can have the wind and breathe.” The whole time he is making gestures toward the carrier as if he would remove Thomas if I didn’t keep backing away. Oh, the responses running through my mind! Let’s just say I can’t count how many times I have been told I am suffocating my child because I use my carrier instead of a strip of cloth to carry my baby.