Joe Exclamation
Any parent can tell you how many differing opinions there are about childcare. Each generation seems to have their own set of dos and don’ts when it comes to raising babies. So here are 10 horrifying things that people used to do to babies!
1. Fed with dirty bottles
In the Victorian era, it was in fashion for moms to feed their babies with rubber tubed bottles. The bottles were very hard to clean, and it was suggested that washing them once every two weeks was plenty. Hence the nickname.
2. Photos From The Grave
When cameras first became popular, it was fashionable to stage photo shoots with deceased family members, where they were dressed and often propped up to look alive!
3. Booze For The Baby
Throughout history alcohol has played many roles. At one point it was the closest thing to anesthesia out there, aaand at other points parents thought alcohol was a reasonable way to chill their kids out. Cheers!
4. Toilet Training
These days the common agreement is that kids need to be 2.5 to three years old before they’re both emotionally and physically ready for it. In the late 19th century, however, someone decided that babies should be potty trained as early as two months, and urged parents to use “soap sticks” to force them to go if they couldn’t.
5. Not strapped In
Early car seats were basically just baskets that were more about letting the child see out the window than being safe. Often times parents just held their babies on their laps in cars or let them crawl around the backseat untethered.
6. Lard Baths
When babies are in the womb they have a waxy substance coating their skin, and in the early 1900s they started washing the babies with either lard, olive oil or butter to scrub it off.
7. Forcing Solids
Today we try to avoid feeding babies solid foods until about six months. They’re not ready to digest it and it’s a bit of choking hazard. But in the 1950s there was a trend starting on solids as early as two days, which the mothers preferred to natural feeding.
8. Window Cages
During the industrial revolution, a lot of families moved into apartment buildings without any outdoor space. Concerned that their kids weren’t getting enough sunlight they would attach cages to windows on the outside of buildings. Problem solved!
9. Avoid holding them
In the early half of the 1900s it was suggested not to hold babies for fun or you’d produce a “little tyrant.” A 1929 infant care pamphlet suggested that “a baby should learn that habitual crying will only cause his parents to ignore him.”
10. Angry Milk
In the late 1800s it was believed that the mother’s thoughts could be transferred to her baby through her milk, so it was advised not to poison them with “angry” milk if she was thinking bad thoughts. It was believed that angry milk caused colic, oh and that feeding past nine months could blind mothers and cause the baby brain disease.
Which of these crazy practices surprised you the most?
Comment Below!