By the time I gave birth to my first child I had more than a little experience in dealing with babies and meeting their needs. Nothing really prepares you for having one in your life 24/7, but I was certainly as prepared as any other young woman in my circle of friends. I had four younger brothers, including one born when I was sixteen. I had been babysitting since I was nine. I had numerous younger cousins. A couple of my cousins and one of my good friends already had babies. And of course I had a mother, mother-in-law, two grandmothers, a great-grandmother, and numerous aunts who were more than happy to give me advice…whether I asked for it or not.
Perhaps the memory of my own experience helps explain my recent amazement at finding a series of parenting guidelines from 1913 entitled “Babyology”. The series was published in connection with a nationwide movement called “Better Babies”. This scientific approach to raising and harvesting a better crop of children was promoted by the Woman’s Home Companion magazine and was popular for a couple of decades. Babies were judged at county and state fairs, just like crops or livestock, and earned medals, certificates, and money.
Of course, if you’re going to have a point system for something, and you’re going to give prizes, then you have to create a method for improving your chances of earning those points and winning the top prizes. So, Anna Steese Richardson, the director of WHC’s Better Babies Bureau, created a series of articles to educate parents on the basic concepts of raising a healthier, better child. The concept of “perfect” was often implied, but never directly stated. Parents were urged to clip the articles and place them in a scrapbook for reference. Many were quite long and very detailed. The articles were printed in numerous papers from coast to coast and at one time forty states were promoting baby contests. The series was reprinted in 1914.
Mrs. Richardson was a talented writer and conducted hundreds of interviews with doctors, nurses, and parents in order to write the series. She had also raised three of her own children. As far as I can determine, she had no medical training. (You may also recognize her as a playwright.) Much of her advice was logical and practical and sound. However, some of it seems rigid and cold-hearted. I think the one piece of advice that bothers me the most is “don’t sing”. I have lovely memories of my mother singing my oldest brother and me to sleep when he was a baby and I was four.
And as a last note, I looked at my family tree to see who might have been reading this advice. It turns out that one of my great-grandmothers had her first child in 1912 and the other had her fourth in 1913.
Here then, are highlights from the series:
- What is Babyology? “It means that branch of scientific study of man which deals simply, clearly, directly, and comprehensively with the baby as the foundation on which is built national health, strength, energy, intelligence, and morality. It involves consideration of every phase of baby’s life, physical, mental, and moral, from its food to its play, from its cleanliness of body to the sort of love lavished upon it. A more fascinating science for women has never been evolved.”
- Breastfeeding is best and the mother should make sure her diet is healthy, beginning at least a month before the birth. Babies should be fed every 2 hours during the day, but only once at night – at 2am. After a week the baby should be fed every 3 hours during the day and once at night. (Formulas and charts were available concerning bottle milk formulas and the introduction of solid foods.)
- Breast-fed babies should be weaned by 12 months. (There was also a detailed plan for emergency weaning due to the illness of the mother.) Bottle babies should be weaned by eighteen months. Bottle babies should also be given 2-8 tsps. of orange juice per day, beginning at six months.
- Babies who cry before their scheduled feeding should be allowed to cry for up to thirty minutes. At six months they should sleep from 6pm to 6am with a “quiet” feeding at 9pm. Babies should not be rocked to sleep. “Do not sing.” Undress the baby, make it comfortable on a mattress without a pillow in a dark, well-ventilated room. Babies should sleep alone. Babies should nap from 9-11 and from 1-3. Children up to 6 years old should sleep twelve hours per night.
- (“Belly bands” were used during this time and mothers were urged to make sure they were “non-binding”.) Clothes need to be light, soft, simple, and kept very clean.
- Babies need to be methodically bathed each day between 6 and 9am. The temperature of the water and the room should be measured and the baby’s linens kept separate from all others. Gauze used during bathing is to be burned afterward.
- Specific advice: Mothers were urged to make sure babies were positioned so that ears were not mashed and deformed. Those who sucked their fingers or thumbs could sleep wearing mittens to discourage that habit. Finger shape could be improved by frequent massage. Eyelashes could be thickened (see attached). Skin could be smoother with good care.
- Fresh air and exercise. Whenever possible babies should be kept outside, not in the kitchen. Naps can take place in the shade of a tree or in a net-covered enclosure. Babies should dictate their own movements. (Mothers were discouraged from propping them up or holding their hands and urging them to walk.) Babies should be out of bulky diapers by 12 months so they can more easily walk on their own.
- Nursery emergencies. Mothers didn’t call the doctor each time their baby coughed or had a fever. They learned to deal with illness, minor cuts, sprains, and sometimes life-threatening situations. Even when a doctor was available, the delay in getting the child to them might be several hours. It gave me chills to read some of this article.
- Baby milestones. There were charts and lists available for understanding what baby should be doing. Some of these were available in the paper and others could be ordered. Mothers were urged to weigh their baby once a week and measure body proportions once a month. Proportions were very important in the contests. These were included on the score cards: 6 months- Sits alone. Plays with simple objects. Turns in the direction of noise. One year- Stands without support. Walks with support. Says one or two words. Knows mother. 18 months- Walks without support. Follows “intelligently” what is going on around it. 2 years- Makes short sentences. Speaks without defects. Interested in pictures. Points to eyes, nose, ears.
I’m not quite sure if I would have qualified as a good parent during this time.
Recent Comments