Mother and baby advice from 1960 - ask away!

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

I've been clearing out my father's house (he's sold it) and I've found the baby manuals given to my mother when I was born in 1960.

There are four: the "Glaxo Mother and Baby" book, "From Milk to Mixed Diet" (a guide to modern baby feeding), "Relaxation and exercise for natural childbirth" (1959) and "You and your baby," published by the BMA.

If anyone would like any advice (only 60 years out-of-date!) on this topic, please ask and I shall attempt to answer.

[terrywynne]

I found a Mrs Beeton housekeeping book from I think the interest period. Some of the childcare bit was quite 'modern but the menus were interesting to say the least... quite bland and beige but also featuring brains once a week. not envy

[GlitterBiscuits]

Thanks OP!

I wish I'd known the bit about 2 weeks in bed after birth.
Can it be backdated? ( asking for a tired friend)

[ReallySpicyCurry]

This is fabulous. I love this.

Does that maternity clothes page have a dress down as "slub rayon?"

Slub? What is slub?

I feel a song coming on.

Wear some slub
Feed your newborn tripe
Smoke a fag and you'll be alright

[eddiemairswife]

Mine slept outside in their prams. Proper big prams.....no way could you get on a bus with them. I also had a pram seat for the older child to sit on. I tried giving cod liver oil in the bath ONCE. He spat it out....it turned into fish-scented bath oil.....so I ended up with a fishy baby.

[NancyPickford]

I was born late 1950s and my mother was iron-deficient, so was prescribed a glass of Guinness or milk stout every day to build up her iron levels.She also smoked 10 fags a day. I was born at home, delivered by the District Nurse who cycled to us on her bike. I used to think as a child that I was probably in the wicker basket on the front of the bike so she could 'deliver' me to my mother.

[HollowTalk]

Is there anything there about a good hard smack?

[CaraDuneRedux]

Slub? What is slub?

Fabric made from yarn with bobbly bits in - as in slub silk, now more commonly referred to as "raw" silk. "Vair" posh and expensive. Presumably slub rayon was an attempt to mimic this with a synthetic fibre.

I am loving these, partly because I was born mid-60s, but my mum was an early convert to natural childbirth and had read Grantley Dick-Reid's books (though unlike my siblings, I was delivered by C-section - old fashioned "knock 'em out with ether then make a vertical incision" type C-section).

[WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo]

I just told my mum about this and she said she has my Grandmas copies of them (Mum was born in 1960). I might have to borrow them for a read

[Iwasonceabrownie]

I had mine in the early 70s, I was in hospital for 8 days, waited on hand and foot by the nurses 😂.
I loved every moment of it, we also had a smoking room down the corridor that was full most days.

Our babies were fed every 4 hours, not on demand. As for non stop feeding throughout the night, it was unheard of. They were fed,winded, changed and put back in the cot, that was as far as sleep training went, I must admit, they did get used to this very quickly,mine was sleeping through the night by 6 months as were most of my friends babies.

Mine had the yolk of a egg at 4 months as well and yes they were put in the garden with a cat net over the pram, front and back gardens, while we got on with housework.

Nobody criticised you for bottle feeding, nobody was bothered about how you brought your own child up. We also didn't have so many books about what was right or wrong. In fact I don't think I ever read a book on bring up babies at all. We all seemed to get by with asking perhaps a neighbour who had an older child or just going by our own gut feeling.

[formerbabe]

What a wonderful find. I'm so jealous

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

No slub rayon, sorry. There's a candy striped shirtwaist that expands with you. Various colours in a hard-wearing polished cotton, Daniel Neal, Portman Sq., London, W.1. £5 15s.

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

weepingwillow22 There's a timetable for the one year old.

6-7 a.m. Wake. Drink of fruit juice and water.
7:30 a.m. Wash and dress.
8 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Daily motion
8.45 - 10 a.m. Play indoors or in garden
10 - 12 noon. Sleep outside when possible
12 noon. Dinner. (If the family dinner-time is usually 1pm 4-oz milk should be given at 10am.)
1 - 2 p.m. Play indoors or in garden
2 - 4 p.m. Out in pram. (Should sleep during this airing as long as possible.)
4 p.m. Tea, followed by play.
5:30 p.m. Bath
6 p.m. Drink of milk. Bed.

[Luckystar1]

I’ve kept all of this kind of stuff in case my daughter is interested when she grows up! I think it’s fascinating to see how advice changes. And I must say, I’m a bit jealous of how much simpler it all seems.

[NeverDropYourMoonCup]

@BarbaraofSeville

I don't know what's more shocking. Feeding a baby canned soup (hello salt police) or calling a baby Simon .

[glances at DP]

There's nothing wrong with that.

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

HollowTalk No, sadly not, I think this was too much for babies even in the sixties. I was bashed over the knuckles with a ruler at primary school for giggling though.

There is a section on bad habits, but it's disappointingly sensible. You'll be glad to know that head-banging is happily rare, and that masturbation is very rare before the age of two. Parents should not seem to be shocked and should ignore the whole thing as much as possible except to distract the attention of the child to something else.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. It's just that I can't imagine anyone calling their baby Simon right now. All the Simons I know are over 40.

If it helps, my own name is one that's probably never going to be given to anyone's baby any time soon.

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo Please post if you get hold of them!

[TerpsichoreanMuse]

My name was one of the top names of the year, and an absolute classic that had been constantly popular since 1100 or so. Went right out of fashion in the 70s and now dates me horribly.

[PearlescentIridescent]

Oh gosh OP what a find, I absolutely love this thread 😃

[NeverDropYourMoonCup]

@BarbaraofSeville

Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. It's just that I can't imagine anyone calling their baby Simon right now. All the Simons I know are over 40.

If it helps, my own name is one that's probably never going to be given to anyone's baby any time soon.

Not offended! He's in that same category (although it is a name that crops up fairly frequently in school, usually belonging to BAME students now)

It's better than Little Nigel, Little Keith or Little Graham and Geoffrey, anyhow [runs away]

[Respectabitch]

I like Simon a lot, and think it's a classic due a resurgence.

This is gold

[MoltenLasagne]

This is wonderful! I'm somewhat envious of the simplicity of the instructions.

Don't they still put babies out to sleep in prams in Scandinavia? Well wrapped up of course.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

Apart from that and a mention of when intercourse can be resumed (6 weeks post party)

Not the way most women would describe giving birth

How much booze are you allowed to give the baby (only if they're having trouble getting off to sleep, of course)?! Are you allowed to add a little milk or water to it too, or is that dangerous?

[Respectabitch]

Not the way most women would describe giving birth

I don't know about you, but I was pretty much off my tits afterwards (the all natural way to boot)

[ReallySpicyCurry]

In awe of those schedules. And the one year old actually slept 6-6 and had two long naps a day?