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If anyone would like any advice (only 60 years out-of-date!)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.

I have read and enjoyed every page of this thread.I had my own two children in 1969 and 1972 and can relate to it all!
Both born by emergency c-section by the old fashioned knocked out by GA and the vertical incision.I was in hospital for 12 days after both, my hospital gave all c-section mothers a single room but we never saw our babies until they were two days old.Mothers having straight forward vaginal births were in for 7 days for first baby and two days for second and subsequent babies.You could have a home birth for second and subsequent babies if previous births had had no complications.
Fathers were just being allowed in for births if they asked, but had to go to preparation classes before so they knew what to expect. No fathers allowed into theatre to watch a c-section and forcep deliveries.
Both of my two slept in a big pram in the garden if the weather allowed.Iwas ill after both births and told I was ''not strong enough to breast feed'' so my two sons were bottle fed from the start.
Both wore terry nappies with plastic pants over them and were clean and dry by their second birthdays.I agree with the poster who said Terry nappies were less absorbent my second son protested loudly if his nappy was wetland would try and pull it off, so just about potty trained himself.
Both eating solids at 6 months and drinking boiled fresh milk from a feeding bottle until they could hold a baby cup when they drank it cold.They both got a liking for tea, with milk and a teaspoon of sugar at 12 months.I ignored my mother's advice to rub whiskey on their gums for teething pain though and also to put a drop of it in the late night bottle so they would sleep all night.Also my MILtelling me to feed them on mashed potato and gravy at 3 months fell on deaf ears.
My mother also considered that having them potty trained just before two years old was far too late, I was the first of her five children and I was clean and dry by my first birthday, and she made sure the younger ones were as well!.She talked about having things called buffer chairs which were baby sized commodes and she must have strapped us into them to have achieved that!
I can remember being given similar books to these in my first pregnancy and my first son was a text book baby, the second one did it his way which resulted in me throwing the books in the bin.
Thankyou for this thread it has brought back happy memories.

Further to my earlier post, my DM had my eldest sibling (her first child) in 1970. An unplanned pregnancy and my Dad and mum weren't yet married. My dad was at the hospital and saw them wheeling my mum on a trolley from one wing to another, covered by a sheet. They were taking her for a csection but no one told him and he thought she was dead.

When they discharged my mum, the matron said to her 'I hope we don't see you here again'.

I still can't really believe the attitudes towards young unmarried mothers, in a time that really doesn't feel all that long ago.

Such fascinating memories and actually I'm surprised at how sane most of the stuff in the books sounded, relatively speaking. I was expecting much more draconian advice! Bloody horrified about a pp's malnutrition story though - although when I was in with my 3rd there was a woman opposite who acted like that and I think she had a similar approach which was pretty heart rending to hear a newborn baby scream with hunger for hours 🥲

@PlantPotPat
I trained as a nurse then midwife in the late 60s.The unmarried mothers in the hospital I worked in always had to be addressed as Mrs(surname) so not to ''shock'' the other patients.Some even bought a cheap wedding ring just to wear in the hospital to stop questions being asked.Another girl I remember went home went home without taking her baby, she cried bitterly.This was on the instructions of her parents, who had ordered her baby to be adopted immediately as she would would not be allowed home with him/her.Her baby stayed in the ward nursery being cared for by us nurses until collected by a foster mother who would care for him/her until adoptive parents could Apparently she had brought shame on her family by getting pregnant.The older midwives sad this was not the first time this had happened as we younger ones were shocked by this attitude.

The routine immunisation schedule makes for interesting reading. No measles jab - I had that, and mumps and chicken pox, though not rubella, despite my mother's best efforts.

The BMA booklet looks back another 60 years to 1900:

In 1900, out of 3000 babies born, 150 never saw their first birthday. Diphtheria and whooping cough and other infectious diseases killed many babies.

...

Last year (i.e. 1959) there was recorded the very low figure of just over 21 deaths of babies for every thousand births.

(Today the figure is almost 1/10th of that!)

By "Had that" I mean caught the disease!

I was born in July 1962. At home. Second child. My mum was ironing outside at 4pm and labour began. The midwife was summoned together with Aunty Pat who was there when I arrived at 6.30pm.
At 3 weeks, my mum was advised to thicken my milk with Farex and cut the end of the test off as I was a hungry child. (No change I’m afraid!).

In 1984, I had my first child. The young girl in the next bed had 2 dads turn up at visiting time and didn’t seem to know which was the actual dad. A fist fight broke out and one of the young lady was knocked out.
She was discharged before me and left me a Christmas card signed ‘from Janet and Smamfa’.
The baby was called Samantha.
I often wonder which dad claimed father ship 🧐

I was born in 1954, and caught everything except scarlet fever before I left primary school! My sister is a year younger, so we passed illnesses between us; at least Mum got them out of the way at more or less the same time!

In 1900, out of 3000 babies born, 150 never saw their first birthday. Diphtheria and whooping cough and other infectious diseases killed many babies

It wasn’t just infectious diseases that carried them off. My great grandmother had 15 pregnancies, seven of her children reached adulthood. The cause of death of at least four of her babies was diarrhoea.

Born 1955 I had some vaccinations, polio and diphtheria, probably, but had measles, mumps and chicken pox. I had the TB jab at school. I requested the rubella vaccine myself aged 18 as I hadn't had that.

This is fabulous and fascinating. Thank you for posting.

I've found a Mothercare catalogue! Here's some maternity wear. I could wear those slacks and jumpers now! (The party wear not so much.)

That party dress photo

Pregnant women appearing to be drinking wine, in front of an open fire while wearing polyester .

Luckily as it's the sixties it's probably a fake polyester fire!

@BarbaraofSeville

That party dress photo

Pregnant women appearing to be drinking wine, in front of an open fire while wearing polyester .

And you just know that they would have been holding cigarettes in reality!

I thought that and if you look at their hands, it looks like cigarettes could have been airbrushed out, if such a thing existed at the time (can't remember if airbrushing is a digital only technique, or existed in analogue form too, perhaps with an actual airbrush?).

It seems that maternity clothes then were designed to hide a bump whereas these days it is more fashionable to show it off.

@BarbaraofSeville

I thought that and if you look at their hands, it looks like cigarettes could have been airbrushed out, if such a thing existed at the time (can't remember if airbrushing is a digital only technique, or existed in analogue form too, perhaps with an actual airbrush?).

Airbrushing has been around for a long time - definitely pre-photoshop! I was using hand-retouching techniques on photos in 1986/7!

Yes, it was seen as vulgar to show a bump, hiding it was polite.

Flaunting you have had sex!!
Harlot!!
Hide that bump!!

@nildesparandum thats so sad. When I watch Long Lost Family and there are stories like that I always end up with tears streaming down my face.

My parents had it hard but they were the lucky ones really.

@BertieBotts

Yes, it was seen as vulgar to show a bump, hiding it was polite.

I think my mum probably still thinks this!

One of my clients is a paediatric continence nurse.

She says that disposable nappies are too good at what they do, and that babies need to feel wet in order for the brain to create the connections it needs to develop bladder control.

Are those in cloth nappies generally potty trained more easily or earlier these days? I haven’t noticed it amongst the babies I know (and I do know a lot) but I’m not seeing it at a population level of course