Baby feeding schedule of 1970's

[HoHoHowMuch]

A relative found this feeding schedule from probably early to mid 1970's. Amazed to see how much advice has changed! No feeding on demand. Orange juice from 2 months and boiled cows milk from 8 months. No fresh vegetables, but honey at 7 months is all good. I guess we all survived, so it can't have been that bad, but looks VERY different to what I have done with my kids in the past 10 years.

Obesity is linked to gut biome.
Research found that people who received faecal transplants (to treat clostridial infection) from obese donors, ended up obese themselves.

Oh and my BMI is 20

You're a sample of one. These things are better studied at a population level funnily enough.

I was born in 1970 and was given 4 hourly feeds with "Farex" baby rice added to the last one at night. My Mum was obsessed with routine and I was often left to yell in my pram in the garden as it was too soon for another feed. Mum was genuinely horrified that I breastfed mine, let alone on demand and every time one of them cried or was unwell, it was because they weren't getting enough food drove me absolutely batshit.

I was born in the 70s, my mum carried on smoking and drinking, wasn't told not to. That was also back in the days when you'd go to the pub for a few then merrily drive home!

I had mine in '77 and '78.
Breast fed both on demand for 4 months and 3 months, weaning started at 12 weeks or 12lbs whichever came first but it was about tasting rather than feeding for the first month or 2.

One big change. If we were struggling with sleeping in the third trimester or if we were have braxton hicks we were advised to go to bed with a bottle of wine to relax us. 🤣

I think you maybe need to prepare for when you are grandparents and all the advice will have changed again. Some will be for the better, some will reverse back to something that used to be and no doubt someone will have thought of even more rules (some of which will be or seem bizarre)

Oh the other thing. When mine were little it was all tummy to sleep, because it was believed then that they would be more likely to choke on vomit when on their back.

My first was born in 1986 and I had no idea about babies. I did breast feed but my health visitor told me only to feed every 4 hours - which I stuck to religiously. There was a heck of a lot of carrying and pacing to stretch to the next feed. I shudder to think how hungry my poor babe must've been and how blindly I followed the HVs advice. He's mid 30s now and fine though.

When my mum went into labour with me, she refused to leave the pub until she had finished her gin and tonic. 90’s!

Born in the 60s. Not breast fed at all as I was whisked off to intensive care and my Mum was sent to another hospital and didn’t see me for nearly two weeks. I was, however, weaned early and put on junior food at nine weeks. Rusk in bottle as well.

I had my two in Eastern Europe in the late 90s/early 2000s. We had Canadian gripe water with alcohol, fennel tea, to help with digestion, Hipp jars marked as from 9 weeks, advised to put baby rice in the bottle so make the baby full more quickly. Weaned at three months, and when I wanted to stop breast feeding, was given drugs to dry up my milk.

When I was pregnant, I was living in the countryside, milk came in a churn from the farmer and we used to boil it on the range to “sterilise” it. Liver was seen as healthy for a pregnant woman, as were runny eggs, and red wine in the evening.

My mum was the same. She often commented that I was feeding the baby AGAIN.
When we discussed it, she did say she felt cheated out of breastfeeding because of being told her supply was rubbish when I needed to be fed more frequently than 4 hourly. She said if only she had known she would have persevered. I think she was a bit sad about it.

Just goes to show how things change - in another decade or so they may well scoff at the 'in with parents for first six months'.
My mother breastfed us in the 1960s and we were given solids but doubt she followed such a prescribed routine. As always there is no one 'right' way.
By the way fresh vegetables were far more seasonal than now and tinned veg and fruit the norm.

The seventies was also the time of the earth mother. What would now be known as attachment parenting. Extended breastfeeding, cosleeping, being gentle, playing in the mud, eating very healthy.

My mum told me I was breast fed, so I was confused when my lot entered the world and after a few weeks she was asking when I was going to put them on the bottle and give them solids. Turns out she breastfed me for 4 weeks, to that strict 4 hourly routine that was in the OP, and couldn't understand why I was feeding them all the time and 'maybe you're not making enough, maybe you should just give them a bottle'. I ended up bf-ing all 3 for a year each, mainly because 2 were bottle refusers and I was too lazy to bottle feed with the other one!

I scoffed at her advice at the time, but I can see now how quickly trends change so in spite of her perhaps clumsy approach, it's obvious from this thread that we can only ever make our best guess at what's 'right' within a range of options.

Not in my house!!!

Early 80s baby here, my mum breast fed me every 4 hours as recommended, she’s now horrified that I was hungry because of this schedule. Weaned at six months and straight onto cows milk to drink. I apparently started screaming all day every day at that point, doctor advised it was colic, my mum just put up with it (apparently I slept well at night - probably exhaustion!)
She didn’t make the connection between cows milk and screaming until my own baby was diagnosed with a dairy allergy 30+ years later. I’m not very tolerant of dairy either unsurprisingly!

We adopt the approach that suits us and sometimes it ain't the best for baby! I was born 1976, breast fed for a few weeks but I think mums were conditioned that bottle was better because you could "see" what babies were getting - I hear this still nowadays. My mum allowed herself to trust her instincts in some ways specifically being guided by me on weaning - I was 10 months before eating solids. I just didn't want it apparently - she did try!

My first was born in 1971 and I agree with your mum. Never saw anything like that. I breastfed mine, not 4 hourly but I do remember solids tended to be recommended earlier than now. Mine preferred breast. Pretty sure mashed up vegetables were advised for weaning, remember bowls with potato, carrots and peas.

I don't remember giving them honey until I was taking them out early when I returned to work and they had honey on their readybrek.

Of course there was different advice and people did different things. I mean Gina Ford was popular but not everyone followed her advice. Same sort of thing in the 70s.

Do they still collect human milk for babies in NICU? I used to donate in the 70s, my GP said if I was a cow I'd be a prize winner. I got paid, can't remember what it was but the midwife said it was worked out as how many calories in the milk you donated and the cheapest way to provide you with that many calories.

It was pennies and I felt it was insulting but they wouldn't take the milk if I didn't take the money. The midwife who ran the milk bank, and came and collected the milk, was known as "the milkmaid" by her colleagues.

Just goes to show how things change - in another decade or so they may well scoff at the 'in with parents for first six months'.

I scoff at this now. Not everyone feels the need to do this!

I know my mum donated breast milk in the 70s for the babies in the special care unit . I don’t think she was paid to do it it’s just she had a lot of milk apparently. I know she was dissuaded from breast feeding but stuck to her guns. I’m pretty sure baby formula had to be bought and you added duvet to it? It was too expensive for her!

Oh definitely this. It was all about following your instincts.

My grandma had her children in the 70s and we've been talking a lot about how things have changed.

I think the 70s was a time of huge change in practices. When her eldest was born, they still took the babies away to a nursery and only brought them back to the mothers at their scheduled feeding times! No wonder breastfeeding didn't work out.

By the time her youngest was born 5 years later they had "rooming in" and she got to keep the baby in the ward with her.

I think she was encouraged to feed them on a very sparse schedule. So there were the predictable issues with milk supply and "failure to thrive". My son was colicky when she first met him and she kept reassuring me that babies "like to cry".

Then we got to her own upbringing in the 40s and 50s. Apparently babies in her family were put on the top floor of the house and just left for hours. Heartbreaking.

It is heartbreaking but that time was also the war and rationing and a lot of poverty etc.

My gran worked in a mill during the pre and early war years and all the babies were taken to a work provided nursery. She went back to work really long shifts in an physical job after just a few weeks! The fact we can talk about ideal weaning and on-demand feeding etc. shows just how privileged we are.

Me and siblings born mid 70s and my mum was a nutritionist nurse. We were breastfed on demand and weaned on baby rice and puree veg. I remember a lot of weetabix and mashed banana for my younger siblings. Every meal had to have protein , carbs and vitamins. I am much worse at feeding my children. Probably to do with working full time and spending too much time pissing around on the Internet and availability of convenience foods.

The cod liver oil 🤢