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Baby feeding schedule of 1970's

115 replies

HoHoHowMuch · 26/10/2022 19:19

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.

Baby feeding schedule of 1970's
Baby feeding schedule of 1970's
OP posts:
Tadpoll · 27/10/2022 12:01

Notimetothink · 27/10/2022 09:41

I wonder if the feeding on demand has then spilled over into toddlerhood where children have a snack regularly, and the culture of snacking and grazing continues into adulthood.
As adults we are not accustomed to the feelings of hunger and yet for adults fasting has been shown to help with weight loss. It’s an area currently being researched.

I’m not suggesting that feeding infants on demand is wrong, but I wonder if there’s a point in our lives where this becomes detrimental rather than beneficial.

I 100% agree with this. The amount of snacking toddlers do is ridiculous and I’m sure it’s spilled over from ‘feeding on demand’ when they were babies. There’s nothing wrong with feeding on demand if your baby had a proper feed at the last one and is genuinely hungry, but most babies these days are just snacking so are never properly full. Then poor mum is exhausted.

Tadpoll · 27/10/2022 12:06

Fuwari · 27/10/2022 10:33

I had my DC in 89 & 91. Fed every 4hrs, solids from 12 weeks, own room from around 16 weeks by which point they were sleeping through the night. Another thing I feel was different, is back then people didn’t hold and/or entertain babies/toddlers constantly. You had bouncy chairs/walkers/the door frame hanging things etc. Mums got on with their day and baby slotted into that.

Because of that I found it all quite easy, even with having two 18months apart. It seems a lot harder now!

When you read some of the threads on MN by exhausted mums you realise how hard people make it for themselves these days. It’s not their fault - it’s the advice to constantly hold your baby, feed constantly etc. No wonder most of them say they wouldn’t have another.

Cuppasoupmonster · 27/10/2022 12:10

Tadpoll · 27/10/2022 12:01

I 100% agree with this. The amount of snacking toddlers do is ridiculous and I’m sure it’s spilled over from ‘feeding on demand’ when they were babies. There’s nothing wrong with feeding on demand if your baby had a proper feed at the last one and is genuinely hungry, but most babies these days are just snacking so are never properly full. Then poor mum is exhausted.

I agree as well.

I did a loose feeding schedule with DD and it worked really well - it meant she drained the boob rather than just ‘snack feeding’ and cried when she was genuinely hungry. I wonder if offering boob whenever they are upset starts off a kind of ‘comfort eating’ mentality and an expectation to never be hungry. DD is now 3 and we’ve never done snacks, apart from perhaps an apple - just 3 square meals a day.

My Nan recently visited a similar aged toddler in the family, she said her parents are constantly giving her snacks (biscuits, cake, cheese) and that at 3 she’s clearly overweight with a very heavy frame. DD by comparison is slightly taller than average but slim.

Interested in this thread?

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ancientgran · 27/10/2022 12:12

MaffsMover · 26/10/2022 21:53

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!

I was told the NHS (but maybe it was just the local hospital) wouldn't accept the milk if they didn't pay to replace the calories as someone could be depriving their own baby to sell their milk and make money. I think it was about 10p a pint so you'd have to have alot of milk to bother, the midwife and I had a laugh about that.

You did have to buy formula but I don't know what it cost as mine never had it.

Cuppasoupmonster · 27/10/2022 12:17

Tadpoll · 27/10/2022 12:06

When you read some of the threads on MN by exhausted mums you realise how hard people make it for themselves these days. It’s not their fault - it’s the advice to constantly hold your baby, feed constantly etc. No wonder most of them say they wouldn’t have another.

Yep. There’s a lot of talk of ‘meeting needs’, but in my opinion they’re creating those needs rather than meeting them. If you’re used to being fed constantly, you’re going to find hunger to be unusually frightening/upsetting. So then they become upset and cry for food and the cycle begins again. Usually culminating in some kind of epic weaning battle at 3 when the child is old enough to tantrum and beg for boob, and is a nightmare with solids as they’ve been filling up on breastmilk the whole time.

MaffsMover · 27/10/2022 12:22

*duvet/sugar!

I may ask mum if she was paid but it could be a sore topic. A little boy born the same day as me lost his mum in childbirth. I think some of the milk was for him. I often think about them on my birthday.

Novemberhater · 27/10/2022 12:43

antelopevalley · 26/10/2022 21:01

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.

Really? I had two babies in that decade. I never heard of anything like that. I devoured all the baby magazines so felt up to date with baby care.

I bf, but added baby rice to my milk for the pre bedtime feed from six weeks.

I supplemented with full fat milk from the milkman from six months.

Babies had to sleep on their tummies to prevent inhalation of vomit.

Cot bumpers were necessary to prevent head injuries from the bars. Mine were in the big cot from birth.

Babies slept in their own rooms from day one. This was considered normal.

Four hourly feeds were encouraged and worked well as baby had a really big feed each time and stayed full, not crying for a feed until the four hour period was up.

In my neighbourhood not one of the mums worked. We supported one another on a daily basis.

None of us were over thirty. Most wanted their childbearing done and dusted in their twenties. We were all homeowners.

I didn't drink alcohol when pregnant, but was told off at a public event by a doctor friend for not drinking and was bought a large alcoholic drink! I have never smoked, but lived with my ex, a heavy smoker, who now has lung cancer.

It was a very different world. My DC are fit and well and have never had any health problems and are slim.

I'd be fascinated to know how much advice that is given now will change in the next forty odd years.

Wherediditallgo · 27/10/2022 13:03

This is really interesting! One of mine was a nightmare to settle and the only way I could stop him crying was to give him a boob. In reality I should have given him a dummy. But I was a first time mum and determined I wouldn’t do it.
The other fed and slept with much bigger gaps in between and I did use a dummy with him.
Neither are overweight as young men.

ancientgran · 27/10/2022 13:36

Novemberhater · 27/10/2022 12:43

Really? I had two babies in that decade. I never heard of anything like that. I devoured all the baby magazines so felt up to date with baby care.

I bf, but added baby rice to my milk for the pre bedtime feed from six weeks.

I supplemented with full fat milk from the milkman from six months.

Babies had to sleep on their tummies to prevent inhalation of vomit.

Cot bumpers were necessary to prevent head injuries from the bars. Mine were in the big cot from birth.

Babies slept in their own rooms from day one. This was considered normal.

Four hourly feeds were encouraged and worked well as baby had a really big feed each time and stayed full, not crying for a feed until the four hour period was up.

In my neighbourhood not one of the mums worked. We supported one another on a daily basis.

None of us were over thirty. Most wanted their childbearing done and dusted in their twenties. We were all homeowners.

I didn't drink alcohol when pregnant, but was told off at a public event by a doctor friend for not drinking and was bought a large alcoholic drink! I have never smoked, but lived with my ex, a heavy smoker, who now has lung cancer.

It was a very different world. My DC are fit and well and have never had any health problems and are slim.

I'd be fascinated to know how much advice that is given now will change in the next forty odd years.

I had two babies in the 70s. Never used baby rice. Co-slept and breastfed on demand. Always told to sleep baby on their back. Worked as did all my friends. Never drank alcohol or smoked so that wasn't an issue. Never owned a cot bumper.

Even in the 70s it varied.

ancientgran · 27/10/2022 13:38

MaffsMover · 27/10/2022 12:22

*duvet/sugar!

I may ask mum if she was paid but it could be a sore topic. A little boy born the same day as me lost his mum in childbirth. I think some of the milk was for him. I often think about them on my birthday.

It might just have been the milk bank at my local hospital, someone else said they weren't paid. It was an inner city hospital and covered a lot of deprived areas so that might be why.

tedgran · 27/10/2022 13:46

My DS was born 1969 and my DD 1970. Im ashamed to say that I smoked throughout both pregnancies. He was over eight pounds and she was nearly seven. Both were breastfed, but they would be given a tiny bit of cereal at the late night feed when they were about six weeks old, it did make them sleep longer! They moved onto solids at about four or five months, they are both very healthy adults.

Fuwari · 27/10/2022 15:02

Im ashamed to say that I smoked throughout both pregnancies
I was born in 69. There are pictures of me that Christmas (3 months old) the room thick with smoke as my parents smoked 40 per day each and we lived in a small flat with no real heating so no open windows! Back then though it was the norm to smoke while pregnant and around children. As far as I know I've suffered no ill effects. I certainly don't think badly of them for it. They did other things I did think badly of! But that would be a different thread!

Tadpoll · 27/10/2022 17:15

Cuppasoupmonster · 27/10/2022 12:17

Yep. There’s a lot of talk of ‘meeting needs’, but in my opinion they’re creating those needs rather than meeting them. If you’re used to being fed constantly, you’re going to find hunger to be unusually frightening/upsetting. So then they become upset and cry for food and the cycle begins again. Usually culminating in some kind of epic weaning battle at 3 when the child is old enough to tantrum and beg for boob, and is a nightmare with solids as they’ve been filling up on breastmilk the whole time.

I totally agree. Most people think it’s perfectly normal to have a baby still waking several times a night for a feed at 9-12 months these days and they still feed on demand.

I was horrified if one of mine woke in the night at that age. (Youngest is 9 so I’m not exactly out of touch.)

Everyone told me I was ‘lucky’ to have 3 good sleepers. I don’t think I was - I think they were just full so they slept.

MissyB1 · 27/10/2022 18:21

Cuppasoupmonster · 27/10/2022 12:17

Yep. There’s a lot of talk of ‘meeting needs’, but in my opinion they’re creating those needs rather than meeting them. If you’re used to being fed constantly, you’re going to find hunger to be unusually frightening/upsetting. So then they become upset and cry for food and the cycle begins again. Usually culminating in some kind of epic weaning battle at 3 when the child is old enough to tantrum and beg for boob, and is a nightmare with solids as they’ve been filling up on breastmilk the whole time.

Yes even in 1995 when I had second ds my HV was insistent he must not be fed in the night after 3 months old. And nobody carried baby around all day, they were in their bouncy chair whilst mum got on with stuff. Maternity leave was a lot shorter though so that spurred us on, I was a Nurse and had 16 weeks paid leave, I had to go back after that.

HoHoHowMuch · 27/10/2022 20:05

I fed on demand as that's what we were told. My kids are always asking for snacks now. Interesting to see that there are different views on this and wonder what the future will think of us. Did we set ourselves up for snack failure?

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