Over the years, with the innovation of technology and the changing of society, the way we do things has inevitably changed . That includes the ways we parent our children.
There are a lot of ways parenting has changed for the better, and some of the advice our grandparents followed could surprise you.
Obviously, as years has passed, the way we have raised kids has changed.
Looking back, our grandparents, and maybe even our parents, had some interesting ways they chose to do things. No wonder they’re always judging us on what we choose to do with our kids.
Recently, Mum’s Grapevine, an Aussie-based online platform for new moms, shared a photo taken from a page in a parenting book from 70 years ago.
The page shared a schedule at all new moms should follow on a daily basis when raising their kids.
The schedule is broken down from 6 A.M. to 11 P.M. daily.
Not only is this schedule extremely specific, but it’s also kind of strange to anyone who is raising kids today.
In the morning:
Your day starts out with a 6 A.M. wakeup and feeding — which is pretty darn early. After that, parents “hold out” their children. Since there is virtually no context, we’re not too sure what that means.
Then, you put the baby back to sleep.
Apparently, the baby should sleep until around 9 A.M. From there, you can undress your baby, give them some water, and let them kick around in the nude for a half hour. In the summer, you should take our baby outside to “sunbathe.”
After their (probably unhealthy) amount of sun rays, the baby is “put outside” to sleep.
In the afternoon:
Apparently, babies need super long naps because the instructions say to have your baby sleep from 10 A.M. to around 1 P.M.
In the winter, the baby gets another sunbath.
Clearly, all of this time in the sun is a bit worrisome. I hope that parents had sunscreen back then because those UV rays can’t be good for their children.
The baby also gets a second bath.
Around 4 P.M., parents are told to feed their baby, give them a drink of orange juice, and then a second bath.
Not only should newborns not have orange juice, but they also shouldn’t be bathed twice a day—unless absolutely necessary.
At nighttime:
After a long day of eating, laying in the sun, and sleeping, parents are to feed their baby again around 6 P.M.—and, hold them out (whatever that means).
Then, you put the baby to bed in a completely dark room with the windows open, door shut, and absolutely no pacifier.
They also instruct parents to wake the baby around 10 or 11 P.M. and feed the baby in a dark room.
Forget sleeping through the night, 70 years ago you were to wake up your baby around 10 or 11 P.M. and feed them in a dark room, change their diaper, and put them back to bed until 6 A.M. when the day started all over again.
While we value some old school techniques, I think it’s safe to say that we’re happy things have changed.
Two baths a day, lots of sunbaths, and eating four times a day? Sounds like a whole lot of extra work to raise a baby. Good thing things have changed!
