What baby advice was given to women in the 1950's. I have a paper due. Honest answers please.?

I have to compare the advice given today vs. the advice given in the 1950's when it comes to newborn babies. What was the stand on SIDSWhat baby advice was given to women in the 1950's. I have a paper due. Honest answers please.?
SIDS wasn't really talked about then. IIRC, they still thought it was due to an enlarged thymus gland. But I have a collection of several hundred babycare/pregnancy books, and can only think of 1-2 mentions of 'crib death.' (Babies were put to sleep on their bellies though.)





Other advice: Babies were fed on schedules, though usually fairly rough ones.


Breastmilk was known to be best, but most babies were formula fed, and the standard feeding styles (4 hour schedules, babies expected to STTN very early) meant that the few women who tried to BF usually failed pretty quickly.


Crying was thought to be 'good exercise' for babies, so mothers were encouraged to let baby cry in his crib for several hours each day.


Sun baths every day for vitamin D ... and LOTS of fresh air.


Very early solids. (Often from birth.)





EDIT: Another respondent mentions Truby King. I dont' think he was ever very popular in the U.S., though may have been in the U.K. and elsewhere. (I don't have a single one of his books in my collection. By contrast I have about 10 editions of ';Spock';, several from the 1950's. Spock seems to be by far the most popular 'expert' from that era -- I have single copies/editions of some other books/authors, but most were never reprinted. And the extrememly rigid ';King'; style practices ('never pick baby up lest you spoil him') had been popular in the U.S. in the 20's and 30's ... but had relaxed quite a bit by the 50's.





And women who tried to BF and failed were usually told that 'modern women are just to nervous' to breastfeed. It never occured to anyone that the 4 hour schedule was the problem!What baby advice was given to women in the 1950's. I have a paper due. Honest answers please.?
I was born just before the 1950s.


Truby King was the popular 'baby manual' of the time, and it advised feeding baby every four hours in quite a regular and rigid fashion. Mothers (including mine!) were advised that if the baby cried, they should check that the nappy was clean and dry and the pin wasn't sticking in to the baby, then leave the baby to cry. It was thought that feeding irregularly, or frequent cuddles would 'spoil' the baby.


More about Truby King here; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truby_King





On the other hand Dr Benjamin Spock proposed a more liberal regime of childcare, and studied psychoanalysis to help work out his regime. His book was published in 1946.


More aboutt Spock here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Sp鈥?/a>





Sudden Infant Death Syndrome had not, I think, been identified as a syndrome. People talked about the danger of having baby in bed with mother, in case she 'overlaid' the baby and suffocated him/her.


Infant mortality was higher than it is now, from a variety of childhood illnesses and other causes, so perhaps SIDS was not differentiated from other causes of infant death.


Hope this helps.
I'm not sure of the stand on SIDS but I do know that around this time many women were encouraged to formula feed instead of breastfeed because it was felt it was ';healthier'; than breast milk because they knew exactly what nutrients the baby was getting and they could measure exactly the quantity of formula the baby was getting...you know doctors, they like anything they can measure! lol
1950's would be my grandmothers generation and they gave solids very early. As soon as baby opened their mouth you feed them solids. Today they say you should wait about 6 months. Formula was considered best too when my mother was a baby that has changed. And babies were put on their stomachs to sleep, today on their back (due to sids warnings)
I do know from family experience that when my Aunt had a son with Downs Syndrome (1950 something) the Dr.s didn't let her see him for a few days and then told her that the best thing to do was to ';put him in an institution';. They called him mongoloid and said it would be better if she never saw him. She objected strongly, took him home, loved him and he has been a wonderful part of our family.





Now, medical staff are better at educating families and assisting new parents of kids with challenges. It breaks my heart to think Drs. would encourage parents to sign off and forget their children.
were told to lay babies on there tummies


were told to give babies cereal in the bottle


were told that formula was just as good as breast milk


were told to rub brandy on there gums for teething


were told to give them a shot of alcohol to calm them





and now these are all BIG no no's!
You can try poking around at this website and you may find something...





http://www.retro-housewife.com/
Women were told to put babies on their tummies to sleep. Now its on their backs and it has greatly reduced the incidence of SIDS.
Back to sleep! They use to place babies on stomachs.





Good luck!