The Good Old Days

03/02/2015

Anyone who does anything to help a child...is a hero to me.
Fred Rogers

The Mental Floss (March 2015) article, "The Barbarian's Guide to Parenting," provided examples of parenting advice shared by experts from decades past, such as:

From the 1916 book, The Mother and Her Child: "Put the baby in the corner and leave it there.... Handle the baby as little as possible.... We strongly protest against the haphazard, promiscuous kissing of babies."

In an 1894 manual, Dr. Emmett Holt advised: "Crying is the baby's exercise." He advised against playing with the baby until it was 6 months old, as play was thought to cause nervousness and agitation.

A US government baby manual from 1932 recommended starting toilet training by the end of the first month. The mother should hold the baby "over the chamber, using a soap stick, if necessary, to start the movement."

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