“how to give baby his sun baths” + where’s mine?
Posted by laralynnian on 29 May 2007 at 11:24 am | Tagged as: Uncategorized
When visiting my parents over the weekend my mom pulled out her and my dad’s baby books. I hadn’t even known they existed, and had a great time looking at all the photos and notes from my two grandmothers. The gem, though, was a Baby Record booklet for my mom, who was born in January, 1941 at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco.
Any mom or soon-to-be-mom knows how hard it is to sift through various child-rearing advice and keep up with the latest rainbow of recommendations, professional and otherwise.
But my, how things have changed since 1941!
The booklet devotes half a page to “how to give baby his sun baths,” which entails exposing the infant to increasing amounts of sun on a daily basis. Apparently my grandmother also followed the booklet’s (and doctor’s) instructions to feed her baby (my mom) orange juice starting at six weeks, and raw egg yolk mixed into her cereal at five months. Yup, all the exact opposite of what we’re told to do today, yet somehow most of these babies turned out just fine.
I’ve included scans of a few pages from the booklet. Definitely read the Sun Bath entry (second image), it’s hilarious given what we know today. Another great line not shown in the scans: “Your baby is not a toy to be showed off to family and friends.” Really?
Back in Berkeley, we’re still waiting to meet our own baby. She’s either very stubborn or very patient, and in any case is now taking her sweet time. We celebrated her day-after-due-date (yesterday) with a trip to SF, complete with yummy brunch on Clement Street, a visit to Green Apple Books, and a walk along the coast near Sea Cliff. Good fun, but we’re soooo ready to welcome our little one!