Baby & Toddler

Found the notebook I kept when my daughter was a baby. As a young doctor I wrote down things I'd never tell a parent now

ochre_window_6935

Clearing out a cupboard last week, I found a notebook from when my daughter was small. Weights, feeds, the first tooth, all very neat, because I was a junior doctor and proud of my charts. Also in there: gripe water 'as needed'. Honey on her tongue at the naming ceremony because my mother-in-law insisted and I didn't argue. Kajal every evening. Talcum powder by the handful. My granddaughter is 6 and found the page with her mother's first word, which was apparently 'no'. Some things don't change 😄 What did your families do with your babies that you'd never do today? I'm curious how much has shifted in one generation.

7 comments

  • fern_sketch_1447

    This is reassuring in a strange way. My mother brought up honey the week our daughter was born, and our paediatrician's answer was a very firm no. Good to know even doctors went along with the elders back then.

  • peach_quilt_5694

    talcum by the handful. every photo of my daughter till two, her face is white like she's been sitting in a flour mill

    • ochre_window_6935

      Ours too! The photographer at her first birthday asked if we could wipe some of it off.

    • ochre_window_6935

      Found the actual tin this morning, clearing the same cupboard. Still half full, thirty-odd years on. It has gone to the bin.

  • umber_tiffin_1206

    Surma. My mother put it on him every evening till he was two, and we didn't have the heart to argue. He's 19 now and has no idea.

  • coral_quilt_5477

    Warm oil in the ears after every bath. I see where that habit ends up in my clinic often enough now.

  • sage_sketch_3966

    tight swaddle, mittens till six months, woollen cap even in may. my son is a small parcel in every photo 😄

  • dusk_rain_4249

    Boiled water from the first few weeks, especially in summer. When I mentioned it, our grandson's paediatrician looked at me as if I had suggested whisky.

    • saffron_bookmark_7452

      My grandmother still says this every time she visits. I've started telling her the doctor will scold me, not her. Works better than any explanation ❤

  • citrus_quilt_3751

    my mother had me give rice water from 3 months because 'milk alone is not enough'. lasted a week before the paediatrician found out. we don't talk about that week

Add a comment

Share what happened for you. Plain text; be kind and specific.

Keep going

Keep reading

More from the parents who were here.