My mom still had the doctor's instructions on breastfeeding with my baby stuff. Cleaning nipples with alcohol was only once a day, but you had to wash then with soap and water before and after every feeding. This was 1974. Toughening up the nips was also listed in the instructions.
My MIL doesn't believe in car seats. She stands over me and cries when I strap my kid in. Sorry-not-sorry, grandmere.
My MIL calls it the vice. And when she rides in the car with him she tells him how bad she feels that he is strapped in and has to ride backwards. Um he doesn't know any other way.
Oh and she also thinks swaddling is cruel. I didn't swaddle so she didn't say it to me, but about other family members.
My MIL thinks swaddling is inhumane and cruel. Sigh.
My MIL asked me what happens if DS has an itch while swaddled at 2 weeks old. I told her he couldn't tell me he was itchy and he couldn't scratch it himself so it didn't matter if he swaddled or not.
Reading these threads always helps with my anxiety. Like, look at all the crazy shit our foremothers did. My baby is not going to be a sociopath because he ate non-organic grapes.
Oh and she also thinks swaddling is cruel. I didn't swaddle so she didn't say it to me, but about other family members.
My grandma didn't like swaddling either, lol. She also said they used to give babies a combo of milk and karo syrup.
milk and karo syrup isn't that unusual. It is two of the main components in formula today I think they used to give OJ too, for the vitamin C. At least now it is all combined.
Post by purplecow0206 on Jul 30, 2014 8:59:05 GMT -5
The biggest thing is the whole "rice cereal will make your kid STTN". My mom still is shocked about how late it was before we started solids. With my sisters and me, she started them at about a month (rice cereal in the bottle!)
She also formula-fed all three of us. Her milk didn't come in adequately enough for my older sister, so she just got a shot to dry up her milk for my younger sister and me because she wasn't going to go through the stress/pain again. I do think that if she'd had the support that exists now, we would have all been breastfed for at least some of the time.
Post by humpforfree on Jul 30, 2014 9:14:36 GMT -5
The only thing that surprised my mom (so far) was the no water for babies- and that might only be because she FF. Luckily she reads a lot of blogs and was familiar/on board with BLW and extended BFing, etc.
My father swears that rubbing whisky on gums is the best teething remedy. I'm sure it does end up numbing the area AND making the baby sleep, but c'mon, dad!
My mother swears by the epidural, but this isn't outdated, just a source of contention between us.
H's grandparents asked every damn time we say them why we hadn't started J on rice cereal yet, no matter how many times I said that was outdated advice and we were waiting til 6 months for solids. They swore up and down it would make him STTN but he's on solids now and was up twice last night, so stuff it!
My in laws think rear facing past one is "ridiculous." Mmmkay. My grandmother also was surprised I don't give my babies water. But she wasn't pushy, just didn't understand why not.
My grandma didn't like swaddling either, lol. She also said they used to give babies a combo of milk and karo syrup.
milk and karo syrup isn't that unusual. It is two of the main components in formula today I think they used to give OJ too, for the vitamin C. At least now it is all combined.
Yup. And cod liver oil, for vitamins A and D. Rickets is no joke!
Post by Willis Jackson on Jul 30, 2014 9:43:00 GMT -5
Threads like these make me so happy to have the mom and MIL I do. They both breastfed (my mom for a year+), waited until 6mo for solids, etc. My parents used car seats and co-slept. My MIL tried to pump but said that pumps sucked back then.
They only thing they've expressed surprise/mild doubt about is putting babies to sleep on their backs.
DS lost <10% of his birth weight so we were told to feed him every two hours during the day and 2.5-3 at night until he got back to birth weight.
MIL and FIL had come to stay with us when DS was a week old and seriously made me feel like the worst mother in the world for waking my baby to eat during that week. I think the word cruel was used at one point, and combined with being a FTM, learning how to breastfeed and hormones, it was definitely challenging. She kept talking about how DH's younger sister STTN the day they got home from the hospital and she turned out fine. Yeah ok.
I almost forgot about this one! There's a picture of my grandmother feeding me rice cereal right around 2 months old. I thought that was pretty crazy!
Post by humpforfree on Jul 30, 2014 10:58:52 GMT -5
Oh! I forgot this- it's not really advice, but MIL told H that when she was watching my niece she couldn't figure out how to use the infant seat car straps, so she just left the crotch buckles dangling. So... The baby wasn't secured AT ALL because she also thinks that we tighten the baby in way too much (ie at all). Sorry lady, you will not be driving my kid around.
At the end of pregnancy my mom told me I needed to take a loofah sponge to my nipples to toughen them up. Nevermind that nipple stim can start contractions or anything.
I heard a lot about how my Aunt & MIL gave their kids water, rice cereal at a month and put their babies to sleep on their back and they all survived. Same about car seats.
My father in law often says that DS is 'fake' crying becase there aren't actual tears. He's said this since day 1 and told me it's DS' way of trying to manipulate me. Right, a little tiny, 3 day old baby was trying to punk me.
At the end of pregnancy my mom told me I needed to take a loofah sponge to my nipples to toughen them up. Nevermind that nipple stim can start contractions or anything.
And in the event that a gal DOES want to start labor, there are much more pleasant ways to stimulate nipples. Ahem.
I do not care how extremely the tide changes by the time DD has kids, I will do my darndest to bite my tongue and not insist that whatever I did with her as a baby is the "right" way or that she is out of her mind for trying x, y or z.
Threads like these make me so happy to have the mom and MIL I do. They both breastfed (my mom for a year+), waited until 6mo for solids, etc. My parents used car seats and co-slept. My MIL tried to pump but said that pumps sucked back then.
They only thing they've expressed surprise/mild doubt about is putting babies to sleep on their backs.
I'm lucky too because both my mom and MIL breast fed (9 months and 6 months respectively). My mom has asked questions about things we do differently (water, sleeping on backs, ERF, EBF) so it's been nice to be able to educate her without receiving judgment. Although I think she still judges bfing kids who can talk, but I'm working on it with her!
My MIL doesn't believe in car seats. She stands over me and cries when I strap my kid in. Sorry-not-sorry, grandmere.
My FIL seems displeased when I wiggle the Chicco straps for loose slack and then pull them tighter. Um, what's the point if we're not strapping him in tightly?
I heard a lot about how my Aunt & MIL gave their kids water, rice cereal at a month and put their babies to sleep on their back and they all survived. Same about car seats.
My father in law often says that DS is 'fake' crying becase there aren't actual tears. He's said this since day 1 and told me it's DS' way of trying to manipulate me. Right, a little tiny, 3 day old baby was trying to punk me.
Newborn's tear ducts don't actually function at the beginning. I had a nurse come for a home visit when DD was 2 weeks old and she said that it was a great sign that her tear ducts were working finally. It was the first time I'd seen tears. I actually thought several times in the beginning that she was just faking it because there were no tears, but the nurse explained it to me. I thought it was fascinating, but seeing those tears for the first time just about broke my heart. It made it seem so much worse than it had before.
My father swears that rubbing whisky on gums is the best teething remedy. I'm sure it does end up numbing the area AND making the baby sleep, but c'mon, dad!
My mother swears by the epidural, but this isn't outdated, just a source of contention between us.
My friend did the whiskey on the gums! She said it worked great. Her son is my son's age, she insisted people still do it all the time in the south.