Our grandparents and parents certainly did things a little differently than we do these days when it comes to parenting. And in the future, who knows, we could find out all the things we do today are completely wrong. Here are some of the funniest, and craziest parenting fails from the past:
Make sure your baby sleeps with their head pointing North.
In 1878, it was thought that aligning your baby’s head with the earth’s magnetic field would help them sleep better. Nowadays, we just lay our babies down like they are a ticking time bomb and creep out of the room like a ninja so we don’t wake them up.
Put your baby in a cage outside your apartment window so they can get enough fresh air and sunshine!
This one is just nuts! In the 1930’s, doctor’s thought that it was super important for babies to get tons of fresh air and sunshine and that the best way to do this in apartment living was to put them in a cage suspended from your window. Because, that doesn’t sound dangerous at all…
Feed your baby cereal when they are 2-3 days old and start giving them bacon and eggs at 9 weeks!
Who doesn’t love some bacon and eggs for breakfast? But, 9 weeks seems a little young to be chowing down on some crunchy bacon and cereal seems a little excessive at just a couple days old. Sounds like a major choking hazard for someone with zero teeth.
Start potty training your baby immediately after birth. They should be completely potty trained around 6-8 months old.
Moms everywhere are laughing hysterically at this one. While it would be nice to be done changing dirty diapers sooner, this just doesn’t seem possible. Heck, we are lucky if we get them potty trained by 3 years old these days.
Give your baby a little morphine to help with crying and teething issues.
In the early 1900’s, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup was recommended for most baby related issues, including crying and teething. To be fair, it really did work. It was known to induce deep sleep, probably because it was mostly just made of morphine.
At least we aren’t making these mistakes today, but who knows what parenting fails we will be laughed at for in the future.