The historical evolution of infant feeding includes wet nursing, the feeding bottle, and formula use. Before the invention of bottles and formula, wet nursing was the safest and most common alternative to the natural mother's breastmilk.
The mother or caregiver feeds the baby with a cup or spoon. Powdered milk was often given to newborns before 3 months of age. After 6 months, most babies ate beans and rice or whatever the family ate. Adult foods were broken into small bits and fed from the mother's hand.
Between the 16th and 18th century some babies were fed via bread soaked in water, sugared water or cow's milk. Others were fed cereal cooked in bone broth.
Pap was the common hand feeding source of nourishment for infants. It became common to add flour to milk (or water), to produce a more solid food and this became known as pap which could be fed to the infant from a spoon or a “pap boat”. Pap boats came in tin, and for the wealthy, enamelled ware or silver.
Infants ate soft or liquid foods made from animal milk, broth, or grains. In the 17th and 18th centuries, these foods were homemade; by the late 19th century, industrially produced options became available.
Before the invention of bottles and formula, wet nursing was the safest and most common alternative to the natural mother's breastmilk.
In the 1950s and 1960s, as already mentioned, most infants were fed cow's milk beginning at 4–6 mo of age and this practice extended into the early 1970s.
Children's food in Victorian times tended to be bland - porridge, plain boiled potatoes, milk puddings, and bread and butter were the order of the day, as people believed that children wouldn't be able to digest anything else. Today, baby care has come a long way from pap boats.
If you cannot find infant formula and you usually give your child a regular infant formula, you can give your 6 month to 12 month old child some pasteurized (not raw), unflavored, whole cow's milk. Cow's milk should only be given for a short time (no more than a week) as instructed by your child's doctor.
Prehistoric babies were bottle-fed with animal milk more than 3,000 years ago, according to new evidence. Archaeologists found traces of animal fats inside ancient clay vessels, giving a rare insight into the diets of Bronze and Iron Age infants.
The babies of enslaved wet nurses were bottle-fed a concoction of dry milk and dirty water that was not a healthy alternative to breastfeeding. As a result, many Black babies died during slavery.
By the 1940s and through the 1960s, most infants who were not breastfed received evaporated milk formula, as well as vitamins and iron supplements. It is estimated that, in 1960, 80% of bottle-fed infants in the US were being fed with an evaporated milk formula.
According to research led by Gretel Pelto, an anthropologist at Cornell University, pre-mastication was the solution to feeding infants during this interim period for most of human history, and remains the method used in many cultures today.
The main nutrition for the baby in the first 1-3 years was mothersmilk, weaning was often led by the appearance of the first teeth, which enabled the child to eat normal food. It was suggested to spread bitter essences like mustard or aloe on the breast as to make the baby stop sucking.
The first commercial baby food to hit the market was a vegetable soup with a beef broth base. Other common baby foods in the 1940s included liver, veal, and strained single-ingredient vegetables and fruits.
You should know that the American Academy of Pediatrics still recommends a combination of solid foods and breastmilk or formula for children under 12 months. Only after 1 year do they suggest introducing whole cow's milk.
At 12 months old (but not before), your child can be introduced to cow's milk. Before your child is 12 months old, cow's milk may put him or her at risk for intestinal bleeding. It also has too many proteins and minerals for your baby's kidneys to handle and does not have the right amount of nutrients your baby needs.
Is cow's milk a safe alternative to baby formula? If your child is older than 6 months of age and is usually on regular formula (not a specialty product for allergies or other special health needs), this may be an option. In a pinch, you could feed them whole cow's milk for a brief period of time (no more than a week).
About this time babies were weaned and they began to eat soft food called pap. Pap was made from boiled grains and milk or bread soaked in almond milk. Sometimes nurses would chew food with their own mouths then feed it to the babies with their fingers.
13 Pap or panada was the food most commonly fed to even newborn babies who required alternative feedings, from a pap boat or spoon. These vessels were made in most materials, e.g., pewter, porcelain and earthenware (fig. 3).
Poor families ate more carbohydrates, such as bread, potatoes and porridge oats, as these were cheaper and more filling. Bread with lard or dripping spread across it was a staple meal. Seasonal vegetables were also a large part of their diets. These include onions, turnips, cabbages, apples and parsnips.
By the early 1960s, commercial formulas were more commonly used than evaporated milk formulas in the United States, which all but vanished in the 1970s. By the early 1970s, over 75% of American babies were fed on formulas, almost entirely commercially produced.
He called his powdered formula Liebig's Soluble Food for Babies and it was made of cow's milk, wheat flour, malt flour and potassium bicarbonate. From then until the mid-1950s, some parents used commercial products like this, but most made their own formula at home with ingredients like Karo syrup and canned milk.
dry nurse. noun. : a woman who takes care of but does not breastfeed another woman's baby.