I LOVE books all kinds of them…
Lately I have spent time reading in my grandmother´s E.O.H it was written in the early 1940is but due to the war, it was first published in 1949.
It is fun to read about how to feed babies and other stuff -cause they were really not that silly at all (yet) !
First of all they separated the advise for babies who were fully breastfed and artificial fed.
Babies should be breastfed fully until at least 5 months and partial to 12-24 months..
Some couldnt breastfeed- due to work or other reason
- but it was adwised that mothers should continue to breastfeed just a little if they could. Little was better than none.
There were no formula in Denmark yet and it was advised that AF babies where given solid food earlier than the BF babies.
One thing that differs from todays advise to danish parents, are the focus on nutricious food like whole fat dairy, egg yolk and codliveroil- does it sound familiar ? :-)
Breastfed babies should be given mashed veggies and fruit from 5-6 months
- but only small amounts- egg yolk from 6 months as well. Codliveroil from 3 weeks.
The grains that are so domineering in first solid food today, was first offered around 8 months ! and first really in the months 9-12 months.
In the AF group, the milk that the mother was advised to use when making formula was called babymilk: raw milk from special farms and cows that were checked for diseases carefully. At this time all the other milk was pasteurised… but babies under 12 months (who was NOT breastfed) had to have raw milk formula !!!
There were more grains in the AF diet, but it still says: soaked ryebread, soaked oats and focus on whole fat dairy !
Another thing that I find interesting is the advice for older children:
Whole fat dairy, butter, eggs and codliveroil all winter
- but if a family was poor and couldnt afford wholemilk- but just buttermilk,
butter and extra codliveroil was advised…
so only poor people would buy skimmed milk or buttermilk instead of whole fat milk. Today you are almost a criminal if you feed your child wholefat dairy !!!
I don´t have babies myself at the moment (sadly) but I have a small nephew and friends with babies - and the picture is the same:
Too little breastfeeding ( prop. due to busy mums and bad lowfat diet)
Very early introduction of LOTS of grainbased food ( it is not uncommon that a 6 month old baby here, has 3-4 servings of grain pr day( porridge and gruel !)
Too much sugar and low fat dairy from the age of 12 month.
When I have asked: shouldnt they have an eggyolk or some meat ? the parents look at me like Im nuts… veggies are only served 1 a day and fruit is often just in juice….
My friends son is 9 months old and this is a typically day:
Breakfast: wholewheat porridge from a box made with formula and applejuice
Snack: ricegruel in a bottle
Lunch: oatporridge ( from a box made with formula) and juicedrink
Dinner: potatoes, maybe a tiny bit of minced beef, a few peas and canola oil water or formula to drink
Breast when he sleeps - only breastmilk he has had since the age of 4 months…
1940 food for 9 month old baby:
Breakfast: oat porridge soaked overnight- served with cream or milk and butter codliveroil and lemonjuice or rosehibpowder.
Snack: breastmilk or early
Lunch: veggies served with butter, fish or meat, pureed fruit served with milk or cream.Water to drink
Snack: fruit ( banana or prunes) and breast milk
Dinner: sourdough ryebread with butter, eggs, cheese, liverpate, water to drink or fresh carrotjuice.
Breastmilk going to bed…
So maybe the old people were not so stupid after all……
a good page to share is this:
http://www.nourishingourchildren.org/
About the Author...
I am a 35 year old woman who lives with my teendaughter in an old wooden house on a hilltop in Denmark. I have got a BA in prehistoric archeology and got a teacherdegree as well. I love books, plants, animals, kids and nourishing food.
Nov 6th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Great Post Henriette. It is sad what people think is good nutrition. Often it means more veggies. I remember Sally Fallon talking about the Boston Women’s Cook Book from 1700s I think. There were no recipes for veggies. In fact they called them green sauce. Meaning cabbage, the most grown vegetable was just a condiment. What is E.O.H and AF?
Nov 6th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
EHO =Encyclopaedia of housekeeping long nasty word :-)
AF = artificial fed.
Hm.. I would be sad without veggies….I like them a lot and eats lots of them- always with butter or ghee….
but right now when it is getting colder I don´t have the same urge to eat so many raw veggies.. or fruit.
I have several recipe books from the 1800-1850 and 1910 and there were plenty of veggie recipes
but almost none raw… I read another one from the middle of 17th century as well and it had some recipes as well
so I wonder if the Boston book was just a result of a new virgin land with less farming or maybe everybody knew what to do with greens so why a recipe….
Nov 21st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
What a great book and post - thanks! I’m currently looking after my littlies and therefore not writing my thesis ;) - a history of Australian childraising 1840-1900. Some of the old advice books are wonderful (and some equally frightening). I guess there have been sound, traditional ideas and new-fangled ones in every century. Putting baby to sleep in a separate room and crib painted green (green paint included arsenic at the time) rates as new fangled with me, even in the nineteenth century!
Do you (or your book) have any suggestions for constipation/colic? My 5 1/2 month old is enjoying breast-milk and cod liver oil and the occasional taste of egg yolk. The colic is vastly improved since we started eating traditional food, but I wonder if the cod-liver oil is contributing to the mild constipation? You suggest mashed veges at this age - maybe that would help? I tried Sally Falon’s mint and anise tea - it seemed helpful, but more as a cure than a preventative thanks:)
Nov 21st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Hi Helen - what a wonderful subject
On top of of my BA in pre historic archeology I studied history -but never got around to write my final thesis so I could get a my MA - I was very interested in normal life - especially family life in historic times.
Yes sure some of the advice was truly horrible.
Constipation in a almost fully breastfed baby is rare
I don´t think the codliver oil contribute to that .
I think I would stop with the egg yolk and see if it improves and then add it back later - s/he might be a highly sensible child
My daughter was slightly constipated from around 6 months as well ( she had started getting some solid around 5 months - rice was NOT a good idea )
- untill then she had been happy- but only making on soiled nappy a week- but she was fine- not constipated.- just growing like weed using ALL her milk)
Fruit is in general good for constipation - I used mainly pear, berries, apricot , plums and prunes.( don´t use prunes all the time or your bowels get lazy)
Don´t use banana or blueberries( they are good when you have a diarrhea -they stop)
In the books
- especially the pear and prunes were used- as well as fermented milk- mainly buttermilk )
(I think s/he is maybe a little bit young for cows milk- but if you can get good quality raw milk it is worth to try.)
Veggies: carrots, potatoes were traditional served with plenty of butter - maybe added some breastmilk
sweet potatoes , wintersquash are more modern options.
Massage and baby exercise or walking with him in a sling - can help some babies as well.
Hope he gets better soon - it is so sad when little ones are in pain.
Nov 22nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Thanks for the great advice :) Baby Gillian practically lives in the sling, but she is doing so much better the last three days that she has had a few catnaps on my bed instead of on me. I had stopped the egg yolk and givenher a bit of kicking time to get the tummy moving. I’ll try the rest of your ideas too - the problem is already easing and Gillian sends you a smile and bubbles :) I yake it butter is ok for littlies then?
Nov 22nd, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Sounds good
Gillian what a wonderful name :-)
The kicking is great I used that as well- and I think that -while slings are wonderful - sometimes children need some time out of the sling as well- around 6 months baby sleeps completely different than the first months- they seem to get more aware of noises movements etc.
Good to know that she is doing so much better .
Butter.
In Scandinavia it is adviced that babies when they start eating solid food ( 5-6 months)
- always should have added extra fat in veggies -porridge etc. After all breast milk contains about 50 % of its calories from fat - so your baby will need the fat while the change over to solids.
Both butter and olive oil can be used. I prefer butter on veggies - particular the orange -ones to ease the convection of beta carotene into vitamin A.
Dairy sensitive children can try ghee ( clarified butter) it contains no lactose and almost no casein - so it is worth a try.
Thanks for the bubbles :-D
Nov 24th, 2007 at 3:26 am
Hi, thank you for the wonderful post.
It’s interesting that the same thing going on here in America is happening in Denmark. I was talking to a Finnish friend last night and she was telling me about their traditions for childrearing, about cod liver oil, plenty of sunshine, etc.
Seems like everyone I talk to over 40 says, “Oh yes, my mother used to give us cod liver oil and/or liver.”
Nowadays it seems that mothers are afraid of organ meats and meat in general. Not to mention fats! And dairy products…
My baby girl is 7 months old. I am feeding her a daily dose (1/4 tsp) of cod liver oil. Plus the following things: veggies and fruits mixed with breast milk and/or raw butter, chicken liver pate, beef liver, egg yolk (pastured eggs), as well as breast milk and raw milk formula.
When I tell people I am feeding her egg yolks and liver, they are usually frightened. “Is that safe?” they ask. I don’t tell them about the raw milk. I once brought up the raw milk formula at a mother’s gathering and one woman gave me the dirtiest look of horror and disgust — as though I had said I’m feeding my baby radioactive waste.
Our pediatricians and baby books advise us to give our babies cereal as a first food. I did this — before I knew about traditional foods. I fed it to her maybe once or twice. But I looked on the back of the box (Gerber baby cereal) and do you know what the second ingredient was? SOY OIL. Same thing as in the commercial infant formula.
So amazing that people are horrified by raw milk and liver and yet they happily feed their babies toxic sludge like soy oil.
Nov 26th, 2007 at 1:59 am
Thanks Ann Marie
You are so right and it IS truly sad that we fear REAL food- but happily give our kids boxed food with all kinds of nasty stuff.