What were they thinking?!?

[JoyNChrist]

I thought it would be fun to have a thread that lists the following -

1) Things your parents/caregivers did when you were a kid that make you cringe when you look back on them (dangerous, stupid, etc).

and

2) Bad/crazy baby advice you've been given.

[JoyNChrist]

As a child, I can remember riding in the front seat of my dad's truck, no seatbelt, sitting on top of his lunchbox when he would take me to daycare on his way to work. I can also remember that my grandmother always kept a fly swatter in the front seat of the car to smack me and my cousins with if we were acting up in the back seat (I know that's a Blue Collar/Redneck joke, but she really did!).

So far, I've been given several baby care suggestions that are just a little nutty...

- DH's grandmother gave me a silver dime with a hole drilled in it, which I'm supposed to put on an elastic necklace for DS to wear under his clothes, in order to prevent teething pain.

- DH's aunt told me that DS should be drinking a pint of water a day, to ward off dehydration.

- My grandmother told me that rubbing my baby's feet every night will make him have a better appetite.

- And my mom swears that a baby's first food should be pickles, because after they taste the sourness, they will like all other foods better because they taste good.


People are crazy. :-)

[Drag0nflygirl]

When my brother was around a year old he started waking up with the birds. Mom would make him a peanut butter sandwich, throw it in the crib and go back to bed.

[AngelaS]

I remember riding in the back of Dad's pickup truck, the back of the station wagon and the front seat of the car.

Hands down, the worst parenting advice came from MIL. To get my dd to stop sucking her thumb she suggested doing what her mom did---stick it in dog poop.

Eww.

[lmintzer]

My parents didn't do too much crazy stuff--even in the early 70s, they used carseats. Although, I THINK I may have ridden home from the hospital in my mom's lap. But they used a plastic GM rear-facing infant seat and then a forward facing seat, at least through toddlerhood.

Here's 3 that they did do: put raw eggs in milkshakes so we would get some proten (?!! was salmonella less of a problem then?) and rub brandy on my gums with a q-tip when I was teething. I think we also may have gotten Karo syrup for constipation.

Worst piece of advice I've gotten? Hmm. I haven't gotten anything too terrible. That, or I've blocked it out. I guess I'd have to say it was sleep advice--since we had problems with sleep, we had everybody and her brother telling us what to do! The worst (for our kids) was "Keep them up late so they'll sleep late." Yeah, right! To this day, I ignore that one, because it just doesn't work for us. If I keep them up late, they'll STILL be up early--and will be super crabby!

[gatorruth]

My ped. suggested Karo syrup for DS's constipation as recently as 2006!! Your parents were just ahead of their times!!

Ruth
ps- the Karo works!!

[scoop22]

ds loves pickles this would have never worked for me..

i remember riding in the back of a wagon. we had a mattress and we would sleep onlong trips. we had bean bag chairs for the truck.

i have been told to put wiskey on gums. my aunt told me never to put ds to bed without socks. socks make them sleep better.
http://b2.lilypie.com/XbITm4.png

[fortato]

1:
Rode in the WAY BACK of the Station wagon, rode in the back of a pick-up truck. With out a booster seat, or seat belt.
Drank Koolaid all the time...hardly had just water
My mom smoked through her whole pregnancy... drank a little too.
My parents would leave me in the car when they ran into the store, or... my mom would let me go sit in the magazine aisle at the supermarket while she shopped. I would sit and read MAD magazine and she would get our groceries.


2:
Put shoes on him. (at 3 months)
Karo Syrup and water to ease constipation
Give him some cereal (2 days after he came home)
We should come and stay with you, to help you out...(My WHOLE Inlaw family... 5 adults and 2 children.)
Sleep when he sleeps... (does this really ever happen??)

[crayonblue]

I know this is something that some moms (particularly those on a certain mothering site) do but it freaks me out: let my temperature get up to 105 and not worry one bit. My mom said she just gave me a cool bath and put a cool washcloth on my forehead and let me cry and cry until my fever broke. She said she knew I was ok because I was crying. Thanks, mom, I am sure I felt great. (My mom was a very hippy, homeopathy, natural type of person.)

[gatorsmom]

I remember us kids rolling around in the back of the hatchback, faces pressed up against the window waving at people driving behind us.

Oh, and my mom used to roll my hair up in rags sometimes but most often those foam rollers that I"d have to sleep on all night. That was terrible! But it could have been worse- she wore those prickly rollers to bed every night.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!