Things our parents did to us... - Page 2

[journeymom]

 powdered milk, water and Karo syrup.

Yup, that's what my mom fed us.

[kblackstone444]

We used to travel about an hour and a half to visit my Great Grabdparents.  My Grampa would drive, my Mom would sit in the passenger seat and my Gramma would sit on the little bump between the two seats.  Us kids, had to be 2, 4 and 6 and my Mother was very insistant that we use seat belts, but there were only two seat belts in the back, so my brother, being the baby, sat in the middle and my Mother somehow crisscrossed the seat belts so that my brother was being "protected" partly by my seat beld and partly by my sister's seat belt.  I also remember making that same trip once and there must've been extra people in the car, 'cause my sister and I had to sit on the floor in the back.  I remember around town trips in my very early childhood sitting on my Mother's lap in the front seat and once acr ride, standing between the two front seats... and hitting my head on the dashboard when my Gramma slammed on the breaks.

[Adaline'sMama]

My mom gave me a bottle of apple juice at 6 weeks old. Undiluted, 8 oz bottle. 

[VocalMinority]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

I also found a recipe written by the doctor for my oldest sister, then a newborn:  powdered milk, water and Karo syrup.

LOL!  When I was breastfeeding our now-4-year-old, I can't remember what happened.  He got a cold?  He was on the small side of the growth charts (which was to be expected, with DH and me as parents)?  Anyway, my mother-in-law insisted the problem was easily solved, if we just supplemented breast milk with watered-down corn syrup...which everyone knows is essential for babies, anyway.  I thought she had lost her mind.  But maybe that was conventional "wisdom", when she was raising kids?

A long time ago, I heard an interview with Rachael Ray.  Evidently, she was a pretty hyperactive little kid and never slept well.  Her parents addressed it by giving her wine in a baby bottle, at night.  Wow.  Isn't it a bit too bad, that we know too much to do that, now?  I bet that would, indeed solve a lot of colic and sleep issues.

[journeymom]

Weren't some of those old colic solutions you could buy little more than watered down rum?  Like, a hundred years ago.  

[pek64]

I vaguely remember rum being discussed as what to rub on a teething baby's gums, when I was a child.

[nstewart]

I fondly remember riding in the back of pickup trucks as a kid.  Through town to the store, around the camp ground, or even on the highway.   I also remember riding around in the back of our friend's station wagon, playing barbie on a long road trip. DH's parents used to take the back seat out of their van and lay down a queen size mattress for him and his brothers to play/nap/wrestle on when they went on road trips.   While I'm glad that we are more safety conscious, I sometimes think how much easier road trips would be if kids didn't have to be strapped into their car seats!

DH's brother told a story about driving a truck for the first time when he was 7.  He and his cousin (same age) went fishing with their grampa.  He was too drunk to drive home so he had my BIL drive home from the lake!

My mom also used to feed me juice in a bottle.  Apple juice.  She can't understand why we don't give DS (28 mos) juice, except for an occassional "treat" and even then we still water it down.  She keeps buying juice for him and saying "but it's organic".  Yes, because organic sugar won't rot his teeth!

There's a picture of my dad and I from when I am two, where I am riding on the crossbar of his bicyle.  I remember my dad would put a tea towel on the bar so it was more comfy for me to sit on (side saddle), and then I would hold onto the handle bars while he peddled.  No helmet, obviously! I am definitely under 3 in the photo, because it is in the city we moved from just after I turned 3.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by pek64 

I vaguely remember rum being discussed as what to rub on a teething baby's gums, when I was a child.

Well, yeah, plus a big slug of it for poor mom.

[MrsGregory]

So wait, let me be sure I have this, we're not giving the babies liquor in their bottle of apple juice? 

 

[SweetSilver]

Oh, I've thought about it, in my desperate moments when I've considered crossing over to the Dark Side.    I mean, generations of British kids were put to bed with warm, watered down gin, all when they were the greatest nation on earth.  Can't be all that bad.

[MrsGregory]

I've actually been advised that Benadryl helps kids sleep. As in I personally know a parent that gives her kids Benadryl just to make them sleep.
Between the two, if it comes to that, Little Miss is getting the thimble of whiskey. At least that's called "water of life", and doesn't come with three pages of possible side effects and interactions.


I've been told I mutter "Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up." in the middle of the night while I'm sticking a boob in her mouth. Does that count as the Dark Side? Will that be considered bad parenting?


Editing to add/ Just to be very, very clear, I'm not giving her Bendaryl or whiskey.

[Caneel]

OMG!  This thread has me totally cracking up. 

Just two weeks ago, I ran into some childhood friends that I haven't seen in 25+ years.  We grew up in a very rural ag area where kids worked on the farms, cared for multiple younger relatives, etc.  We all have kids of our own now and we all agreed we were lucky to survive our childhoods.  What was really interesting is that we are living very different lives and we still share of the "no freaking way I would let DC do........" 

My mom burst into tears when I read to her the entry in my baby book (she had given it to me when I was pregnant) where she started me on rice cereal at 17 days old.

My Nana said whiskey on the gums was completely acceptable for teething babies and she did it for all of us (me and my cousins).

Originally Posted by greenemami 

Oh yeah, and we were also allowed to ride in the back of the open pickup truck on occasion, just for short drives :) Though I imagine this still happens out in the boonies. 

Oh yes it does.  It is common to see furniture in the beds during the warm spring afternoon drives, mostly lawn chairs but occasionally a recliner or loveseat. 

You should have seen the eye-rolling when I wouldn't let my then 3.5yo go on a 2 mile open truck bed ride with a couple of 5yos to supervise him.

[VocalMinority]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

I've actually been advised that Benadryl helps kids sleep. As in I personally know a parent that gives her kids Benadryl just to make them sleep.
Between the two, if it comes to that, Little Miss is getting the thimble of whiskey. At least that's called "water of life", and doesn't come with three pages of possible side effects and interactions.
I've been told I mutter "Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up." in the middle of the night while I'm sticking a boob in her mouth. Does that count as the Dark Side? Will that be considered bad parenting?
 

Cracking up!!

I forgot about Benadryl!  My grandmother (an RN and hospital administrator) always carried a jumbo-sized bottle in her purse and dispensed it liberally to kids who were "acting up".  My mother (also a nurse) always took it on long car trips, in case one of my little sibs needed to chill out.  I can remember, on a 1,000-mile drive, begging my mother to give my little brother a dose, because he was driving everyone crazy!

Since I've been a parent, of course, I've been horrified by the idea that we were drugged, as kids (much less that I pushed my parents to do it to the littler ones!!!!).  I always plan long car trips with lots and lots of stops at playgrounds and parks and I carry a backpack with kites, Frisbees and bubbles.  Go figure:  I enjoy long car trips with kids a lot more than my parents ever did!  

Ultimately, the Benadryl trick is usually on the parents, though.  Kids often hit an age/size when Benadryl actually makes them hyper.  Last time I saw a bottle, it warned of the potential of either drowsiness OR hyperactivity.  Boy, is that wake-up call, when your parents try to drug your little brother and it makes him worse!

[rightkindofme]

My mom put Pepsi in my bottle when I was a week old. When you put it into context that she did speed through the first trimester and pot/alcohol/cigarettes throughout her entire pregnancy with me it's a wonder I'm functional at all.

Ha.

[LLQ1011]

LOL My mom nursed us while driving because she was afraid if she stopped on the side of the road someone else would stop and kill us.
 

We never wore seat belts because she was afraid if we crashed into a river we wouldn't be able to get out. We had saftey seats until about 2.

She let us make "Tea" from plants we found in the garden and outside inside of an old coffee can and water that dripped from the roof gutter. We would add honey. It was delicious.

She let us play outside in the desert for 12 + hours without shoes. The only rule is we weren't allowed to go into the wash. Too bad it was our favorite place to play and she never checked.

[Cyllya]

When I was an older kid (somewhere between 10 and 14 I guess), my step-dad gave me Jack Daniels mixed with pepsi to help me sleep. Didn't work at all (made it worse?) and tasted nasty.

I bought some antihistamines a few weeks ago, saw "Do not use to make a child sleepy" on the package, and wondered "WTF who the hell would do that??"...

[amberskyfire]

When I was a kid, my mom had a car with one of those pull-down arm rests between the back seats. There was also a seatbelt there. My brother and I would always fight over who got to sit on "the hump" in the middle seat while wearing the seatbelt.

My parents would also send me all alone on a plane across the country to visit my grandparents during the summer starting when I was about 7. The airlines still let you do this, but not with kids that young anymore. I had to wear a huge plastic tag around my neck saying I was alone so that the flight attendants could keep an eye on me.

When I was staying at my grandparents' house during the summers, I ran completely free. Those are the most amazing and wonderful memories for me now, but I would TOTALLY never let my kids do it! My grandparents' house was backed up to acres upon acres of forest and I would just stay there all day every day and I only came back to the house for meals.

My grandmother also worked the art show at the county fair during summers and she would take me along with her every day. I had free run of the grounds. Me. A Seven year-old child all alone at a county freaking fair! Unbelievable! Still, I loved those days. I would spend hours walking around looking for tokens and tickets people had dropped and then use them to ride the rides and play the games. *sigh* Those were happy days.

[rightkindofme]

Originally Posted by Cyllya 

I bought some antihistamines a few weeks ago, saw "Do not use to make a child sleepy" on the package, and wondered "WTF who the hell would do that??"...

Someone who was desperate and sleep deprived. Drugging children is a fine old tradition.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by Cyllya 

When I was an older kid (somewhere between 10 and 14 I guess), my step-dad gave me Jack Daniels mixed with pepsi to help me sleep. Didn't work at all (made it worse?) and tasted nasty.

I bought some antihistamines a few weeks ago, saw "Do not use to make a child sleepy" on the package, and wondered "WTF who the hell would do that??"...

My dad considered a shot of schnapps to be perfectly acceptable bedtime medicine when I had a cough/cold.  And not the sissy American 40 proof stuff, real German apple, cherry or pear stuff that compares to Everclear.  It was so hard to choke down!

Concerning antistamines - I remember the infant room caregivers at my son's daycare telling me that so many parents were asking them to give the babies Benadryl prior to scheduled pick up  that they had to put a policy in place that they would only do it with a doctor's note and this was YEARS before all the CYA measures became common.

I have a friend would is a physicans assistant.  He said he sees a horrifying number of babies with soda in their bottles......babies, not toddlers.

[mrmike]

Starting at about the age of 8 or 9 and continuing for several years my parents put me on a plane from NY to San Francisco. This was no so crazy as my mother was an airline employee and i was treated with "kids" gloves by the flight staff and was already a seasoned air traveler at age 8.  I would spend the night with a family friend and then the following morning, here's where it gets strange, thinking back on it now, I was put on a Greyhound bus and, alone, sent on a six hour bus ride north to my grandparents farm in Oregon. This was the early 1970's and bus travel was a lo-budget endeavor, at best. The bus would stop in Red Bluff, California for 45 minutes and i would wonder around the terminal to grab a sandwich, a word search magazine and stretch my legs. And all this without a cell phone. Somehow none of this seemed off to my parents. About 36 hours after leaving NY my solo journey across America would end with my lovely grandparents, standing next to their pick-up truck, waiting to greet me.