childcare in 1870 courtesy of the Yorck Project   Wet Nurses In 1884 it was said that happy indeed is the child who during it's first period of existence, is fed upon no other ailment than the milk of it's mother or that of a healthy nurse. Wealthy mothers often engaged wet nurses to enable their child to be breast fed whilst being prevented the nuisance of breast feeding themselves. This allowed them to either resume their social engagements or if the baby was female to become pregnant as quickly as possible to produce a male heir. Wet nurses were also used amongst the poor to help cope with babies born illegitimately or where the mother dies in childbirth. Often a wet nurse would look after several babies on a combination of breast milk and other foods. Initially a wet nurse need to have given birth to a child but many wet nurses found that milk continued to flow years after their childbirth as long as they were suckling babies on a continuing basis. By the end of the period covered on this web site the practice had virtually died out in Essex unless there was good reason.   Crying
	The belief of the time was that a baby crying did not indicate pain or an uncomfortable sensation it was natural that the child should display the strength of it's lungs and exercise the organs of respiration. Crying was highly beneficial to ensure that the lungs were fully developed. Over anxious parents or nurses who continually endeavoured to prevent infants from crying were exercising imprudent management as the child seldom or never acquires the perfect form of breast and are liable to obstructions or disease to the pectoral area. If cries are unusually violent or prolonged the child may be troubles with colic. If they also move their hands towards their face they may have trouble teething. If any other morbid phenomena accompanies their cries or id their expressions be repeated at certain periods of the day we ought not to slight them but endeavour to discover the proximate or remote causes. Nursery Bedroom Feather beds should not be used in nurseries as the are unnatural and de habilitating The windows should not be opened at night but may be left open for the whole day in fine clear weather Nursery bedrooms should be spacious , lofty ,airy and dry and not inhabited during the day No servants should be allowed to sleep in the nursery bedroom and no linen or clothing should be hung there to dry as they may contaminate the air. The consequences of such an atmosphere in the room are serious and often fatal. The bedspread should not be to low on the floor as the most mephetic and pernicious stratum of air is within a feet or two of the ground while the wholesome air is in the middle of the room and the inflamable gas ascending to the top of the room Sleep Infants cannot sleep too long: and it is a favourable symptom when they enjoy a long and calm rest. Sleep facilitates the assimilation of the nutriment received . The horizontal position is the most favourable to the growth and development of the child. Sleep should be in proportion to the age of the child. after the age of 6 months the child should sleep the whole night and several hours in both the morning and afternoon After the second year until the third or fourth year  the child will not need a sleep in the morning although a sleep after dinner will be required as a full half of their life should be in sleep. From that period sleep should be shortened so that by the age of 7 years a child will sleep between 8 to 9 hours. This should be continued through adolescence to manhood. Children should not be awoken from their sleep with a noise or an impetuous manner. It is not proper to carry them from a dark room immediately into a glaring light for the sudden light debilitates the organs of vision and lays the foundation for weak eyes in later life from early infancy. Food and drink Food and drink are covered on a seperate page in this web site. To visit the page clock the following button