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It has been brought to my attention that I have not been posting my baby schedules! I intend to remedy that starting now. Baby #8 is 8 months old, a good transition time to start posting schedules for him again. So, although it has been a while, here is a little update on how I use real 1950s Baby advice for care and schedule for my eight-month-old.
Vintage Care Of The 8-Month-Old
I am still using The Better Homes and Gardens Baby Book (affiliate link). Honestly, these schedules are the absolute BEST thing I have ever used to help me with taking care of my babies. The schedules and methods work amazingly well!
Anyway, by following the book’s recommendations until now, my baby has learned to eat what’s set before him, sleep when he’s put to bed, and he knows how to play by himself and with his siblings. He’s happy and gurgle-y and very active.
The Right Equipment for an 8-Month-Old
In addition to the basic baby nursery furniture, he now has some new equipment, since he is getting so active!
The most important thing is his play pen. I have one for inside and one for outside. the outside one has a little sandbox and a little slide, but he won’t really start using those until next year. Inside, I have his play pen more or less permanently set up near where I do most of my work. He has a whole corner of the living room, and he has a little table and chair, and a set of low toy shelves with his (admittedly very few) toys on them.
I also have a chair for him in the kitchen, and one in the dining room. I feed him and my preschooler their meals before the main meal, so that I can focus on getting nursery food into them. Then they can sit at the table while we eat, since the family table is a big part of how we stay connected as a family. I usually give them a zwieback to nom on while the rest of us eat.
Hygiene
The book advises that now is the easiest time to start potty training. But I don’t usually start yet. I wait until I no longer need a potty seat with a seat belt. (They don’t make them anymore.) I do use their method for potty training between 1 and 2 years, though.
Praise
In a remarkably enlightened piece of advice, the book recommends that when praising children, you should focus on what they have done and describing so that they know what action they can repeat to please you. It also advises parents to avoid over-praising, and to avoid focusing too much on failures.
“The youngster who gets recognition and satisfaction in doing the right thing has little temptation to make a practice of doing the wrong.”
1952 advice for parents
Health & Hygiene
At 8 months, my baby is crawling and pulling up, eating solids, drinking from a cup, and taking real baths now. Don’t leave him alone! Seriously, my baby will fall off of anything in less than 10 seconds if he gets left alone.
He is in to the next stage in baby clothes now: overalls and coveralls (affiliate link) so that his movement isn’t too restricted.
According to the book, now is the time to start visiting other people with the baby, but, obviously, NOT THIS YEAR. I don’t have many worries about over-stimulation and excitement. As the book says, “Don’t let anyone with an infection near your baby.”
One place where I differ from the book is that I think babies should always be a part of the family circle at mealtimes. This is where socialization begins. However, I also follow the vintage practice of feeding the baby before the main meal. Then, I have time to eat with everyone else, the baby is full and content, and he can gnaw on a zwieback and watch the family.
Discipline
As he grows, the baby will get a personality. And with the personalities comes stress and fearfulness. One way I combat these things is to keep the baby on his schedule. Then he knows what to expect, and it keeps him secure.
When he is frightened, I handle it very matter-of-factly. (Which the book also recommends . . . it is fabulous how modern some of this advice seems.) I don’t comfort fears, but I do reassure him that he is all right.
A REAL Vintage Schedule for Baby 6 to 8 Months Old (3 Meals a Day)
This schedule contains affiliate links.
- 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Breakfast:
- 2-4 tablespoons of cereal, served with formula or boiled milk. No sugar. Enriched or whole grain cereals preferred. Milk toast or sieved ripe banana may be subbed occasionally.
- Slice of toast or zwieback with butter (he usually eats this while he sits at the table with his siblings for breakfast)
- Nursing or bottle feeding
- 9:30 a.m. Vitamin D concentrate or 1 teaspoon fish-liver oil, followed by 3-4 ounces of orange juice, given from a cup.
- 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Nap. Bath following nap.
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 N. Dinner:
- 2-3 tablespoons green or yellow vegetable–strained carrots, spinach, string beans, green peas, tomatoes, or asparagus tips.
- Liver soup, beef soup, or vegetable soup.
- Zwieback or arrowroot cooky (he gets this while at table with his siblings)
- 2-3 tablespoons of dessert–cornstarch pudding, custard, junket, or gelatin.
- 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Nap.
- 3:00 p.m. Milk, 4-8 ounces. Zwieback, graham cracker, or arrowroot cooky. (He also has this with his siblings, since this cookies-and-milk routine marks the end of the school day in our house)
- 5:30 p.m. Supper:
- 2-3 tablespoons boiled or baked custard, or cottage cheese.
- 1-3 tablespoons of sieved fruit–prunes, pears, peaches, apple, baked apple.
- Nursing or bottle feeding.
- 6:00 p.m. Bed.
You will notice a lot of large gaps in the schedule times. Those are either times where the rest of the family is eating, so he sits with us, or times where he is playing where I can see him, in a play pen inside or outside.
A printable version of this schedule is available in my 50s Housewife Daily Schedules printable.
Caring for YOUR 8-Month-Old
A schedule is the biggest help in being able to be a housewife, a mother, a wife, and still be YOU. And you don’t have to stick to a schedule like glue. If you get to the end of the scheduled time, move on to the next thing. Nothing will ever be perfect, but you’ll come back to it tomorrow and start again. Eventually, you’ll be able to accomplish all the things in your schedule, on time. Then, you’ll start wondering exactly WHEN you became so good at this!
