little house on the priarie ( bottle feeding)

When I was on maternity leave I used to watch lot of TV. I noticed
that in one of the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after the three
girls. The baby was shown being fed by a bottle. It was an infant and
he dies soon after due to some fever or something. I thought the
storyline is set around the time of Civilwar or earlier. Anyhow, I
thought in that day and age breastfeeding was quite common and
considered the major if not the only source of nutrition for the baby.
I didn't know they used bottles back then.

tedneely wrote:

When I was on maternity leave I used to
watch lot of TV. I noticed that in one of
the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after
the three girls. The baby was shown being
fed by a bottle. It was an infant and he
dies soon after due to some fever or
something. I thought the storyline is set
around the time of Civilwar or earlier.
Anyhow, I thought in that day and age
breastfeeding was quite common and
considered the major if not the only
source of nutrition for the baby. I didn't
know they used bottles back then.

I just saw this episode recently (got Seasons 1, 2 & 3 on DVD for
Christmas).

Caroline Ingalls does have a son, and she does breastfeed him. They
don't show it, but when the baby doesn't gain weight well Doc Baker
tells Ma that her milk is "no good" (or something to that effect). I
seem to remember her giving the doctor a look when he says that, kind of
like she's been hurt by what he said or taken offense.

He tells her to feed the baby by bottle...I don't remember if he said
cows milk or not...but I know that later we see Ma heating the bottle
and showing Mary how to test it on her wrist.

The baby still doesn't gain weight, so they end up taking him to the
city to see a specialist. No one knows what is wrong...they say this
just "sometimes happens and they don't know why" and the baby ends up
dying.

I believe this story is supposed to be taking place in the later
1800's...maybe between 1870-80...and I think that breastfeeding was the
norm, at least out on the Prairie where the Ingalls family was. Not
sure about the "fancy city folk" though.

Kathy

"ted" wrote in message
om...
When I was on maternity leave I used to watch lot of TV. I noticed
that in one of the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after the three
girls. The baby was shown being fed by a bottle. It was an infant and
he dies soon after due to some fever or something. I thought the
storyline is set around the time of Civilwar or earlier. Anyhow, I
thought in that day and age breastfeeding was quite common and
considered the major if not the only source of nutrition for the baby.
I didn't know they used bottles back then.


I can't say I've ever really watched the TV show, but I read the books as a
kid. I believe Laura wrote them in the 1930s but she was pretty old by then,
so maybe her youth would have been around the time of the Civil War(?)

ted wrote:
When I was on maternity leave I used to watch lot of TV. I noticed
that in one of the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after the three
girls. The baby was shown being fed by a bottle. It was an infant and
he dies soon after due to some fever or something. I thought the
storyline is set around the time of Civilwar or earlier.

The Civil War was 1861-1865. IRL that baby was born in Nov. of 1875 and
died at 9mos. The only reason given is that he started to lose weight and
could not be saved despite the doctor's efforts. I have no idea how the TV
show handled it though.

I can't wait until my kids are old enough for me to read them the book
series. My second grade teacher read it to us and at the end of the year we
went to DeSmet. I was lovin' it :-)

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Lucy wibbled
ted wrote
When I was on maternity leave I used to watch lot of TV. I
noticed that in one of the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after
the three girls. The baby was shown being fed by a bottle. It was
an infant and he dies soon after due to some fever or something.
I thought the storyline is set around the time of Civilwar or
earlier. Anyhow, I thought in that day and age breastfeeding was
quite common and considered the major if not the only source of
nutrition for the baby. I didn't know they used bottles back
then.

I can't say I've ever really watched the TV show, but I read the
books as a kid. I believe Laura wrote them in the 1930s but she
was pretty old by then, so maybe her youth would have been around
the time of the Civil War(?)

Laura was born in 1867, her sister Mary in 1865, so yes, just about
Civil War time. Charles Frederick Ingalls (Freddie) was born between
Carrie and Grace but AFAIK was not fed any way other than normally. He
died in Minnesota aged 9 months, after the family left Walnut Grove
(Plum Creek), and is part of the reason Laura never wrote about their
time in Iowa (where they moved to get over things, and where Grace was
born), and why On The Banks Of Plum Creek and By The Shores Of Silver
Lake have a gap between them, unlike the other books in the series.

Jac

"Jacqui" wrote in message
. 7...

Laura was born in 1867, her sister Mary in 1865, so yes, just about
Civil War time. Charles Frederick Ingalls (Freddie) was born between
Carrie and Grace but AFAIK was not fed any way other than normally. He
died in Minnesota aged 9 months, after the family left Walnut Grove
(Plum Creek), and is part of the reason Laura never wrote about their
time in Iowa (where they moved to get over things, and where Grace was
born), and why On The Banks Of Plum Creek and By The Shores Of Silver
Lake have a gap between them, unlike the other books in the series.

Jac

Wow! I didn't remember any of those details! Although it's been about 25
years since I read them!!!

Nikki wrote in message
I can't wait until my kids are old enough for me to read them the book
series. My second grade teacher read it to us and at the end of the year
we went to DeSmet. I was lovin' it.

I bought Allison (my 11-year-old) the series of books for Christmas. I loved
those books when I was a kid. I want to read them when she gets done again.
)
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

Nikki wrote:
The Civil War was 1861-1865. IRL that baby was born in Nov. of 1875 and
died at 9mos. The only reason given is that he started to lose weight and
could not be saved despite the doctor's efforts. I have no idea how the TV
show handled it though.

I can't wait until my kids are old enough for me to read them the book
series. My second grade teacher read it to us and at the end of the year we
went to DeSmet. I was lovin' it :-)

Me too; those and the Anne of Green Gables books (and others by the same
author) I can't *wait* for Sproutkin to be old enough for!

IIRC, Laura Wilder believed it was too sad a subject for a children's
book. I know that "The First Four Years" was only a rough draft, but
she did include the death of her own infant son in that one, which I
found interesting (and sad). And IRL I believe she was never able to
have another living baby after that. I've read speculation that it may
have been due to the long-term effects of malnutrition (during The Long
Winter), but she did have a healthy daughter so I'm not sure what the
current thought is there.


Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

(ted) wrote in message . com...
When I was on maternity leave I used to watch lot of TV. I noticed
that in one of the episodes Ma Ingalls has a son after the three
girls. The baby was shown being fed by a bottle. It was an infant and
he dies soon after due to some fever or something. I thought the
storyline is set around the time of Civilwar or earlier. Anyhow, I
thought in that day and age breastfeeding was quite common and
considered the major if not the only source of nutrition for the baby.
I didn't know they used bottles back then.

Curious... Are these shows recent or old reruns? Given that in past
decades they couldn't say "pregnant" on I Love Lucy and routinely
showed married couples in two single beds, they probably wouldn't have
shown mums whipping out their boobs on network television :-)

Alternatives to breastfeeding have always been around, if only for
situations where the mom's not around (died in childbirth, works in a
factory) or not producing sufficient milk. Historically most
alternatives had miserably high child mortality and were often a last
resort. Some nutty-looking contraptions have been used to get the
breastmilk alternative to the baby (hollowed out cow horn with a hole
in the tip, for one).

Kate
and the Bug, June 8 2003

Mary S. wrote:

And IRL I believe she was never able to
have another living baby after that.

I don't know if she conceived again later or not. I always suspected that
Almanzo was sterile after his severe illness (prolonged high fever can do
that).

--Helen