My assumption was that Ovid would be weaned onto mushy veggies, just like Izzy, except that his wouldn’t come in convenient little jars and tins from the supermarket. Then I consulted Dr Thomas Bull’s 1840 manual, The Maternal Management of Children, in Health and Disease, and discovered that nineteenth-century babies were weaned onto things like boiled cereals, which were sieved and mixed with milk. Sometimes they were started on flour boiled with milk and water. Dr Bull also suggested “tops and bottoms, steeped in hot water, with the addition of fresh milk and loaf sugar to sweeten”. Tops and bottoms of what? Carrots? Swedes? No, there’s not a vegetable to be seen in the weaning plan of C19th infants. “Tops and bottoms” are apparently small rolls of dough, baked, cut in halves and then baked in the oven, used as food for infants. Mmmmm, not much nutritional value. Dr Bull said beef tea and chicken broth could be added occasionally, along with a little cooked egg. “Animal food” was strongly discouraged as being bad for the digestion, however sugar was regarded as a necessary condiment, as was salt, which stimulated the digestion and prevented worms! Fruit was OK, and water the preferred beverage, although apparently toast-and-water might be more palatable. [Really? This seems to be a drink for infants and invalids found in a number of old recipe books. Toasted (but not burnt) bread is soaked in water and then strained. It’s supposedly a refreshing drink. Can I bring myself to try it?] Finally, Dr Bull spoke out strongly against the maternal practice of giving wine, beer or any stimulant to any child, except medicinally!
From around twelve to 24 months, Dr Bull suggested the following meal plan :
Its breakfast between seven and eight o’clock, to consist of tops and bottoms, steeped in hot water, a little milk added, and the whole sweetened with sugar; or bread may be softened in hot water, the latter drained off, and fresh milk and sugar added to the bread. Its dinner about twelve o’clock, to consist, every other day, of a small quantity of animal food (chicken, fresh mutton, or beef, being the only meats allowed) with a little bread and water; on the alternate days, well boiled rice and milk, a plain bread, sago, tapioca, or arrow-root pudding, containing one egg; or farinaceous food, with beef-tea. Its afternoon meal, about four o’clock, the same diet as formed the breakfast. At seven, a little arrow-root, made with a very small proportion of milk, or a biscuit, or a crust of bread, after which the child should be put to bed.
Still not a vegetable in sight!
The weaning of Ovid Norgrove is something of a puzzle for me. These days, solids start appearing in baby’s diets after 6 months. Back then, Dr Bull was suggesting between 9 and 12 months as the optimum time to start introducing solids. His view was that with mother and baby in good health, weaning shouldn’t be delayed after 12 months of age. His colleague Dr Jacobi agreed, noting that while many mothers continue breast-feeding to prevent conception, sometimes until the child is four years old, breast-feeding is not a guaranteed way of avoiding pregnancy. However, Sarah tells us that on the voyage to New Zealand, Ovid was breast-fed; she didn’t start weaning him until they reached New Zealand 4½ months later. The Gertrude sailed from England on Ovid’s first birthday, so he would have 16 months old before she started weaning him off the breast. His brother Oscar was conceived about 3 months later, so either the breast-feeding or the close proximity of the neighbours on Gertrude had been acting as contraception!
Rations weren’t provided for children under one year of age on the immigrant ships – they were expected to be breastfed. However, a number of “comforts” were provided for the breast-feeding mums and their babies – stout for the mums, and good old sago, tapioca and arrow-root for the babies. Chances are Ovid actually started on solids while on Gertrude – the cereals, a little bread soaked in preserved milk, and maybe a ship’s biscuit to gnaw on when his teeth started to come through. Once in New Zealand, fresh cow’s milk was available – he had his first taste within hours of coming ashore – but if Sarah followed the traditional approach, he probably didn’t see a mashed vegetable until he was much older. Sarah had eight siblings; twins Alfred and Anne were born when she was five, and by the time she turned eight, she had five brothers and sisters. No doubt she had been helping her mother raise babies since she was a small child; sister Caroline was born six months after Sarah had Ovid, so she went straight from caring for her siblings to raising her own babies. She probably did the same things with her children as her mother did, and fed them the same sorts of foods as her mother, and her mother’s mother, had traditionally prepared.
So there we are. Nineteenth century baby food was cereals and breads, seasoned with salt and sugar – not quite as nutritious as what modern babies receive, but less likely to stain than when baby lovingly wipes a face-full of mushy pumpkin all over mum’s blouse.
