Infant care in lower-class rural Russia, from the time of the peasants to the middle of the 20th century followed basic traditional norms. These norms, though many were discouraged by medical officials, were strictly followed and passed down from village mothers to daughters.
Nutrition for Peasant Children
The introduction of solid foods into the diets of infants occurred as early as the first week of birth. Mothers in rural villages offered their children breast milk prior to and after coming home from a work day in the fields. Russian mothers believed this introduction of solid food would contribute to their children's rate of growth, even though doctors were appalled at this practice. Semolina kasha, bread, potatoes, and cow milk.
The soska was a rag pacifier filled with solid foods that was given to the child to suck on while its mother was away working the field. This rag pacifier was unhygienic, but Russian mothers swore by it to reduce crying and to provide some measure of sustenance during the day.
Infant Cribs and Swaddling
Many Russian mothers favored the hanging crib, which was a rectangular wooden bed with four sides suspended from rope so that it could maintain constant motion that was believed to quiet children. Doctors in Russia felt the constant swinging was dangerous – and indeed, children could fall out of the hanging crib or be strangled in the robe if the crib capsized. These cribs were often left to be supervised by older siblings that were much too young for the responsibility of caring for an infant. As a result, many a newborn was left on its own as its five-year-old babysitter became distracted by normal play.
Swaddling was also common practice. Swaddling involved wrapping the child tightly in cloth bands from shoulders to toes, binding the arms to the sides. Russian mothers felt that swaddling would keep their child calm, quiet, and warm, and help its legs “grow straight.” Rickets often cause bowed legs in young children, though this had nothing to do whether or not they were swaddled tightly by their mothers. Diapers eventually replaced swaddling, though until they came into everyday use, swaddling could cause babies to lie in their own waste until their mothers came home from the fields. Babies were typically only bathed once or twice a week; undoubtedly this contributed to the foul odor that pervaded peasant dwellings in rural Russia.
References
Ransel, David L. Village Mothers: Three Generations of Change in Russia and Tartaria. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
Semyonovova Tian-Shanskaia, Olga. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, ed. David L. Ransel, trans. David L. Ransel and Micahel Levine. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
