Child-rearing in Western Europe
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Transcript Child-rearing in Western Europe
Child-Rearing
in
Western Europe
Daniel Son
Per. 6
Prompt:
2001 – Analyze how and why Western European
attitudes toward children and child-rearing
changed in the period from 1750 – 1900.
Traditional Agrarian Europe
Women usually married late (30) but bore many
children until death (45)
About 50% had 6 or more children
1 in 5 were likely to die young
1 in 3 infants died in poorer areas
Fatal diseases usually afflicted the stomach and chest
Even the rich couldn’t save their children
Adults were often indifferent, neglectful and abusive
towards their children
Nursing
Lower class mothers saved lives by breast-feeding
their young for a longer period than normal
Milk provided necessary nutrients and immunities
Upper-class mothers left wet-nurses to take care of
their children
Wet-nurses were hired women who fed the babies
of the upper-class at the expense of nursing their
own children
Many wet-nurses were accused of passing down bad
habits
Some nurses were alleged to have killed the babies
of their clients in order to get more money from
other clients
Infanticide
Newborns, especially girls, were commonly left to
die when families became too large
The Church denounced infanticide and sentenced
violators to death
There were different methods of eliminating
babies: killing nurses, overlaying (“accidental”
suffocation), etc.
Abortion was illegal, dangerous, and rare
Foundlings
Young mothers began to leave babies at church
doorsteps when they could not care for them
Saint Vincent de Paul established a foundling home
(orphanage) because of the number of abandoned babies
Foundling homes became popular across Europe and
they became a favorite charity for the rich
Even at the best of the homes, infants suffered a 50%
mortality rate
Attitude Towards Children
Children of all socioeconomic classes were put “out
of sight and out of mind”
Frequent child deaths greatly influenced the lack of
emotional bonding with parents and their children
Doctors and clergymen encouraged emotional
detachment, but this led to disciplinary abuse
“Spare the rod and spoil the child.” – Daniel Defoe
Jean-Jacques Rousseau called for more love and
tenderness as well as more comfortable clothes
Parents delighted in loving their children which
resulted in a greater optimism about human
potential
Analysis
How?
Mothers began to
breast-feed their
children longer
Infanticide was
penalized and
foundling homes were
established
Children became more
loved and formed
emotional bonds with
their parents
Why?
Less children were
born and more of them
survived
The Church did not
approve of infanticide
and took pity on the
abandoned children
Critics called for the
better treatment of
children and this also
caused a growth in
optimism about human
potential