Baby Food

Historically, babies were fed with breast milk provided by their own mothers or wet nurses. Solid foods were usually not introduced until the fourth month or later. The norm at the beginning of the twentieth century was for an infant to be nourished with mother’s milk through the first year. A small percentage of infants were dry-nursed with formulas, called pap, made of boiled flour or sugar and water, tea, or animal’s milk. In the United States, however, the decades from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries saw a shift in feeding patterns for infants, as bottled formula was introduced to be followed as early as six weeks after birth by manufactured baby foods. The rise of industrialism and consumerism transformed the practice of infant feeding, and the increased use of commercial formula and baby food was accompanied by lively public discourse over the meaning of motherhood, child rearing, and nutrition.