Description |
1 online resource (viii, 328 pages) : illustrations (some color) |
Contents |
Sleep and the Laws of Nature: Liberty and Disarray -- Sleep and the Laws of Habit: Regulation and Control -- The Institution of Motherhood: Vigilance and Bliss -- Ambivalent Mothering: Tediousness and Depression -- The Commodification of Sleep: Space, Clothing, and Toys -- The Cradle of Life: Hygiene and Social Standing |
Summary |
"In the nineteenth century France became fixated on infant sleep. Pictures of sleeping babies proliferated in paintings, posters, and advertisements for cradles and toys. Childcare manuals and medical writings insisted on the importance of sleep as a measure of a child's future health and vigour. Infant sleep was transformed from an unremarkable event to a precarious stage of life that demanded monitoring, support, and, above all, the constant presence and attention of mothers. Hush Little Baby uncovers the cultural, medical, and economic forces that came to shape Western ideas about infants' sleeping patterns, rituals, and settings. By the mid-nineteenth century doctors were advising that infant sleep should be carefully controlled by caregivers according to medical guidelines, and that to do otherwise would risk compromising a child's development. A sleeping baby was seen as the sign of a good mother--an idea that was reinforced through countless pictures of mothers watching vigilantly over their sleeping children, even as the reality of postpartum depression was known to doctors. The medical advice literature also helped to create a commercial infant industry, encouraging the production of clothing, bedding, cradles, and accessories designed to foster sleep, and providing new ways for families to demonstrate social status. In Hush Little Baby Gal Ventura shows how these images and ideas about babies' sleep created many of the standards and expectations that keep parents awake today."-- Provided by publisher |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 07, 2023) |
Subject |
Infants -- Sleep -- France -- History -- 19th century
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Sleeping customs -- France -- History -- 19th century
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Motherhood -- France -- History -- 19th century
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Infants -- Care -- France -- History -- 19th century
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Infants' supplies industry -- France -- History -- 19th century
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HISTORY / Europe / France
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Infants -- Care
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Infants -- Sleep
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Infants' supplies industry
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Motherhood
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Sleeping customs
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France
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Genre/Form |
History
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Form |
Electronic book
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ISBN |
9780228018384 |
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0228018382 |
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