Hush, Little Baby, Do not Say a Word
The first beds for children were cradles, fromthe words "lulk" - lull. In Russia, they were also called "zybki", from the word "shaky" - motion sickness. They were hung with ropes to the ceiling and carefully, so that the child did not fall out, swayed. The first cradles were known from antiquity, they were hollowed out of wood or woven from pine drapes. In Siberia, there is a belief that God lowered the first man in the cradle, so the cradles were considered a guard for the child, the father carefully chose a tree in the forest for making the first bed for the newborn.
A photo: GettyImagesAlso made the cradles not suspended, but floor-mounted, with rounded pedestals, so that you could swing the child from side to side, people called them “Vanka-vstanka”. Richer families hired for rocking young children from poor village families. Remember the story of Chekhov "Vanya"? In it, nine-year-old Vanka Zhukov writes a letter “to the village of the grandfather” and complains that he was punished: he fell asleep while shaking the cradle with the master's baby. mattress in the corner. And his place was taken by the next newborn - the cradle was handed down from generation to generation.
Hundred years at lunch
And in the XVIII century, mass popularity gainedalready special beds for children. They were made according to the type of adults, only smaller, and were also used for several generations of children. And it was clear: the beds were massive, strong, the bottom did not bend, and therefore the bed did not harm the health and bearing of the baby. In other words, a hundred years ago the beds were made for centuries and did not save on materials. What can not be said about modern furniture, which is often made not of solid wood, but of pressed sawdust or plastic. Modern enterprises are interested in that all items, from washing machines, refrigerators and televisions to cabinets, sofas and cots, bought as often as possible, changing the old to the new. And because manufacturers are not too interested in things serving people for centuries. From here - a fashion, including on children's things, and some falling of quality.
Doctors will be horrified
Of course, the norms recommended by doctors andstandards for the production of cots are met. But agree, they break more often than the "grandmothers" and "grandfathers". Many parents know how often the bottom pillars fly out of their cots. Momma, passing the bed of his grown-up child to a friend who had a newborn, warned: “Be careful, there are a few rods in the side that flew out, make sure that the baby’s head does not get stuck.” And these are only external defects, and how many are about which they don’t even think about it, and any doctor, having learned about them, will be horrified!
Photo: GettyImagesNikolai Komov, pediatrician, teacher of the department of propedeutics of children's diseases with a course of childcare:
Of course, quality is most important. Sometimes it is better to bed with hands, but high quality than new, but consumer goods. When you buy a baby bed, be sure to look at the materials from which it is made. The bottom should be smooth, without dents and cracks, mattress - dense. A curved frame or a pressed mattress threatens a child with an incorrect formation of posture and musculoskeletal skeleton. And do not forget that in St. Petersburg (and probably not only here), communal apartments, where bed bugs are teeming, have not gone anywhere. These parasites make nests in furniture, including in cribs. I also met children from decent families who had lice. These insects, too, have not gone away. What to look for when choosing a used cot or crib 1. First of all, inspect the carcass and the bottom so that there are no bends, cracks and breakage in them. Remember the mattress: it should be elastic, dense, without dents and lumps. Inspect the joints of the details of the bed, they can hide bugs or their larvae. And the worst thing is the larvae of lice. They are much more difficult to notice, and there is a risk of detecting parasites in a couple of weeks when the baby is already at home.
