The Milk-Drinking Controversy
A late 19th-century public health debate in Seattle challenges traditional wisdom on how, and how often, to feed the city's infants.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
There has been much talk here regarding the feeding of infants, and the physician at the Seattle Sanitarium has been making known a new method. A mother, having been taught that an infant should be fed every time it cries, found that it led to sickness. The sanitarium attendant says that the infant should be fed only at stated hours, not every time it cries, as that is only a demand for water. The doctor at the sanitarium suggests that infants be fed every three hours, and that a little water be given in between.
“This shows that an infant should be fed every time it cries, and a little water given in between.”
This 1889 advice reflects a pivotal moment in pediatrics where doctors began shifting from 'demand feeding' to rigid, clock-based schedules, a trend that would dominate childcare for nearly a century before swinging back toward the responsive feeding models we advocate for today. The tension between tradition and 'scientific' medical advice is a recurring theme in Seattle’s parenting culture, mirroring the constant evolution of public health guidance in a growing city.
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