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Author Explores Lives of 'Practice Babies' Once Raised on College Campuses
Filed under: Adoption, Books for Parents, Celeb News & Interviews
This semester, we'll be studying art history, geology and baby-raising. Credit: Getty
From 1919 to 1969, infants -- called "practice babies" -- were delivered from orphanages to the home economics classrooms of U.S. colleges and universities, where young women were taught the science of mothering, NPR reports.
These "practice mothers" were taught Donna Reed-like domestic arts: cooking, cleaning, running a household and being a mom. According to NPR, the infants were essentially raised by teams of college coeds.
The campus approach to parenting served as the inspiration for author Lisa Grunwald's novel "The Irresistible Henry House," leading her to take a deeper look into what life was like for practice babies and their college-aged "moms."
ParentDish caught up with Grunwald, 50, mom to Elizabeth, 18, and Jonny, 13, via phone from her New York City apartment. An edited version of the interview follows.
ParentDish: How did you discover these "practice babies?"
Lisa Grunwald: I was working on an anthology of letters written by American women at the turn of the century. I was trying to study what life was like for mothers at the time, famous and not, and was seeking the secrets of women who aspired to be Betty Crocker. I expected to find letters about making good casseroles.
But I stumbled on the Corenell University website about home economics. There, I found this snapshot of the most beguiling baby with this roguish grin who had been a "practice baby." His name was Bobby Domecon and he had been cared for by about a dozen women who took turns being his "practice mom." Domecon, is short for "domestic economics." All of the babies at Cornell had the last name: Domecon. At Illinois State University, the babies all had the last name North or South.
PD: What inspired you to write the book, and why fiction?
LG: When I first read about this, I thought it was sort of weird and a little bit creepy. But I was gripped by Bobby's story and wanted to know more. So, I found out he'd arrived malnourished, very scrawny and not healthy, but that by the time he turned 4 months old in the "practice baby" setting, he was robust and obviously much healthier. I wanted to explore this further, but there was no real information on what happened to the babies after they were returned to the orphanages as toddlers and then were adopted. I had to make it fiction.
PD: What was the thinking behind colleges setting up "practice baby" programs?
LG: At the time in which this took place, everything was considered a possible opportunity for a scientific approach, and child care was no exception. The practice houses really embraced the idea that you could learn mothering the same way you learned cooking or learned chemistry -- everything was learnable, and systems were really important. I also discovered that many of the babies were in the orphanages because their families had fallen on hard times and couldn't care for their babies. The orphanages and colleges figured this was a better place for babies to be, to be cared by a team of "moms" and with all the scientific parenting practices in place -- a strict diet, regimented nap times, etc.
PD: How widespread was the "practice baby" phenomenon?
LG: I discovered that by the 1950s, there were 40 or 50 colleges and universities throughout the country who had this program in place, or something very similar. According to one 1952 estimate, there were 41 practice baby programs around the country, including ones at Eastern Illinois State, Oregon State University, Iowa State University, East Tennessee State University and Montana State University. At Cornell University for example, eight women students lived with a resident advisor in the "practice apartment."
PD: What where you looking to discover about these babies?
LG: There are all kinds of theories on parenting babies, from Doctor Spock to the idea of attachment disorder for babies who don't form a reliable attachment with one person, and I wanted to see how children developed without that. I found that these babies would have two or three "moms" within the course of a day, and 10 or more all told. They'd take turns being "the mother" so one might put the baby to sleep for a nap, and another would be the "mom" getting the baby out of the crib.
PD: Describe how the classes worked.
LG: At Cornell, "Practice, 126," was a required course for a Bachelor of Science in home economics. Half a dozen or more students worked rotating shifts of five weeks each, weighing and measuring, feeding and changing, taking the baby out for walks and losing sleep when he cried at night. The babies were supplied by child welfare groups and leased on contract by the universities before they were eventually returned to the orphanages and put up for adoption. The "moms" were very proud of their role and even kept scrapbooks of the baby's milestones.
PD: What has happened to the practice babies?
LG: Adoption records were hard to come by and there was no evidence, because the babies weren't followed and studied as they grew up. Just a couple weeks ago, I got my first call from a woman who said her mom was one of the practice moms, but I haven't had a chance to follow up yet. So, because I couldn't find out what happened to them, I figured it would be better to try to imagine what happened. It makes a much yummier novel.
PD: What discoveries did you make about parenting from studying the practice babies?
LG: When I first heard about this, I imagined I would discover a cautious tale about over-parenting or under-parenting, or something that would show me if I did right or wrong as a mom with my own two kids. I considered myself the opposite of a helicopter mom when they were little.
But I discovered that the theories on parenting are always changing. During the early part of the century, the thinking was that virtually anything could be improved by science, so, if transportation, communication and health could, why not motherhood? And there was no evidence that this was wrong, as most of the babies were returned to the orphanages physically healthier then when they arrived.
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 5)
2-24-2011 @ 4:37PM
betsysue said...i was one of those babies and until this article did not realize that there were colleges other than the one where i was that had practice babies.
i was fortunate because by the spring semester, my adoptive parents had found me and i came into a happy, loving family.
there are no regrets on my part, i'm pleased i was able to be in a program. but the college has seemed embarrassed about it all which makes me sad.
there are probably other people out there who did not have the good fortune to have the life that i have had, but i will always be grateful for my opportunity. if not for it, i think that my life would have been very deprived.
Reply
2-24-2011 @ 5:00PM
GRAMPS said...In my last post, I was referring to betsysue above....sorry ParentDish can not post in the right place, but again.
YEA!!!!!
2-24-2011 @ 4:42PM
mary said...wow, looked up bobby domecon, his birth wieght was 8 lb, but when he was recieved at cornell two months later he was only 6lbs, thats ALOT! it must have been terrible for those girls to know they were sending babies back to the environment where there recieved such poor care, and even more terrible for those babies, one can only hope that they were quickly adopted into loving families. i hope we see a follow-up article on this.
Reply
2-24-2011 @ 4:45PM
Hattie Crabtree said...Its sad that families had to give up the babies and kids coz of lack of $$ or a spouse died.The orphanages were pretty full until the 1970's.One near me closed and another one is mostly full of troubled minority kids.
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2-24-2011 @ 4:57PM
GRAMPS said...YEA!!!!!!!
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2-24-2011 @ 4:59PM
Bopco said...I hope this woman's book doesn't sell a single copy!!! Fiction or not, You'd think finding out about the existence of these poor orphane kids, would make a person do a little digging, not come up with a fantasy about them???
Reply
2-24-2011 @ 5:14PM
rae said...I was 18 when I had my own first child. I learned alot about parenting real quick it didn't hurt me none. I actually think it's a program that should still be. Most of us moothers come into motherhood with very little practice
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2-24-2011 @ 5:12PM
hkuhn1 said...This is my confirmation response. Not for publication as a comment. Where is the link to comfirm my comment? Thank you.
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2-24-2011 @ 5:15PM
J V L said...These people were the same ones who taught that babies should be fed on a schedule, not demand-feeding and that bottle-feeding using Karo syrup was far superior to breast milk.
Of course, they aren't speaking of the "failure-to-thrive babies" whose mothers didn't cuddle them (babies who avoided eye contact, among other bonding issues).
Nowadays, the teachers of "parenting" classes (I haven't heard of a home ec class in middle or high school in a couple of decades) give the teens a five pound bag of flour or a robot baby doll with a computer chip.
Why? Because babies stay with unwed mothers who now qualify for AFDC, food stamps, and assorted other welfare benefits, including healthcare, dental care, eye care, preschool and before and after school programs.
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2-24-2011 @ 5:43PM
What?! said...We can take some workshop how to rear the baby. By the way, I think too many single moms are killing our nation. Thanks to ACLU. Fact!
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2-24-2011 @ 5:51PM
Hattie Crabtree said...Rae,were you married when your child was born?
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2-24-2011 @ 6:01PM
John said...If you want depressing, see what you can find about the ORPHAN trains that shipped city kids out west to be "adopted" by families so they could work in the fields or barns with the livestock. Thousands of these trains shipped hundreds of thousands of these children out west. Supposedly they were to be checked up on and otherwise protected but many died or were killed and were buried without any fanfare. That is the origination of the term cowboys. Many were indeed just boys. Check it out yourself. Just remember our history is sanitized as it appears in most books.
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2-24-2011 @ 6:10PM
cts1100wbog said...in the 40's and 50's this world was not as we know it today -- young women were mature in a not so fast electronic world
Reply
2-25-2011 @ 9:48AM
Kathy said...I really wish they would start something like this in high school. It would be great for the babies. They usually don't get hugged, held or played with enough. These things are so important the first few months of a baby's life. I think it would help the future parents also. 18 year old back then were so much more responsible then 18 year old today.
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2-24-2011 @ 6:36PM
Lips said...I am adopted and so is my sister, before we were adopted my mother did this sort of thing. Every few Saturday's she would go to an orphanage and pick up a little girl, she would take her to movies, shopping shows and so forth. These were just afternoon outtings, but according to my Mother it made all the difference in how she riased us. The sad part of today's society is that even in high school students get no training. I think that Home Ec and Shop classes have been done away with altogether. They should be brought back and made maditory that all High School Students should take 1 year of Home Ec and 1 year of Shop Classes. Just sayinn!!!!!
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2-24-2011 @ 8:53PM
Alison said...I'm in High School and I'm in a college credit applicable course called Early Childhood Education. I can get 9 college credits from thos course. We do more than just sit in a class room: we observe and work in daycares, we run a preschool, and we student teach in the local elementary school. There is another more basic course called Child Development that teaches the basics of raising babies and how babies develop. At the end of the double-semester course, you take a computer-generated baby home for the night and deal with caring for him or her. It's an amazing experience that I'm thankful for my HIGH SCHOOL for offering.
2-24-2011 @ 6:47PM
Gina said...I saw a program on TV called 'Baby Boomers'. I thought that show was fantastic. If teen-agers of today were given the reponsiblity of child care, I'm sure there wouldn't be so much teen pregnancy. Babies require alot of attention and care. At the least these girls of the 50's were being taught how to do it right. Maybe something like this is needed again. I'm sure child abuse and negliect would decrease as a result.
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2-24-2011 @ 9:46PM
Pat said...Senior girls at Iowa State College in the college of Home Economics were required to live in Home Management houses for 6 weeks. I "drew" the straw to go to Des Moines, and with a counselor, we picked up our baby and brought him back. I so fell in love with him that I asked my parents to adopt him until I married in June. They emphatically said, "No!" We did the planning, cooking, taking care of the baby, and found we were much better prepared for marriage and a family of our own. Today, I volunteer teach parenting courses, and I wish every young woman could have this type of guidance and experience.
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2-24-2011 @ 7:45PM
Ed said...I'll probably get a lot of criticism for this but I think this was a wonderful idea in the 50s. Imagine a world where women actually wanted to study how to be a good wife, mother, cook, and homemaker. A world where women actually raised their children instead of letting a low paid day care worker do it and took pride in the task. Of course there were exceptions when women's husbands died or divorced them but that's when the family took over and helped. No one desired to be a single parent relying on tax payers money to get by. Some of those college students might have even adopted some of those orphans after they married and established a home. Yes, call me old fashioned but I don't wonder why todays youths are so disrespectful and out of control.
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2-24-2011 @ 8:53PM
Alison said...I agree completely! It's also beneficial for the child, because instead of being neglected (intentionally or unintentionally) in an orphanage, they were with someone who was there to care for them 24/7!