Baby shortening!!!

[Parrot24]

I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about 'baby shortening' ?

I was having a conversation about babies with my mother (born and bred in Accy) on Sunday and she suddenly came out with ....
mum:-"well you were in your longs till you were shortened"
me:-"what?"
mum:-"you wore your longs till you were shortened"
me:-"what are you on about"
mum:-"well you were kept in there long nighties till we went to church when you were 3 months old and had a shortening ceremony, then you could go into proper dresses and visit people"

So I was just wondering if anyone else has heard of this or whether I had slipped into a parallel universe ...she is 77 but I'm sure she has all her marbles!!!...lol..Please help

[cashman]

well thats a new un on me never heard of that un.

[heth]

I aint heard of that............

[jaysay]

Na defo a new one on me too

[katex]

Nor me ... sounds feasible though.

When I had my daughter in 1965 .... she was in long nightdresses until about 6 weeks old, most parents did this (even the boys), but then, much later in 1982, when my son was born, fashions had changed tremendously and lots of baby grows, cute outfits, etc.

[Parrot24]

I was born in 1962 in Accrington...so I wondered if it was a northern thing !!!...it's the going to church to a shortening service that got me !!!...oh well it will stay a mystery I should think ...lol

[susie123]

Originally Posted by katex

Nor me ... sounds feasible though.

When I had my daughter in 1965 .... she was in long nightdresses until about 6 weeks old, most parents did this (even the boys), but then, much later in 1982, when my son was born, fashions had changed tremendously and lots of baby grows, cute outfits, etc.

As Kate says, long nighties were the norm - I remember my brother and sister, twins born in 1950, wearing them. It's the ceremony that's the baffling bit.

Amazing how babygros changed everythiing.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have a very vague idea...in the back of my cranium that it was traditional to keep babies in long clothes(even boy babies wore dresses for a long time) until they Christened......A new mother was churched at six weeks after the birth...until then the mother was not really allowed out for social events.....churching seen as a cleansing event to rid the mother of the stain of original sin.......it is just that I can't recall hearing of a ceremony specifically to allow the babe into short nightwear/clothes.
Ma is 84.......will ask her if she can throw any light on the subject.

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I have a very vague idea...in the back of my cranium that it was traditional to keep babies in long clothes(even boy babies wore dresses for a long time) until they Christened......A new mother was churched at six weeks after the birth...until then the mother was not really allowed out for social events.....churching seen as a cleansing event to rid the mother of the stain of original sin.......it is just that I can't recall hearing of a ceremony specifically to allow the babe into short nightwear/clothes.
Ma is 84.......will ask her if she can throw any light on the subject.

My mother explained this 'Churching ceremony' to me. Soon after my birth she went to St Pauls Ossy to attend a sunday service and was refused entry because she had not been 'churched'.

She says she did not regard herself as 'unclean' and this prompted her to abandon religion.

I gave birth in the days before babygros. Long white cotton nighties over wool vests were the conventional wear for newborns of both sexes.

In my mother's generation, baby boys wore frocks until they were out of nappies - made nappy changing easier I suppose.

[Parrot24]

Yes...that's it ...churched that what she said ...so it must have been 6 weeks not 3 months , and she did say it wasn't acceptable to visit people before this with a new born ..the clothes thing must just have been incidental .
Well thank you all for sorting this mystery out ... your help is much appreciated

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Parrot24

I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about 'baby shortening' ?

I was having a conversation about babies with my mother (born and bred in Accy) on Sunday and she suddenly came out with ....
mum:-"well you were in your longs till you were shortened"
me:-"what?"
mum:-"you wore your longs till you were shortened"
me:-"what are you on about"
mum:-"well you were kept in there long nighties till we went to church when you were 3 months old and had a shortening ceremony, then you could go into proper dresses and visit people"

So I was just wondering if anyone else has heard of this or whether I had slipped into a parallel universe ...she is 77 but I'm sure she has all her marbles!!!...lol..Please help

Its an old fashioned thing to do with fear induced suspicion of child birth, by religion, and the time up to the christening, christening is the shortening ceremony.
I have never been christened..

[Margaret Pilkington]

You are welcome Parrot...always glad to be of service.
After my daughter was born the vicar of the local parish church came to see us, and asked when I was going to come and be 'churched'....I told him that I didn't regard the birth of a baby as a stain of original sin.......and told him that that was what female members of my family had said was the reason behind 'Churching'........he said it wasn't that at all, it was to thank God for the safe delivery of a healthy baby.......I told him that I still wouldn't be attending, as I could do that in the privacy of my own home if that was what I wanted.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I have a very vague idea...in the back of my cranium that it was traditional to keep babies in long clothes(even boy babies wore dresses for a long time) until they Christened......A new mother was churched at six weeks after the birth...until then the mother was not really allowed out for social events.....churching seen as a cleansing event to rid the mother of the stain of original sin.......it is just that I can't recall hearing of a ceremony specifically to allow the babe into short nightwear/clothes.
Ma is 84.......will ask her if she can throw any light on the subject.

Yes Margaret - agree with you on all that. Perhaps your Ma will be able to help.

Found the following which does mention the word shortening on a fascinating website about the cotton industry

Spinning the Web > Clothing & products > Childrens wear

Babies 1890 - 1940
The major revolution in babies wear in this period was the introduction of terry towelling for nappies and the first pairs of rubber pants. Babies were no longer swaddled ('long clothes' were worn for the first few months of life) but dressed in smock shaped 'shortening' dresses which reached only to the baby's ankle instead of trailing. These dresses, in white or cream cotton fabrics, had small yokes and long sleeves and were trimmed at the hem with embroidery or hand made lace. The 'New American Shape' had no bodice and the yoke ended at the armholes. Raglan sleeves were used for dresses and nightgowns.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Its an old fashioned thing to do with fear induced suspicion of child birth, by religion, and the time up to the christening, christening is the shortening ceremony.
I have never been christened..

Yes, I thought that was it........I can recall babies not wearing shortened nightgowns/dresses until after the Christening....it was something to do with the less of the child that was visible to evil forces(the devil), the less likely the evil forces were to take the soul of the baby......once the baby had been christened it wasn't of any interest to the evil forces....its' soul had been given to God.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Parrot24

Yes...that's it ...churched that what she said ...so it must have been 6 weeks not 3 months , and she did say it wasn't acceptable to visit people before this with a new born ..the clothes thing must just have been incidental .
Well thank you all for sorting this mystery out ... your help is much appreciated

A bit more digging produced this from Wikipedia so six weeks would have been about right...

The usual date of churching was the fortieth day after confinement (or giving birth), in accordance with the Biblical date and Jewish practice. Under Mosaic law as found in the Old Testament, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for thirty-three days "in the blood of her purification." This was reflected in the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus at the Temple being commemorated forty days after Christmas.