Baby food in 12th c. England

[wiseheart]

I'm writing a Cadfael story, and one of my characters has just born a child some two weeks ago. She doesn't have enough milk to feed the baby, and neither is a suitable wet nurse to find. So, what would she give the baby? Cow milk? Some mashed vegetables

Comments

[wiseheart]

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually, the mother does have some milk, just not enough. So she only needs to help out with the amount, not substitute breast feeding completely.

[conuly]

That's still hard. Babies that age can't digest anything *but* breastmilk easily - that's why formula-fed babies have stinkier poo. (And formula is quite a modern achievement!)

How little milk does she have?

[wiseheart]

Enough to nurse the baby twice the day but not more. She used to have a wet nurse who did the rest for two weeks or so but suddenly died, so now they're having the problem.

[conuly]

Well, the solution to not having enough milk is, as said below, to nurse more. If the baby fusses, stick them on the breast. They're bound to have known that then.