A popular Victorian poem describes the Victorian baby as "the bald-headed tyrant." This beloved tyrant rules the family, who worship at his feet. Articles of the day alternate between sentimental and scientific. Infant mortality, sadly, was still extremely high even by the end of the Victorian period. While the rate was considerably lower for the class of person who was most likely to be reading child-care articles in magazines like these, it was still at or above 10% even in higher-class families, and as high as 50% in big-city slums. Perhaps that helps explain why those babies who survived could, indeed, become the household's beloved bald-headed tyrants!

Treatment of Infants (Peterson's, 1858)

Time for Weaning Infants (Godey's, 1860)

The Baby (Harper's Monthly, 1876A)

A humorous look at babyhood.

A Belgian Day Nursery, by Lady Georgina Vernon (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

King Baby: Some Experiences of a Young Mother (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Management of Infants (monthly column) (Peterson's, 1879)

How to Wash and Dress the Baby, by Ruth Lamb (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

In the first years of The Girl's Own Paper, the editors could not seem to decide whether this was a publication for young girls or young women, so this article focuses on how "young nurses" (i.e., a baby's older sisters) could help care for an infant.

The Nursery (Collier's Cyclopedia, 1882)

How to Choose a Christian Name, by Henry Bradley (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

King Baby's Wardrobe (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

A Healthy Nursery (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Nursery Accidents, and What to Do for Them (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

The Baby's Christening, by Frances E. Lanigan (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

All you need to know, from invitations to menu to the christening gown.

The Baby’s Layette, by Isabel A. Mallon (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

Wardrobe tips for the baby.

Hints from a Mother's Life, by Mrs. William Gladstone (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

Tips on baby care.

Mothers' Corner, by Elizabeth Robinson Scovil (Ladies’ Home Journal, 1892)

A monthly column on parenting, primarily of infants.

Nursery Accidents (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Baby Incubators, by James Walter Smith (The Strand, 1896B)

For His Highness the Baby, by Isabel A. Mallon (Ladies Home Journal, 1896)

Clothes and furnishings for the baby.

Ships that Go to Lullaby Land, by James Thomson (Ladies Home Journal, 1896)

Tips on preparing cradles and cribs.

At a Baby Show, by Framley Steelcroft (The Strand, 1897B)

Queen Baby and Her Wants/Needs, by Mrs. Lina Orman Cooper (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

A nice overview of childcare, including helpful products, patterns for garments, and how to tend a variety of illnesses.

Indigestion, by "The New Doctor" (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

Another grim statistic: "The majority of deaths under a year old is due to wrong feeding." The author goes on to note, "Some people have the most extraordinary notions of the value of infants' lives; some do not consider the death of a baby as anything serious!"

Has Baby a Clever Head? by Gertrude Bacon (Strand, 1901A)

Efforts to determine babies' intellectual potential by measurements of the head.

• See also Children's Health