Old-Fashioned Baby Beliefs: Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting Folklore

Long before modern medicine and parenting books, families passed down all kinds of beliefs about pregnancy, childbirth, babies, and raising children. Some were meant to bring good luck, while others supposedly predicted a baby’s sex, appearance, personality, health, or future.

The following collection of old wives’ tales and folk beliefs comes from the Almanac archives and includes everything from pregnancy and birth superstitions to traditional beliefs about teething, walking, sleeping, and a baby’s future. These sayings are presented as folklore and historical curiosities—not medical advice.

Note: The beliefs below are historical folklore and old wives’ tales. They are not safe or medically recommended ways to care for a baby. Never use these practices on an infant.

Old Wives’ Tales About Conception

• Blow a dandelion seedball, and the number of seeds left on it will be the number of children you will have.
• Give away old baby clothes, and you will soon need them again.
• A couple who go to a movie within three days of getting married will have a baby.
• Attach your wedding ring to a string and dangle it inside a glass tumbler, asking, “How many children shall I have?” Count the number of times the ring strikes the side of the glass.
• If a woman leaves a diaper under a bed in another’s house, a baby will soon be born in that house.

Pregnancy Old Wives’ Tales: Boy or Girl?

• A baby conceived in the light of the Moon (from New Moon to Full Moon) will be a boy; a baby conceived in the dark of the Moon (from Full Moon to New Moon) will be a girl.
• If a woman has no morning sickness, she is carrying a boy.
• If the mother eats grapefruit before conceiving, the child will be a girl.
• To have a boy, a woman should hold a nickel in her mouth at the time of conception. 
• A baby carried high is a boy; low, a girl.

Old Wives’ Tales About Childbirth

• Labor pains can be eased by putting an axe under the bed.
• If a laboring woman wears her husband’s hat, her pain will be lessened. 

Folklore About a Baby’s Appearance

• To make a child grow tall, put manure inside the baby’s shoes.
• To make a child grow faster, sweep the child’s feet with a broom.
• Washing babies in urine makes them handsome.
• A woman frightened by fire during pregnancy will have a red-haired child.
• Heartburn during pregnancy signifies a child with lots of hair.

Baby Personality and Birth Superstitions

• The child will grow up with a disposition just like that of the first person who takes them outdoors.
• A child born in the light of the Moon will be intelligent.
• A child born on a stormy night will be nervous.
• A child born with a cowlick will be stubborn; a baby with two cowlicks will be bright. 
• A baby who never falls out of bed during his first year will grow up a fool.

Baby Luck and Future Prospects

• On your first visit to a new baby, kiss the soles of her feet for good luck.
• Don’t take the baby downhill on her first trip away from home. Her fortunes will sink.
• Rub the baby’s tongue with a slice of apple immediately after birth, and he will have a good singing voice.
• A child born foot foremost can’t be kept in jail.
• A child born with a caul will be able to tell fortunes. 

Old Baby Superstitions About Health and Sickness

• Burn the first dirty diaper, and the child will have no stomach cramps.
• If the child is croupy, mix a lock of her hair with the mortar in a new house.
• For croup, feed the baby jaybird soup.
• Lay a grunting child in the pigpen to make him stop.
• Letting a puppy lick the baby’s face after eating prevents illness.

Old Baby Superstitions About Health and Sickness

• The first time you dress your baby, use old clothes. New clothes will bring bad luck.
• Putting a baby on an ironing board is bad luck.
• Never keep the baby’s shoes above his head.
• Don’t cut the baby’s hair in the first year, or the child will be tongue-tied.
• Never hand a baby over a fence or through a window; it brings bad luck.

Folklore About Learning to Walk

• Set the baby behind the front door for nine mornings, and she will learn to walk sooner.
• If the baby is slow to walk, bury him naked in earth up to his waist with a string tied around his ankle.
• Run up and down stairs with an infant to make it spry.
• Tie a quail’s toenail to a baby’s ankle, and he will be quick on his feet.

Old Wives’ Tales About Teething

• To ease teething, rub the baby’s gums with fresh rabbit brains.
• Cut a sprig of greenery, name it after the baby, and hang it in a corner. When teething hurts the baby, point at the greenery, and the pain will stop.
• Don’t let the baby wear his father’s hat before he’s a year old; this will make teething difficult.
• Hang a mole’s paw around the baby’s neck to ease soothing pains.
• If a baby slobbers, draw a live minnow through his mouth three times, then throw the minnow back into a stream.

Baby Sleep Superstitions

• A fretful child can be calmed by holding her out in the rain for a few minutes.
• Blow smoke in a baby’s ear to put him to sleep.
• Put a crying child in the doorway and sweep dust over her to calm her.
• A baby who smiled in his sleep is listening to angels. 

Have a folklore or old saying to share? Please post below.