Infant's binder
Encyclopedia
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
for infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
s. Infant's binders were introduced in the nineteenth century, after swaddling
Swaddling
Swaddling is an age-old practice of wrapping infants in swaddling cloths, blankets or similar cloth so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant...
had become unpopular, and were in several forms, shapes and materials in use till well into the twentieth century. Some say the binder was used to obtain a proper posture, others see it as a preparation for later proper corset wearing, or as a way to diminish the baby's restlessness. By tightening the infant's binder the care giver could lower the yell and squall from the baby.