Twilight Goblin
Dreamer
The only story I know that has an infant in it as the main character is 'Willow'. My question: Would it work for a story? I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure if they would work.
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Babies in Fantasy
- Thread starter Twilight Goblin
- Start date
Saigonnus
Auror
Depends on the story... as long as you consider the necessities of the baby I think anything could work. They need their "diaper" changed regularly, feedings, someone to take them where they need to be in the scheme of the story... warm clothing and a fairly comfortable place to sleep.
psychotick
Auror
Hi,
Loved Willow, but the baby's not the main character. She's simply the subject of the story.
Cheers, Greg.
Loved Willow, but the baby's not the main character. She's simply the subject of the story.
Cheers, Greg.
Where there are women, there are babies. Of course, I have four myself. One in five women who crossed the Great Plains as pioneers were pregnant, so there's no doubt they can make a journey, and other than the fact that women DO NOT go into labor in a field, have a baby and go back to work... I see no reason you can't include a baby. Babies are pretty easy to care for, if you keep them wrapped up against your body they pretty much sleep all day.
Now a toddler... oh the humanity. An adventuring party could be brought to its knees by my two-year-old daughter. Yep, she's that evil... could be funny.
Now a toddler... oh the humanity. An adventuring party could be brought to its knees by my two-year-old daughter. Yep, she's that evil... could be funny.
Myth Weaver
Graylorne
Archmage
I've a female MC in a WIP who has to adventure with her baby, so I'm much encouraged by your words, Caged Maiden.
If you need any help with that, send me a PM. I have had four babies in the last six years and am pretty much an expert at this point. I can help you with any details you might need regarding infant nature and motherly instinct and the like. I took my babies everywhere and could definitely expound on what traveling while pregnant, labor on the road, or carrying a newborn on an adventure would feel like.
I have written three or four pregnant women in my novels, and have a baby I follow through to adulthood. So for me, I wonder why you don't see it more too. Babies are a fact of life. The only thing that puts me off are like in Legend of the Seeker, where that one woman has a baby in like twenty minutes and then gets up and keeps running with the group of refugees... Yeah. The pain is overwhelming before you get to the pushing bit, she wouldn't have given a rat's behind who was on her trail she would have abandoned the group the moment her instincts kicked in and told her pursuers she was going to rip their arms off and beat them to death with them if they caught up to her. And sorry, not to be crude, but if it's your first baby... you're not getting up and WALKING anywhere.
I have written three or four pregnant women in my novels, and have a baby I follow through to adulthood. So for me, I wonder why you don't see it more too. Babies are a fact of life. The only thing that puts me off are like in Legend of the Seeker, where that one woman has a baby in like twenty minutes and then gets up and keeps running with the group of refugees... Yeah. The pain is overwhelming before you get to the pushing bit, she wouldn't have given a rat's behind who was on her trail she would have abandoned the group the moment her instincts kicked in and told her pursuers she was going to rip their arms off and beat them to death with them if they caught up to her. And sorry, not to be crude, but if it's your first baby... you're not getting up and WALKING anywhere.
- Thread starter
- #8
Twilight Goblin
Dreamer
I was thinking a 'chosen one' storyline, with a Moses twist.
- Thread starter
- #9
Twilight Goblin
Dreamer
Your spawn just spawned many ideas.
- Thread starter
- #10
Twilight Goblin
Dreamer
So a lot of it revolves around the baby being kept hidden by this group of nomads by keeping it in a basket. Would that be possible?
Graylorne
Archmage
Thanks for the offer, should I get stuck, I'll ask you first. This is one subject I'll never have first-hand experience with, being male, single and way over age. This particular baby was the result of a hasty marriage. After three months, the boy got himself killed and the girl was left behind pregnant. She lived with a prophetess until a few months after the baby was born. Then the house was raided by bandits and she had to flee with the other two MC (boys). Ages unstated, say between 16 and 20. The girl is trained in herbalism and the magic of the voice (manipulating things through song). She can breast-feed the child. I suppose it's best to have the baby carried as much as possible, for warmth and comfort. It is in the middle of the polar night, after all.
You can keep a baby in a basket if you want to, but it's heavy and awkward if you're seriously carrying it around in your hand. It is easier to take a long scarf cut on the bias and wrap it to your back.
HA! at a few cold football games I have even zipped my babies into my hoodie, just wore my baby bjorn and put my sweatshirt over me and zipped them right in with their face peeking out the front.
Babies will sleep in anything. In fact, this largely depends on the age of the baby. Every few months, a baby changes drastically. There's a huge difference between between taking newborn on an adventure and say a nine-month-old.
My youngest is nine months right now, and he's standing up and cruising... babies that age don't necessarily want to be carried, they want to be a little independent. Plus they wail when they don't get what they want. Smaller babies are easier, they just sleep most of the time, plus a boob in their mouth shuts them up instantaneously.
I was out one time and met a Caribbean woman who was waiting and clearing tables. She had a >six month old baby tied to her lower back, just with a silk scarf, and it sat there, happily watching everything around it. I think cultures who wrap their babies from an early age have babies who are used to it and don't cry, I've read that somewhere anyways, who knows... three of mine were happy content little things, in fact, my daughter did not cry once in her first two months... but my last one is an opinionated little git and loves to hear himself scream any time he isn't getting what he wants. So really, you can pretty much write what you like as far as baby personalities. It would be a fun thing to play with in a novel... having to keep a baby from crying, or trying to hide it somewhere.
Also, as far as nappies, breastfed babies do not create a lot of waste, and even then it doesn't stink, it's not until food is introduced that it becomes a chore. So what people have done for centuries is use a cloth diaper and then swaddle the baby nice and tight (because it loves that feeling and gets sleepy) then they clean it once a day with water and wash the diaper and blanket. It sounds gross, but really, it would be a perfectly reasonable way to travel with a baby.
It would be helpful if I knew the ages of the babies we're discussing, because I could give better details then. I am assuming if the mother is adventuring, then the baby is older. If it's a <two-month-old, the mother is likely to be a bigger problem than the infant, what with her fatigue, borderline anemia and the fact that she's still bleeding from giving birth.
HA! at a few cold football games I have even zipped my babies into my hoodie, just wore my baby bjorn and put my sweatshirt over me and zipped them right in with their face peeking out the front.
Babies will sleep in anything. In fact, this largely depends on the age of the baby. Every few months, a baby changes drastically. There's a huge difference between between taking newborn on an adventure and say a nine-month-old.
My youngest is nine months right now, and he's standing up and cruising... babies that age don't necessarily want to be carried, they want to be a little independent. Plus they wail when they don't get what they want. Smaller babies are easier, they just sleep most of the time, plus a boob in their mouth shuts them up instantaneously.
I was out one time and met a Caribbean woman who was waiting and clearing tables. She had a >six month old baby tied to her lower back, just with a silk scarf, and it sat there, happily watching everything around it. I think cultures who wrap their babies from an early age have babies who are used to it and don't cry, I've read that somewhere anyways, who knows... three of mine were happy content little things, in fact, my daughter did not cry once in her first two months... but my last one is an opinionated little git and loves to hear himself scream any time he isn't getting what he wants. So really, you can pretty much write what you like as far as baby personalities. It would be a fun thing to play with in a novel... having to keep a baby from crying, or trying to hide it somewhere.
Also, as far as nappies, breastfed babies do not create a lot of waste, and even then it doesn't stink, it's not until food is introduced that it becomes a chore. So what people have done for centuries is use a cloth diaper and then swaddle the baby nice and tight (because it loves that feeling and gets sleepy) then they clean it once a day with water and wash the diaper and blanket. It sounds gross, but really, it would be a perfectly reasonable way to travel with a baby.
It would be helpful if I knew the ages of the babies we're discussing, because I could give better details then. I am assuming if the mother is adventuring, then the baby is older. If it's a <two-month-old, the mother is likely to be a bigger problem than the infant, what with her fatigue, borderline anemia and the fact that she's still bleeding from giving birth.
Graylorne
Archmage
Well, with the baby of my MC I can choose what's most handy. The boy MCs only get to know about the baby after they fled.
I was thinking of a very young child, 2/3 months at most. Washing the baby once a day would be possible, they've got a kettle. Freezing river water would even for a stout Norse baby a bit much, I'd say. First the baby, then the soup.
Fatigue of the mother, that's a good one - I think the prophetess she was staying with had enough low magic to hasten her recovery, so that she has to rest only after particularly tough activities.
She carries the baby well wrapped up in skins, in a sort of backpack that leaves only the face visible. And after a few days they pick up a rather weird kid and a sled, a toboggan. Most of the time the kid sits on the sled and keeps the baby in his arms, to make it easier for the mother.
The mother was as a child trained as a huntress. Would that give any trouble now she's breastfeeding? Different balance when shooting a bow, some awkwardness or something?
I was thinking of a very young child, 2/3 months at most. Washing the baby once a day would be possible, they've got a kettle. Freezing river water would even for a stout Norse baby a bit much, I'd say. First the baby, then the soup.
Fatigue of the mother, that's a good one - I think the prophetess she was staying with had enough low magic to hasten her recovery, so that she has to rest only after particularly tough activities.
She carries the baby well wrapped up in skins, in a sort of backpack that leaves only the face visible. And after a few days they pick up a rather weird kid and a sled, a toboggan. Most of the time the kid sits on the sled and keeps the baby in his arms, to make it easier for the mother.
The mother was as a child trained as a huntress. Would that give any trouble now she's breastfeeding? Different balance when shooting a bow, some awkwardness or something?
psychotick
Auror
Hi Graylorne,
"Thanks for the offer, should I get stuck, I'll ask you first. This is one subject I'll never have first-hand experience with, being male, single and way over age."
Don't give up Graylorne, - medical science is advancing at a fantastic rate. Your dream could still come true!
Cheers, Greg.
"Thanks for the offer, should I get stuck, I'll ask you first. This is one subject I'll never have first-hand experience with, being male, single and way over age."
Don't give up Graylorne, - medical science is advancing at a fantastic rate. Your dream could still come true!
Cheers, Greg.
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