Old ways not necessarily the best …

… Parents once covered babies in salt and kept them in cages.

In ancient Rome, an estimated 20 percent to 40 percent of infants were “exposed,” a nice term for kicking your newborn to the curb. “Romans actually expressed surprise when a woman did not expose any of her children,” writes Traig.

Some families left children out in the elements where they were eaten by wild animals; others sold their children as slaves or prostitutes. Some were even adopted as pets. “We treat our dogs like children; Romans were known to do the opposite,” Traig writes.