Also called “sky cots,” these still exist in some form today but attach to bulkheads instead.

These were used so parents could have a few hands-free minutes during their flights.

Luckily, they were required to hold babies during take-off and landing.

During World Wars I and II the whole world was on edge waiting for the next attack.

In order to protect children, tiny gas masks were made and used for drills in England, specifically.

And there are quite a few photos around showing different models. These ones made it easier to carry babies by harnesses that went around their whole bodies.

It looks terrifying, but most cars didn’t even have seat belts until the late 1950s.

And we have no doubt there were plenty of injuries from kids falling out of their “safety seats.” But what other options did moms behind the wheel have?

Speaking of vehicular dangers, this is another interesting way to transport children.

It’s kind of like a school bus…but, you know, with a donkey.

Are they packed in tight enough to keep them from getting knocked around in there?

It all looks pretty straightforward until you see that the nanny’s feet aren’t on the ground.

There’s a reason we don’t put motors on baby carriages and ride them down the street.

Hopefully, we don’t have to tell you the reason.

Well, that’s one way to spend some quality family time at the skating rink.

The only problem is that if one person goes down, so does the rest of the family.

We hope mom and dad are steady on their feet!

Mom and baby are just spending some quality time outside.

And the “status stroller” of 1921 was apparently a model with a radio, including an antenna and loudspeaker.

The goal was to keep the baby quiet, but you have to wonder how many were used to drown out the crying.

Sure, they look like strange contraptions, but these are some pretty cool devices.

They’re some of the earliest prosthetics, created by James Gillingham, who gave the first one away to a British soldier that needed his leg amputated.

Over the course of his career, he restored mobility to over 15,000 disabled patients.

Also called “health cages,” these devices we designed to give children living in big city apartment building access to sunlight and fresh air.

They were thought to combat the tuberculosis epidemics in both England and the U.S. and were considered “essential” by some child health advocates.

Besides the obvious risk of faulty construction causing a tragic fall, increases in automobile traffic made them less and less popular after the 1940s (since it made it a lot harder to make the “fresh air” case).

Created by famed psychologist B.F. Skinner to keep babies contained and temperature controlled as well as eliminate exposure to germs.

They weren’t terribly different from cribs other than that they had a ceiling, but nearly 300 children were raised using them so parents could go about their days without worry their children would get into trouble.

But this was one piece of technology that just didn’t catch on.

We’ve seen worse ideas, but the rain cover here doesn’t look all the effective or stable.

It also seems to give babies one more thing to grab onto in case they want to try and make an escape.

There’s a whole history of strollers that might just blow your mind if you take a moment to read about them.

Fearing that there may be toxins in the air after attacks or that parents could get caught out in the street during an attack, the rich occasionally indulged in extra safety measures, such as this sealed carriage.

There was ventilation, but it certainly didn’t give kids access to sunlight and nature. And isn’t that kind of the point?

At least these ones don’t hang off a 15-story window!

It looks a tad zoo-esque, but while it certainly isn’t made from the bright plastics we use today, is it really all that different from a playpen meant to contain a child?

Well, other than the metal rails…

Ok, we incliuded this one because it was simply ridiculous.

One mom’s choice to put a trash receptacle over her child so he wouldn’t get into trouble while she crochets is certainly not indicative of a trend.

Can you imagine how people would react now if they saw this happening?

It’s a low-tech contraption, but still not the pinnacle of safety.

But maybe we’re just projecting our own bad experiences getting stuck in hammocks onto this tot.

Still, there’s a good chance of a fussy baby getting itself into a real bind in this.

These pediatric immobilizers look barbaric, but they still exist!

If you’ve ever had a fussy baby in need of an X-ray, you may have already seen one.

Oddly enough, babies don’t seem to mind them as much as their parents do.

We have automatic rockers now, this just happens to be an early model.

The motor ensures a steady motion, but we’re not so sure about the netting and hammock-type material.

But this clearly wasn’t a time when plastic was an option.

When it’s not bruising your babe in the car, you can use it as a leash!

Yikes!

There were, of course, created and purchased by well-meaning people, but knowing what we know now, we can’t imagine strapping a little one into this.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether they were used to teach any baby to walk or to strengthen the legs of children with polio.

Either way, we assume there was a lot of tripping and falling. And possibly some bruised ankles.

Ok, so maybe only one person decided to bind their baby to a unicycle in order to take a photo.

But it proves that parents have always gone to great lengths to make their kids look special.

There were even prototypes of these made and used in cribs, believe it or not!

Some gently patted a baby’s behind while others stroked their backs.

It’s not something we could invent today without being concerned about them being hacked.

In case it’s not obvious, a tiny tot would sit on the bottom and spin the top wheel. That would twirl around the whole device.

But spinning babies can also go flying. (Not that we have a permanent scar by our eye or anything from this one.)

Well, at least a baby can still see daylight (or a deadly attack) in this stroller before parents employ the gas mask.

If our air quality continues to decline, we might very well be borrowing some of these designs to keep little lungs and airways clear.

There’s nothing like introducing your baby to the open road at an early age.

And think of all the dead bugs they’ll get to point out on the windshield.

Still, we understand why we don’t put them up front anymore.

Well, if they had them on airplanes they were bound to have them on trains as well, right?

This one looks a little more sketchy because you can seal it.

Do you think that dampened the sound of the cries or amplified them? And do we even want to know?

Parents didn’t so much put their kids in these as they were unable to keep them off while in the playground.

Made of steel with a nice layer of asphalt or stones underneath, it was a really fun death trap.

And while we all know someone who broke an arm jumping off one, many of us probably still have good memories (even if we’d never put our own kids on one).

You can keep an eye on your baby when they’re in front.

Then again, if you ride fast, you might have to pick the bugs out of their teeth later.

Just make sure they don’t wiggle and it’s slightly less deadly!

Well, we never had one of these, but we would have considered ourselves lucky if we did.

And there’s nothing like a robot made of steel to make parents feel safe.

But who can resis the robot that “automatically produces fun.”

As you can see, this photo wasn’t taken that long ago.

Yes, there are brakes and yes the baby is theoretically strapped in tightly.

If you buy one, you’ll want to be sure that the squealing baby is exhilarated and not riddled with horror.

Just strap your baby to this handy tension bar and hope for the best.

Of course, it’ll be best if they don’t fall backward.

And we hope this wasn’t used as an excuse to leave little ones alone in the water too long.