[Red Boots]

In the 19th century, when opium was legal in Britain, the best-selling varieties had names like "mother's helper." Opium was used regularly to make kids quiet and polite, the way more designer drugs are used today. When our children were small my mother-in-law told me about this great stuff she had gotten from her Dr as a young mother. "Just one spoonful, and they'd all sleep for 10 hours straight! You've got to get some." I wonder what it was...

[webstersII]

"When our children were small my mother-in-law told me about this great stuff she had gotten from her Dr as a young mother. "Just one spoonful, and they'd all sleep for 10 hours straight! You've got to get some." I wonder what it was..."

Probably paragoric. It was used for a number of different things 40+ years ago. You wipe some on a baby's gums when they were having teething pain and they would be so happy and sleep for hours without bothering you. If they had an earache or any other thing keeping them from sleeping, give them a spoonful.

Of course, it is actually a narcotic, so they don't sell it anymore. My, how times change.