Cradle (bed)

Rocking cradle

A cradle is an infant bed which rocks but is non-mobile. ^[1] It is distinct from a typical bassinet which is a basket-like container on free-standing legs with wheels. A carbonized cradle was found in the remains of Herculaneum left from the destruction of the city by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. ^[2] The Nahua or Aztec people used cradles, with an Aztec ceramic figure of a child in a cradle dated back to between 1350 and 1521 CE. ^[3]

References

1. Paula S. Fass, Mary Ann Mason - Childhood in America 2000 0814726925- Page 622 "An infant's cradle referred to the baby's place of lodging, whether in a wicker basket, old box, old chest, or specially designed bed. What really mattered was that any sort of separate bed was better for an infant than being put to sleep with its .."
2. "Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum". BBC. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
3. "Aztec Cradleboard Figurine and Drawing". worldhistorycommons.org. World History Commons. Retrieved April 10, 2025.