# Do Japanese Mothers Masturbate Their Sons To Put Them To Sleep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090 "2004-03-29T15:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/21 "2004-03-29T23:29:34Z")
thank you aerynsun, i have been trying to remember the name of that tribe. i had read a longer more detailed article in a magazine, not sure which one, discover, nat geo, arch, etc; i get tons. as i remembered boys were not weaned until age 7 then they would leave their parents hut and live with the bacholars and “nurse” there until 16 or 18 when they were considered adults and went through the adult ceremony. the tribe had some very interesting customs. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/22 "2004-03-29T23:43:00Z")
And there’s the Sambia tribe of New Guinea, where the pre-pubescent boys are encouraged to fellate a man of the tribe at least once a day. I apologize in advance if this documented scientific anthropological fact is thought by some to be “hate speech”… :rolleyes: On preview I see this was already mentioned… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/23 "2004-03-30T00:14:54Z")
In college, I had a German-American friend who told me it was normal for German babysitters and nursemaids to masturbate the little _Kinder_ to get them to sleep; it was an expected service and no one in Germany thought there was anything untoward about it. “Rub them off” was the phrase he used. It was back in the 1970s when he told me this, long before the alleged Japanese practice was noised about in the media. Can any German Dopers confirm this, or was he pulling my leg? In Iran, Afghanistan, and India, it was once thought normal to give crying or coughing kids opium to get them to sleep. _OPIUM!_ Now, which is worse? There was a very real danger of OD’ed opiated kids never waking up. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/24 "2004-03-30T00:17:44Z")
I remember reading the same thing in _Journeyer_ by Gary Jennings, only it was 13th century Italy. I’m well aware that _Journeyer_ was historical fiction. I’ve read about the practice elsewhere (I think I read about it in _The Sex Atlas_) ---
**Author:** ![Sinungaling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Sinungaling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinungaling)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/25 "2004-03-30T00:23:05Z")
It’s not just the Sambia, it is, or was, a common practice in Papua-New Guinea. I doubt things are still the same today, what with the different social and economic context those tribes live in today. Also, I don’t know about Japanese specifically, but among several cultures worldwide stroking the baby’s genitals is not seen as sexual at all, and is instead seen as part of the normal way of soothing infants, akin to singing lullabies. (No, I can’t think of any specific culture right now.) ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/26 "2004-03-30T02:00:00Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Rock-a-bye, baby > In the treetop > When the mom blows > The libido will rock > When the kid breaks > The joy juice will fall > And down will cum baby > Color me appalled **lieu** , that’s both gross and hilarious. Love ya. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/27 "2004-03-30T03:39:33Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In Iran, Afghanistan, and India, it was once thought normal to give crying or coughing kids opium to get them to sleep. _OPIUM!_ Now, which is worse? There was a very real danger of OD’ed opiated kids never waking up. Right on. No good American parent would ever do such a horrible thing. Unless instead of opium it was called [paragoric](http://cavemanchemistry.com/cavebook/chaspirin.html) and used to dull the pain of toothache or help stop diarrhea or used in a million and one other ways to quiet the child (mostly literally, by stopping the crying). > [@](#): > > Morphine, C[sub]17[/sub]H[sub]19[/sub]O[sub]3[/sub]N.H[sub]2[/sub]O, is the most important alkaloid of opium and is the chief constituent which gives to laudanum and paragoric their poisonous and sedative qualities. Paragoric also contains camphor and aromatic oils which may have as much effect as the morphine. > — William Noyes, Textbook of Chemistry, 1913 AD Guess you don’t remember the 1950s so well. Too much paragoric? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/28 "2004-03-30T04:10:52Z")
And this, from the world of fiction (animal rights activism and social commentary in the guise of fiction, actually): > [@](#): > > “I suppose Martha Mulwash did not mean to kill that baby when she dosed it with Dalby and soothing syrups; but she did kill it, and was tried for manslaughter.” – Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, 1877 Hmmm. Wonder if the 19th century British soothed their horses by… Oh, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/29 "2004-03-30T04:28:46Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > Some time ago I was visiting a couple who have two young daughters. We were in the living room and the one aged almost 4 was watching TV, sucking her thumb, sitting on an armchair with her legs spread out, one over each armrest. She looked quite cute and I called her mother’s attention to her as we talked. The mother looked at her and said to me “Yeah, she masturbates all the time”. Only then did I realize her other hand was down her pants and what she was doing with it. I was quite embarrassed for a moment but thank goodness the conversation just went on. I was just taken aback for a moment at how naturally it was said. In later visits I have noticed the girl does enjoy touching herself and sucking her thumb and nobody has told her not to do it. I hope she stops doing it in public before she turns 18. > > It seems to me boys could do it just as well. There was that 3-year-old boy in Cleveland who liked to put his Tickle-Me-Elmo between his legs. ---
**Author:** ![Tokyo\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tokyo\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokyo_Mann)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/30 "2004-03-30T05:55:59Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Is it true that it is not an uncommon practice for Japanese mothers to manually masturbate their sons’ penises to help them fall asleep at night? Not that I’ve heard of. . . I think **JRDelirious** is correct about this being mutated from the tabloid report. That urban legend has been floating around Japan for years. > [@](#): > > Also, is it true that in Japan, the parents sleep in the same bed with their children, and that this practice is continued throughout childhood? If so, do the parents have sex with one another while the childen are in the same bed, or are they asked to sleep in their own beds on certain nights?? Traditionally, (many?) Japanese families slept in the same room, on futons (on the tatami floor) so there isn’t “their own beds” to go back to, at least while the children were small. I asked a Japanese friend about how he handled sex, (he has a couple of kids, so . . .) and he said that small children will sleep deeply enough they don’t wake up. The standard Japanese joke is that if they do wake up, you tell them mommy and daddy are wrestling, and to go back to bed. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/31 "2004-03-30T08:05:47Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In Iran, Afghanistan, and India, it was once thought normal to give crying or coughing kids opium to get them to sleep. _OPIUM!_ Now, which is worse? There was a very real danger of OD’ed opiated kids never waking up. I have a laudanum bottle (empty) that came from a manufacturer town in Utah in the late 1890’s, with the dosing instructions printed right on the label. Laudanum, of course, is tincture of opium, opium dissolved in alcohol. The doses are given in drops and are listed by age. They start like this: 3 months old: 1 drop 6 months old: 2 drops 12 months old: 3 drops 18 months old: 5 drops … _Everybody_ used to give kids opium. Personally, I don’t think the practice was quite as bad as it sounds to us today, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/32 "2004-03-30T08:10:32Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > _Rock-a-bye, baby > In the treetop > When the mom blows > The libido will rock > When the kid breaks > The joy juice will fall > And down will cum baby > Color me appalled_ ROFL - 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cobalt\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Cobalt\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cobalt_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/33 "2004-03-30T08:30:41Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In college, I had a German-American friend who told me it was normal for German babysitters and nursemaids to masturbate the little _Kinder_ to get them to sleep; it was an expected service and no one in Germany thought there was anything untoward about it. “Rub them off” was the phrase he used. It was back in the 1970s when he told me this, long before the alleged Japanese practice was noised about in the media. A good number of late Victorian medical and advice books (J. H. Kellogg’s _Plain Facts for Old and Young_ is typical) circulated this belief. Many children learned to masturbate, they argued, from (usually Irish) maids and nurses who used it as a soothing device. Just another aspect of the Eternal Servant Problem, I gather. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/34 "2004-03-30T11:04:44Z")
Darn! Why didn’t I ever have a German nurse? I seem to remember this masturbation tale also being one of the many stories Margaret Mead was duped with. There’s no opium around these parts, but a healthy glass of schnapps to sleep on used to be good mother lore. Also I don’t know that opium/ schnapps are so much worse than Ritalin for breakfast or hours of daily TV intake. Supposedly your brain is more active in an opium-induced sleep than when watching TV. Our children always slept in out bed for as long as they want; about four or five years or something (there’s something the wrong with this sentence) – the youngest one will rather sleep with her sister though. I thought that was pretty normal in Europe and America, at least it’s quite common here. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/35 "2004-03-30T11:25:21Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In college, I had a German-American friend who told me it was normal for German babysitters and nursemaids to masturbate the little _Kinder_ to get them to sleep; it was an expected service and no one in Germany thought there was anything untoward about it. “Rub them off” was the phrase he used. It was back in the 1970s when he told me this, long before the alleged Japanese practice was noised about in the media. Can any German Dopers confirm this, or was he pulling my leg? He was pulling your leg. I’m a German doper and I have never heard of this “practice”. It is however well known that a sip of beer or some schnapps to sleep on is probably still done now and then. I remember trying my first sip of beer when I was quite small, and my kids have also had a sip of beer before. I was surprised when they actually said they liked it. Then again it was **Grolsch** , so I guess they just have good taste. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/36 "2004-03-30T13:27:40Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In college, I had a German-American friend who told me it was normal for German babysitters and nursemaids to masturbate the little _Kinder_ to get them to sleep; it was an expected service and no one in Germany thought there was anything untoward about it. “Rub them off” was the phrase he used. It was back in the 1970s when he told me this, long before the alleged Japanese practice was noised about in the media. Can any German Dopers confirm this, or was he pulling my leg? It is definitely _not_ accepted today. From reading a ca 1900 German housekeeping advice book I remember that parents were urged to make sure that their servants don’t do this. It was described as a common problem and attributed to the servants’ laziness. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/37 "2004-03-30T14:24:34Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Is it true that hate speech threads can get you banned? :rolleyes: **Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor** , please leave the moderating to the moderators. If you take offense to someone’s post, please use the “Report bad post” function instead. Do not do this again or you could lose your posting privileges. Thank you. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/38 "2004-03-30T15:18:12Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > In Iran, Afghanistan, and India, it was once thought normal to give crying or coughing kids opium to get them to sleep. _OPIUM!_ Now, which is worse? There was a very real danger of OD’ed opiated kids never waking up. These days, if you go to India and are accosted by a beggarwoman who is carrying a small child, you might notice that the child seems unusually quiet and passive and often has watery eyes – I believe these children are drugged, whether with opium or not I don’t know, to keep them quiet. In fact, it is likely in such cases that the beggarwoman is not even the mother of the child. Beggars in India are often controlled by pimp-like criminals, who assign them territories and hand out drugged babies in the manner of props and then collect most of the money from the beggar. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/39 "2004-03-30T16:19:28Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > These days, if you go to India and are accosted by a beggarwoman who is carrying a small child, you might notice that the child seems unusually quiet and passive and often has watery eyes – I believe these children are drugged, whether with opium or not I don’t know, to keep them quiet. In fact, it is likely in such cases that the beggarwoman is not even the mother of the child. Beggars in India are often controlled by pimp-like criminals, who assign them territories and hand out drugged babies in the manner of props and then collect most of the money from the beggar. By chance, do these “pimp-like criminals” happen to be Japanese mothers? ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/40 "2004-03-30T18:37:17Z")
(Please ignore this post. I tried to subscribe, but it said I didn’t have the proper priveleges to do so or that my account had been disabled 😕 Carry on with masturbating babies) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090.md?page=3)