Cradles were used in the 17th and early 18th centuries to keep infants warm in drafty, poorly-heated houses.  The narrow width was designed to keep them from sleeping with their knees drawn up- a position believed to be bestial.  For the same reason babies were not taught to crawl. It was also believed that children would walk sooner and develop better posture if they slept lying straight as infants. In addition, they were tightly swaddled to ensure proper posture and to keep them warm and out of harm’s way. Five generations of the Nims family of Deerfield, Massachusetts, used this cradle.