”It has been an age-old practice to drug crying infants. During the second century AD, the Greek physician Galen prescribed opium to calm fussy babies, and during the Middle Ages in Europe, mothers and wet nurses smeared their nipples with opium lotions before each feeding. Alcohol was also commonly given to infants.”
yeah it’s a modern phenomenon because overzealous regulatory agencies gatekeep parents’ access to opium lotions
Shrieking children for hours is very much a modern phenomenon.