I am very interested in what one of your readers has said regarding the link between a love of rubber and infantilism—that is, the desire to return to a state of babyhood. It certainly does occur, and whilst it is not generally acknowledged in this country, there are in America several magazines devoted almost exclusively to this aspect of rubber, which regularly Include photographs of both men and women being put into nappies, being fed from a baby’s feeding-bottle, sucking dummies, and so on.

Nearly always, in the accompanying articles, there is a strong element of domination involved, especially when it is a man who is being dressed and treated like this. At first, “baby” does not want to be put into nappies, and puts up a show of resistance, but when his wife or girlfriend has finally managed to overcome this and get him into baby clothes, he quickly accepts the situation and finds intense pleasure in being treated as a small child. Usually, she will tease .him and make gentle fun of him, but only in a loving sort of way, but always it remains very clear that she is in full control, and that even if he wanted to, “baby” would not be allowed to escape from his infantile attire.

Humiliation seems to play quite a large part in such rubber games. Often, for instance, the wife will invite one of her lady friends, who shares her interests, in to meet her “baby”, and - in spite of his blushes, he is made to indulge in babyish little antics for their amusement, and allow himself to be nursed and given his bottle by the visitor, who of course, laughs at him and teases him for behaving like this. In one magazine, there is even an ‘Advice’ column, run by a woman, in which wives of erring husbands are strongly recommended to use baby methods on them, and she gives full details of very pretty and what she calls cissyish little frocks and petticoats, which a man can be made to wear to emphasise his babyishness, and suggests all sorts of different ways to humiliate him and make him feel small.

These aspects of the matter are of particular interest to me, as my own husband suffers from these same infantile desires. Naturally, he was very embarrassed about revealing them to me at first, but when he found that I was ready to accept them, they have given both of us an enormous amount of pleasure over the years. Because I am naturally a very domineering sort of person, this plays a very large part in our relationship, and it is always left to me to decide when he shall dress up, and what clothes he shall wear. I am really quite strict with my poor “baby”, but he loves it, and I am sure would not want it to be otherwise.

Usually, our rubber games are played at weekends, when there is plenty of time to build up the proper atmosphere. I happen to be quite a good needlewoman, so he has some really lovely baby clothes to wear. I keep him in very short smocked frocks which really look quite deliciously lovely and babyish, and always he wears two or three very frilly lace petticoats, and of course he is all the time in his nappies and little pink rubber baby pants, which show under his petticoats as he moves about. He uses a dummy all the time, as befits such a small child, and at meal times he wears a bib and is fed from a baby’s bottle.

He gets very ashamed and upset if I tease him, which of course I often do, and it distressed him mightily at first when I invited my younger sister along one weekend, to share in his baby treatment. But he has got used to this now, and looks forward to her visits, even though she teases him quite cruelly, and really makes him squirm with embarrassment at times with the things she says to him. I have not introduced “baby” to any other ladies, but I shall probably do so one day if I can meet the right sort of person, who would understand and enjoy the situation.

Ours is a very happy marriage, and I can only suggest to any other wives, whose husbands have infantile desires of this nature, that they accept them.
Yours sincerely,
E.G. T.
Siddington.

Not generally acknowledged in this country? That is hardly a nice thing to say on behalf of those strong-willed, no-nonsense wives and mothers who, over many decades, have petticoated for Britain! But this letter was written in the 1970s, and things have changed. 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly' has long been the best text-based site on the web for discussion of petticoat punishment and nursery discipline, and we are British-based.

As for the last sentence of this letter, one can only say 'Amen'. Well, this is the last issue of 'Dummy Discipline Digest' until this coming December, but I will be publishing babying letters in each issue of course.
Susan