a southern aspect, for the sake of catching the sun’s rays to the
fullest extent. The prospect from the windows should be cheerful,
and there should not be large trees in the immediate vicinity. The
sanitary conditions necessary for the house demand extra attention
in the nursery, as the young inmates are more prone to suffer from
evil influences, and have not the change of air and scene which their
elders enjoy. Hence a change of room is very beneficial during the
day, and the day room should not be the sleeping room if it can be
avoided. A few hours daily in the morning room or drawing room with
the parents are productive of both material and moral good. Plenty
of houseroom is an excellent rule, too often forgotten in taking
seaside lodgings, in the expectation that the children will be out
all day, which the state of the weather turns into disappointment.
The nursery should be at the top of the house, but not, of course,
just under the roof, as such a position is the coldest in winter and
hottest in summer. The temperature of both day and night nurseries
should be kept as nearly as possible at 60° F., and thermometers
should be placed in the rooms for guidance. The height of the room
should not exceed 10 ft., or it will be more difficult to keep at an
equable temperature. A well ventilated room measuring 15 ft. square
and 9 ft. high should suffice for sleeping a nurse and infant and 2
young children. No double-bedded nursery should be less than 15 ft.
square. Children between 7 and 10 years may sleep out of the nursery,
and above that age the sexes should be separated. A bedroom 14 ft.
long and 8 ft. wide will admit a bedstead 4 ft. wide between the wall
and door. The fireplace, never absent, should be in the opposite wall
beyond the foot of the bedstead. The door should be hung so that
when opened it does not admit an indraught of cold air upon the bed.
The windows, never quite closed at the top in summer, should have
shutters, linen or jute (not woollen) curtains for winter use, and
green roller blinds for summer use. The walls are best painted or
washed with distemper; if papered, bold patterns and bright colours
(especially green) must be avoided, and a coat of varnish should
be applied. The ceiling should be tinted sufficiently to destroy
glare from the sun or gas. The floor should be stained all over, and
varnished under the beds and carpets; the latter, best being Dutch or
Kidderminster, should not cover the whole floor, especially under the
beds. All furniture and fittings should be free from sharp edges and
corners.
_Clothing._--This is exceedingly important in very young children
from their being especially sensitive to cold. They feel changes
from warm to cold, and from cold to warm, much more severely than
older persons do. The cold of winter and the east winds of spring
are very apt to bring on colds and coughs which may end in serious
disease; on the other hand, very great heat is equally bad for them,
diarrhœa and convulsions always increase as the weather gets hotter.
It is a very serious mistake to think that children have great power
of resisting cold, and that they are strengthened and hardened by
exposure to it; no error is attended with more fatal results. A
child’s clothing should keep it warm at all seasons; the extra winter
clothing should be put on early in the autumn and continued until
late in the spring. The most trying and dangerous time is when the
wind is high, particularly when it blows from the north and east.
Flannel is the best material for inner garments, which should be made
to cover the upper part of the chest and neck, so as not to leave
these most delicate parts exposed to cold blasts. Neglect of this
leads to bronchitis and croup, and sows the seeds of consumption.
With any tendency to diarrhœa, a flannel binder should be worn round
the bowels. The clothes should fit loosely and easily, and put no
restraint upon free movement of limbs and body; and allow room for
constant and rapid growth. Use a needle and thread or a button
instead of pins. Unusual skin irritation may arise from damp under
clothing, especially when soda has been used in washing the linen,
and only imperfectly removed in rinsing.
The summer outfit for a young baby would include a binder, small
cambric shirt, long flannel petticoat, which, being double over the
chest and back, is a great protection from the cold, and keeps the
legs very warm; a white washing petticoat and robe, not heavily
trimmed, and of fine light material; this is quite sufficient. In
winter add a knitted woollen spencer, or, what is prettier, a high
long-sleeved merino vest, with a fine white cambric guimpe over,
prettily tucked and trimmed, with very narrow lace at neck and
sleeves. A short-coated baby requires a merino vest, high in winter,
low in summer, cambric shirt, small stays, either quilted or made
of jean, on to which the flannel petticoat is sewn, white washing
petticoat and frock. In the winter there should be in addition a warm
white woollen knitted petticoat and bodice in one, not skimpy, but
long and full, and knitted with fine soft wool, not the common heavy
sorts. The little stays should also be lined with flannel in the
winter, and a high white guimpe worn over the vest, unless the white
frocks happen to have been made high. Flannel or merino frocks can
of course be substituted for washing ones; but, as long as the child
dribbles, the latter are much more suitable, as, even when old, they
always look well, and to keep a little child sweet, plenty of clean
things are essential.
Until a baby can walk, the petticoats and frocks should come over the
feet and woollen or silk boots be worn. If a child suffers from the
cold, have the little shirt made of silk longcloth, which is warmer
than anything of the same weight. Silk boots are warmer than wool,
and easily knitted. High merino combinations would be excellent,
but they are costly, and apt to be worn soiled. Head flannels are
preferable to caps in almost all cases, though some contend that
babies who wear caps for the first 2 months are much less liable
to colds in the eyes. The greatest safeguard against catching cold
out of doors is a large white silk handkerchief, to be worn all the
year round, folded crosswise, and put on like an old woman’s shawl,
crossed in front and tied behind; if, after the pelisse or jacket is
on, you pull this up all round the neck, the child will rarely take
cold. Full-skirted pelisses are preferable to jackets for children
under 3. When a child is sitting up in a perambulator, a pelisse will
pull down all over the feet, whereas a jacket only comes as far as
the knees. Nothing equals a merino pelisse lined with flannel, full,
and for a small baby long enough to come over the feet about 2 in.;
the cape should also be lined with very thin wadding, and have a silk
lining.
Cashmere or silk hoods, lined with flannel when cold, are better than
fur or woollen. In winter, gaiters and flannel knickerbockers must
be added, or, for a child that cannot walk, woollen gaiters that end
in a bag, to tie up over the diapers. Fur jackets are unhealthy,
producing undue heat, thereby weakening the child, and being very
uncomfortable and heavy for running in. Unless there is any tendency
to weakness in the ankles, strap shoes are best, both indoors and
out; where the ankles are weak, very tight boots are better. The time
of changing the knitted boots to regular leather shoes, with socks,
entirely depends upon whether the child is forward or not. Fat, heavy
children should never be put to their feet early, therefore they may
wear their first boots longer than light active ones; probably 7-8
months is quite early enough for the change for any child; but in
this matter, as in many others, mothers disagree.
When out of doors, infants up to 10 months old should wear the hoods
already described, and warm woollen overdresses made to fasten at the
back, as babies’ arms are very easily dislocated, and in garments
which fasten down the front, they have to be forced dangerously back
into the sleeves. In cold weather young infants should have veils
over their faces and mouths. The best things for this purpose are
old-fashioned Brussels lace veils, doubled; woollen veils are apt
to irritate. Children over 10 months should wear jackets out of
doors. Capes are very injurious; they hang entirely from the neck
and shoulders, and are apt to open, leaving the chest exposed, and
admitting cold air to it and the armpits. Woollen jackets are as a
rule preferable to fur unless the latter is very light; for winter
wear they should be made long enough to nearly reach the ankle, and
should fasten with hooks and eyes down to the very bottom. Children
able to walk should have woollen gaiters over their legs when they go
out in winter. Choose head gear always of the lightest kind: warm and
close fitting in winter; cool and shady in summer.
_Washing._--Never put a child to bed dirty. The whole body should
be washed every day. Young babies and infants should be bathed and
well washed every morning in warm (96°-98° F.) water, and thoroughly
well dried afterwards. As they grow older, the water need not be so
warm, but it should not be quite cold during the cold weather. In
summer cold water is best. Have a large tub and plenty of water.
Beware of a chill from draughts while washing and drying the child.
Young infants are best washed after their first meal, older children
before breakfast. A clean skin is all important; if not washed away,
the perspiration dries and remains on the skin, chokes up the pores
and sets up an irritation which frequently ends in some positive skin
disease. Dry the skin quickly and thoroughly, rub it briskly, and do
not leave off until it is perfectly dry; a half dried skin is sure to
be made rough and sore very soon by the wind, and the daily morning
wash should be a stimulant and tonic to the whole system, helping to
make it vigorous and healthy. Sponges are generally used for washing
children, and as long as they are not used for any other purpose,
there is no objection; but remember that a sponge is very liable to
convey infectious diseases and impurities. Some medical men recommend
a piece of fine flannel, instead of a sponge. Use the purest soap.
Very young infants should have no soap applied near their eyes, as
it is liable to produce severe inflammation in them, not to speak of
pain from the irritation of soap. It is particularly necessary to
attend to the cleanliness and dryness of the napkins; the discharges
from the bowels and bladder of a baby are very irritating, and if
a wet and dirty napkin is allowed to remain applied to the skin
it soon makes it sore, the skin gets inflamed and peels off, and
these sores take a long time and much care to heal. The tender skin
is soothed and protected by the use of violet powder after being
washed. Some toilet powders are, in a degree, antiseptic. French
chalk, white fuller’s earth, Taylor’s Cimolia, and sanitary rose
powder (containing borax) are among the best. Iron or wire guards are
indispensable to nursery fireplaces. It is well to wash and dress a
baby near a fire; but never allow the child’s eyes to be exposed to
the glare of the fire or its head to be heated.
_Air and Exercise._--Children should never be kept indoors simply
because the weather is cold; if they are properly dressed, the cold
will do them no harm, unless they are already out of health. Even
drizzling rain is not to be feared, and the children may be taken out
in frosty weather, or slight sleet, and even when the snow is thick
on the ground, provided their boots are waterproof, falls not to be
feared, and garments all changed on returning home. Fogs and high
winds, especially east winds, are to be avoided. Let the little ones
be out in the air as much as possible. In winter they should go out
in the morning from 10.30-12.30, and in the afternoon from 1.45-3
o’clock. In summer they should be out from 8.30-10.45 in the morning
and from 4.30-7 o’clock in the afternoon; their meals must be managed
so as to leave these hours free. In winter they should have dinner
¼ hour after returning from their morning airing, and should sleep
in the afternoon from 3.30-5 o’clock, when they should have another
meal. In summer they should have a very light meal on returning from
their morning walk, and be put to sleep at about 11.30, dine at 3
o’clock, and have supper at 7.15. Of course young infants require to
be fed more often than this, and cannot be kept out continuously for
so long; but they can be taken in for a few minutes, fed, and then
brought out again.
Perambulators are a doubtful blessing. A very young child ought to
be carried in the arms for the first 6 months; it is so much warmer
for one thing. The nurse’s arm, changed at short intervals, should
project beyond the baby’s head at the back to protect it from passers
by. After 6 months, perambulators may do very well, provided the
child is carefully put in, which is very rarely the case. If seated
facing forwards, a cold will be the natural result, without taking
such care as is beyond the ordinary nursemaid. Every watchfulness
must be used to prevent young children getting chills; never let them
sit on the grass, nor on a seat which is exposed to the wind in the
intervals of play. When they return home warm do not remove their
overclothes in a cold room: nothing is more certain to produce ill
effects.
Once or twice a day an infant should be set free from all hampering
binders, &c.; and laid down on a soft rug on the floor to kick and
sprawl to its heart’s content. This is the finest exercise, much
better than all the jumping and romping, which only makes a baby
giddy and over-excited. Do not be in too big a hurry to teach a child
to walk; lay it on its back and let it kick about as much as it likes
while it is very young. A little later it may crawl and creep about
in perfect safety, but when a child is made to stand before its legs
are strong enough to bear it, they are very likely to give way and
become bent--the body is too heavy for the weak bones of the legs,
and they become deformed.
As the child advances in age and strength, means of a healthy
exercise should be provided in the nursery. Beyond the infantile
stage of life, the movements of the child become more and more
“purposive.” They are performed for definite purposes, and to effect
ends which are clearly mapped out in the child’s mind. Hence,
as these movements are of more decided character than those of
infancy, “games”--which merely represent play with a purpose--are
naturally indulged in. The young child does not “play” aimlessly and
listlessly, as is too often supposed. If a child is provided with a
ball, nothing delights it more than some defined amusement with that
toy. It will aim at effecting some particular plan--as, for example,
knocking down an object, or catching the ball in its rebound.
Possibly the ball is the best plaything for the child just emerged
from its infantile state. Freedom of movement is encouraged in such
an exercise, and there is, besides, little danger of fatigue or undue
prolongation of this exercise. The child should never be set down to
regular exercises, or to any stereotyped course of mild gymnastics,
until it has reached its seventh or eighth year. Nursery gymnastics
and the use of swinging bars, the trapeze, and allied apparatus will
only tend to injure the child if they are used before the age of 7-8.
The movements these exercises excite and demand are too severe for
young children, whilst, on the contrary, they are well adapted for
boys and girls of 8-12 years of age. The same caution applies to the
use of “dumb-bells,” which are well adapted for boys and girls of
10-11 and onwards, but are injurious to younger children.
_Sleep._--Children require much more sleep than adults. They require
to be kept very warm when sleeping; the natural warmth of the body is
less during sleep than at other times. The hours of sleeping should
be made quite regular: this is easy to manage if you begin with a
baby at once; they soon acquire regular habits, and in the matter of
sleep and feeding, this regularity of habit cannot be begun too soon:
a bad habit is difficult to break. For the first few weeks a baby
should sleep almost constantly, only awaking at regular intervals to
be fed. After the first 2 months it lies awake longer, and is fed
less often--it should then be put to sleep for at least 2 hours in
the forenoon, from 10-12 or thereabouts, and again in the afternoon
for at least an hour. But too much sleep during the day at and after
this time spoils the rest at night, which is the most important time
for rest. For the first month a child is better to sleep with its
mother, after this it may be put into a crib, but never cover its
face with a handkerchief, and never have curtains to the crib--they
cause the child to breathe its own air over again and always do much
harm. Place the crib where no draught can reach it, and let the
bedclothes be warm but light. Uneasy sleep is a sign of ill health.
An hour’s sleep before dinner should be allowed to children of 4-5
years, after this it may be discontinued. Put them to bed at night
between 6-7 o’clock, and they will generally sleep 12-14 hours. Never
wake a child suddenly, the change should be gradual. When a child
awakes in the morning it should not be permitted to lie long in bed;
take it up and dress it, and so you may get it into the regular,
healthy, and most valuable habit of early rising. After the child is
up let the mattress be well shaken, and have the sheets and blankets
thrown over the back of a chair or off the bed, and exposed to the
air for an hour or two, that they be thoroughly dried and ventilated.
Open the window freely.
_Feeding._--Every mother should make it her duty, as it is her
privilege, to nurse her baby at the breast. The only exceptions to
this rule are those cases in which, because of special delicacy or
disease, they are forbidden by the doctor to do so. Whenever, from
any cause, the child cannot be brought up on the breast, the only
food which should be given to it for the first 7-8 months is the
milk of the cow or goat. Milk contains all ingredients necessary
for the growth and nourishment of the child; and nothing can take
its place. A child’s stomach has not for many months the power to
digest foods which contain much starch, such as cornflour, arrowroot,
sago, and others; these foods irritate the stomach and bowels, while
the child is being starved for want of the only food it can digest.
Milk may be given either from the breast of the mother, or from the
bottle. If from the latter, care must be taken not to give the food
when either too hot or too cold. Dollond, of 1, Ludgate Hill, has
introduced a good thermometer for this purpose, on which thick black
lines indicate the right temperature. Breast milk is infinitely to be
preferred. Let the child have as much breast milk as possible, and
only make up the deficiencies with the bottle. The child should be
put to the breast early, within the first 12 hours. The first milk is
different to what comes afterwards, and helps by gently acting on the
bowels to prepare the passages to properly digest the fully formed
milk. Instead of doing this nurses are far too apt to administer
a dose of castor oil, which is quite unnecessary and wrong. If
the milk has not yet come sucking will help it; and if the child
cries with hunger, a little weak milk and water may be given with a
spoon. The child should be put to the breast _regularly_ at stated
intervals--every 2 hours during the day, and less often at night.
The nursing mother should take sufficient good food, but should not
drink all sorts of foods at all hours, under the idea that she will
thus make more milk. She is more likely to upset her digestion, and
injure the quality of her milk. The secret of good nursing lies in
keeping in the best health possible: take plenty of fresh air and
rest, and sufficient plain, unstimulating food. Any violent nervous
excitement, such as anger, fright, anxiety or grief is sure to affect
the child. If the mother’s health remains good, she may continue to
nurse her child for about 9 months. If the child is thriving well,
and has cut several teeth, and especially if the mother’s health
begins to suffer, nursing must be at once given up. Nursing beyond a
year does harm to both.
Weaning should take place, then, at or about the tenth month. It must
be done earlier (_a_) If the mother’s health is suffering, or if
she is attacked by any acute disease; (_b_) if she becomes pregnant
again while nursing the child; (_c_) if the child is not sufficiently
nourished upon the breast milk, yet refuses to take other food. This
happens when the milk is too thin and watery, although it may be in
sufficient quantity. Carefully watch the condition of the child, and
do not rely too much on dates or teething; wean a child gradually,
choosing a time when the child is in good health. Begin by lessening
the number of times it is allowed to take the breast; thus giving it
time to get used to and to relish other food. Reduce by degrees to
one breast meal a day; and after about a week, this too must be given
up.
Great mortality is found among infants brought up on the bottle,
due to the wrong sort of food being put into the bottle. As to the
bottle itself, the old-fashioned kind with a cork on one side is
the best, because they are simplest, most easily kept clean and
sweet, and when they are used, the child must be held in the proper
upright position. However near perfection a bottle may be, it is
liable to become a source of disease. Rubber parts absorb milk, or
in a crack in the material a small quantity may adhere, and undergo
fermentation, and the best-directed efforts to keep the tubing clean
may not prevent this happening. In the glass part this does not occur
readily, as it can be thoroughly cleansed, and there is no risk of
absorption. If 2 bottles are used, one can be in operation while the
other one is being cleaned. The manner most likely to prevent bad
consequences is to thoroughly wash out the bottle after it has been
used in tepid water, and then again wash it with water and soda, then
thoroughly dry bottle and tubing, and put them in the open air, as on
a window-sill, where they can have both sun and air. Of course, the
stopper should be out of the bottle. Another method is to allow the
bottle to remain in lime-water till next it requires to be used. In
cleaning out tubes a brush attached to a strong wire is needed.
Cow’s milk is the best substitute for a child’s natural food. But
in order to make cow’s milk as like the mother’s milk as possible,
you must dilute it with water and add some sugar. At first the
proportions should be at least equal parts of milk and water, with a
small quantity of sugar; if the milk be very poor, a dessert spoonful
of cream may be added to each meal with benefit. As cow’s milk soon
turns acid, a tablespoonful of lime-water in each bottle is often
useful in making it agree better with the child. This is particularly
advisable in warm weather. Boil all milk intended for the child’s use
as soon as it comes into the house. Where there is any doubt about
the purity of the water, boil it too. After the first 6 weeks, the
proportions should be ⅔ to ⅓ water; and after the fourth month the
milk may be given plain. For at least the first 7 months the child
should have no other nourishment whatever. Smell the bottle before
you put a fresh meal into it, and if there is the least sourness
about either bottle or nipple, wash it until it smells fresh and
sweet. Feed at regular hours--every 2 hours during the day, and twice
during the night, for the first 6 weeks: after this every 3 hours
is often enough, but then the quantity of each meal must be larger.
Never give a child a bottle merely to keep it quiet; you damage both
stomach and character. The food should be as near the heat of the
body as possible, i.e. at or about 98° F. Cold milk delays digestion,
and does injury. If the child is allowed to lie on the back, it gets
the milk too fast, and indigestion follows. If good cow’s milk cannot
be got, Swiss condensed milk is useful, but it must not be given too
strong; ½ teaspoonful to a teacup of water is plenty to begin with.
For the first 4 months it is an excellent substitute for ordinary
milk, and most children thrive on it; but do not continue its use
too long. If the child is thriving and has cut several of its front
teeth, at the age of 7-8 months, not earlier, farinaceous food may be
given once or twice a day. Still, foods which contain much starch are
to be avoided, such as arrowroot, sago, corn-flour. The best to begin
with is oatmeal gruel, well-boiled and strained, or, as a change,
milk thickened with a rusk or well-baked flour; Chapman’s entire
wheat flour is excellent, and to be preferred to ordinary wheat
flour, as it contains the phosphates of the wheat, and a peculiar
ferment which changes starch into sugar.
Cow’s milk and Robinson’s patent barley (prepared by Keen, Robinson,
and Bellville) is recommended for use by Dr. Pye Chavasse in his
work entitled ‘Advice to a Mother,’ as the best artificial food for
infants, stating that “children apparently dying of starvation,
soon after taking it, quickly pick up flesh, their bodies fill out,
they sleep, they loose all pain,” &c. To a good tablespoonful of
the patent barley, mixed with a wineglassful of cold water, add
one-and-a-half gills of boiling water, stir this over the fire
while boiling for six minutes, and then feed the infant. The same
proportion of milk may be used instead of water when the baby is
weaned. Alternately with Robinson’s patent barley, Robinson’s patent
groats may be used with good results.
Some of the more expensive artificial foods are prepared in such a
way that the starch is rendered soluble and easily digested, effected
mainly by the addition of malt and the employment of heat. But if
oatmeal and plain wheaten flour agree with your children use them.
These farinaceous meals should be given once, or, at most, twice
a day, remembering that the greater part of a child’s nourishment
should still be milk.