The mothercraft manual

by Mary L. Read

Nursery Equipment

Chiffonier for clothes and toilet equipment

Low chair or rocker without arms

Approved Shoes and Baby Carriage.

Basket or bassinet for first four or six months, with stand; high bassinet stands are now procurable

Iron or brass crib, high sides, plain round tubing without ornamentation, narrow spaces between bars, one side to be lowered

High folding screen with detachable, washable covering for wings; a firm-standing clotheshorse four feet high answers also for a clothes rack; covering of muslin, cheesecloth, or china silk, attached with tapes when needed

Nursery table for dressing, with plain, round legs and a six-inch ledge securely screwed on; edges and corners of ledge preferably rounded. An ordinary kitchen table with drawer answers very well. A carpenter can make and attach the ledge.

One or two small low tables, with rounded legs, for bathtub and bath accessories

Folding tables economize space. Firm, round tables can be used later for the child’s dining and play.

For bassinet: Four-fold cotton blanket or table felting as mattress; or 6-inch pad filled with clean silk floss, hair, straw, or chaff

3 absorbent pads, quilted or of table felting

4 to 6 sheets, cotton for summer, soft outing flannel (all cotton) for winter

1 or 2 knitted afghans, or blankets of eiderdown or three-quarter wool

For crib: Hair or silk floss mattress; for economy, clean straw may be used.

2 absorbent pads

4 to 6 sheets, cotton or outing flannel

1 or 2 knitted spreads, or eiderdown quilts or three-quarter wool blankets

1 or 2 piqué or dimity counterpanes

Papricloth nursery blankets, or light-weight rubber sheeting, to protect mattresses

2 pads of hair or straw ½ inch thick, 9 × 12 inches

3 to 6 cotton slips for pads

6 to 12 square or triangular pads, 12-inch size, quilted, stockinet, or table felting

1 rubber lap protector, detachable piqué or flannel slips

1 yard dark green sateen for bassinet canopy

2-3 yards cheesecloth, dimity, or china silk for one end and side of crib

50 yards cheesecloth, six to ten cents a yard, for diapers, face cloths

3 sizes of safety pins with safety fasteners

Nursery scales, common beam type, not spring type commonly sold for nursery, which are difficult to read and unreliable

Bathtub, enamel or tin most practicable. Rubber is soft and adaptable, but soon outgrown, and baby cannot kick or splash so well. After five or six months, the baby may be bathed in the large bathtub.

Room thermometer, Fahrenheit

Bath thermometer, Fahrenheit; red or blue indicator easier to read than mercury

1 or 2 small white enamel hand basins, one of these kept exclusively for diapering

1 largest size white enamel or agate bucket with cover, for diapers

1 2-quart pitcher

1 4-quart pitcher

1 3-ounce package lysol

1 pound boracic acid (powder)

1 pound powdered borax

Small hand scrub brush

Small hot-water bottle or thermophore

Smallest size china or enamel cuspidor

Nurse’s apron with bib

Bath apron of knitted goods, stockinet, or heavy Turkish toweling

Light-weight detachable rubber sheeting apron to wear under bath and nursery aprons

6 wash cloths, 8-inch square, of soft old table linen, stockinet, knitted, or four-fold cheesecloth

2 largest size soft Turkish bath towels

2 medium, soft linen towels

2 soft face towels, of old table linen or toweling

Package tissue paper napkins

Wooden box with hinged cover, or enamel tray, for bath accessories, as follows:

a.	Baby’s soft hairbrush
b.	Celluloid or ivory soap box with cover
c.	Small semi-blunt scissors
d.	2 6-ounce glass jars with screw tops, to hold sterilized gauze and cotton
e.	Cake pure Castile or Palmolive soap
f.	2-ounce bottle liquid albolene or sterilized olive oil
g.	2-ounce bottle liquid vaseline
h.	2-ounce bottle grain alcohol
i.	2-ounce bottle saturated solution of boracic acid (made from powder)
j.	2-ounce bottle 2% boracic acid
k.	Small box zinc ointment
l.	Small tube cold cream
m.	Shaker-top powder-box, with powder made of 1 ounce oxide of zinc, 1 ounce cornstarch or rice powder, 1 ounce boracic acid
n.	Small package absorbent cotton (kept in covered jar)
o.	Sterilized cheesecloth cut in 3-inch squares (kept in covered jar)[5]

Baby Carriage. High; not less than 14 inches wide, and 28 inches long, inside measurements; wood body preferable to reed or rattan (latter should be kept free from dust by frequent cleaning); detachable, washable covering to upholstery; good springs, brake, rubber tires; porous hood with lining dark green, brown, or gray to protect eyes (never white), ventilated by holes near top or by side curtains; ample drop for feet when baby is sitting up; reversible body or handles desirable.

Baby Pen. The nursery table or crib will answer until the sitting stage, at five or six months, and the crib until the creeping or climbing stage, at seven or nine months. A pen four to six feet square gives room for tumbling and creeping. It should have a wood bottom, preferably of slats loosely joined (for flexibility). Raised six inches above the floor, to escape drafts; sides made of slats or plain round rods 4 inches apart, 2½ feet high; edges rounded; clean detached quilt or table felting over floor. Sides may be hinged to fold away. A large packing box, sides padded, raised on 6-inch blocks, may be used for economy. The light-weight pens, resting on the floor, usually found in the shops, are drafty and inadvisable.

Harmful Equipment. The following have no place in a baby welfare nursery:

All unsanitary germ holders, such as sponge, powder puff, basket trimmings, open or porous toilet basket, pacifier, veil.

Rubber or other waterproof diapers, because they are unavoidably heating and irritating; feathers, because too heating; linen sheets, which are cold and chilling.

Pinning bands or swaddling clothes, which prevent the activity so essential for growth.

Cradles or rocking bassinets, which are injurious to the nerves.

Baby-walkers, because they keep the baby too long on his feet and legs when he needs the intermittent rest of lying down while learning to walk; they retard his confidence in walking alone, and are a cause of dangerous falls.

Low go-carts and sulkies, which keep the baby in the low strata of dust and germ-laden air, and which are frequently badly proportioned for good posture.

Soothing syrups, patent medicines, paregoric, whiskey, brandy; they are all poisonous.

Patent artificial foods; they are expensive and an inefficient makeshift.

Drugs and Unsanitary Appliances.

Unhygienic Equipment and Unsatisfactory Scales.

Clothing List for First Six Months.

Minimum	Moderate
2	3	knitted binders with tapes to tie
2	4	knitted shirts. double-breasted, size 2
2	4	flannel Gertrude petticoats
1	2	nainsook Gertrude petticoats
2	4	dozen cheesecloth diapers, 1 yard square, sterilized
2	2	dozen stockinet or cotton bird’s-eye diapers, 22-inch, sterilized
3	4	nightgowns: soft crepon, long cloth, nainsook, or Viyella flannel
3	6	plain slips: soft crêpe, crepon, long cloth, or nainsook
1	2	fine slips: nainsook, dimity, soft lawn, batiste, or linen
1	3	wrappers: cashmere, challie, flannel, or albatross
1	2	sacks: knitted, flannel, challie, or cashmere
1	1	kimono-sleeve wrap: cashmere, flannel, eiderdown, or broadcloth. Separate padded lining (cheesecloth or china silk) for cold weather
1	2	bonnets: nainsook, lawn, china silk, or silk knitted (open mesh) for summer. Flannel, broadcloth, cashmere, or loosely knitted for cool weather. Quilted detachable lining of cheesecloth or china silk for cold weather
	1	hood shawl: flannel, or cashmere
1	2	shawls: flannel or knitted
1	4	pair long hose: cotton for summer Merino for cool weather
1	2	pair bootees: porous, not heavy

Knitted binders are more elastic than flannel.

Cotton bird’s-eye, or cheap outing flannel diapering is warmer and more absorbent than linen or canton flannel; stockinet is best.

Cotton material for slips, and lace or embroidery for trimmings, should be very soft.

Viyella flannel, which is half wool and non-shrinking, is most satisfactory; loosely woven flannel, half wool, with silk or cotton, is soft, shrinks little, and is warmer than heavy, close weaves.

Outing or Shaker flannel is all cotton; the soft nap is highly inflammable.

Crêpe, crepon, and woolens, should be shrunk before making.

Knitted shawls, jackets, and quilts are warmer and lighter than woven fabrics; avoid colors unless guaranteed non-fading.

For the knitted (ready-made) shirts, some authorities prefer all cotton, others part wool. All wool is never advisable, as the baby’s skin is very sensitive, and furthermore, all wool shrinks badly. For most babies, under average conditions, one-quarter wool, three-quarters cotton or silk is advised. In very warm weather, all cotton is better. In very cold climates, half or three-quarters wool may be advisable. Silk has no special advantage over cotton. Babies with very delicate skin, eczema, or any rash should never have wool next the skin. Some manufacturers now make part wool knitted underwear, having only the cotton thread next the skin, wool outside.

The binder is worn only two or three weeks, as a protector to the navel until it is healed. It should be fastened comfortably, not tight. With delicate babies or those out of doors in cold weather, a band with shoulder straps may be worn as a substitute during the first year, although this is unnecessary with a double-breasted shirt. The Vanta binders and shirts (double-breasted), fastening with twistless tape instead of buttons, are especially satisfactory.

Kimono Coat, Raglan Sleeve Slip, Kimono Slip.

Knitted Shirt and Band. Shaped Diapers. Diaper Fastening with Tapes.

Gertrude Petticoat. Kimono Nightgown Fastening with Snaps.

For the Layette.

Making. Preparation of the baby clothes should be a joy and not a worry or burden. Let them be simple, moderate in quantity.

The kimono or raglan sleeve gowns, wrappers, and coats are much easier to put on and off than the set-in sleeve. By liberal measure under the shoulders, the sleeve will not pull out; a gathering string at the cuff for little babies will keep the hand from slipping out.

All seams should be flat.

Seams on woolen garments should be felled or edges featherstitched flat. Armhole and neck of flannel garments should be covered with soft seam-binding or turned back ¼ inch and raw edge stitched down or featherstitched; never turn under, as this makes a ridge. At hem of flannel petticoat, raw edge need not be turned in but may be featherstitched flat.

Sleeves may be turned back in a 2-inch hem for first months.

Edge of dress sleeves and neck may be finished with a ⅛-inch hem with featherstitching, or a narrow Armenian or val lace, or soft batiste embroidery, whipped on; or twistless tape or wash ribbon ¼ to ½ inch wide, may be run through facing or beading at neck and one or two inches from edge of sleeve.

Fine gathers or tucks may be made in the front and back of slips to form a yoke; these may be taken out later as the baby grows.

Beading, or buttonholed eyelets two inches apart, for wash ribbon sash, may be made in dresses, thus forming a yoke; leave garment loose two inches each side of under-arm seam.

Maximum length allowable for dresses and petticoats, 27 inches; minimum, 22 inches; hems, 1 to 3 inches.

Neckbands, 9½ inches at birth to 10 inches at 6 months.

Sleeve bands should be 8 to 12 inches long.

Average length of infant, neck to soles, at birth, is 16 inches; at 6 months, 24 inches.

Set-in sleeves, small cuffs, small neckband, tiny buttons, make dressing difficult. Gathering string of twistless tape or ribbon, with beading, at sleeves and neck, are recommended, or ample neckbands.

Kohinoor snappers are preferable to buttons, using care in laundering to prevent bending. If sewed on to linen tape, which can be used as a facing for material, there is less strain on goods.

Short Clothes. Clothes are usually shortened at four months in summer or six months in winter, keeping about the same models.

Rompers are convenient after creeping begins. The English use diaper drawers knitted of soft wool.

Leather moccasins, made after the Indian model, with seams outside, are the best footgear until the walking stage, at twelve to fifteen months.