| PAGE | ||
| DEDICATION | [v] | |
| PREFACE | [vii] | |
| CHAPTER I | ||
| PREPARATION FOR MOTHERHOOD | [1] | |
| Motherhood a Profession which RequiresTraining—Prenatal Influenceand Hygiene—Maternity Clothes | ||
| CHAPTER II | ||
| BABY’S BIRTHDAY | [20] | |
| Choosing the Nurse and Doctor—SanitaryBedroom and Its Equipment—TheBaby’s Layette—Prevention of Blindnessin New-Born Babies—The Baby’sFirst Bath | ||
| CHAPTER III | ||
| THE NURSING BABY | [36] | |
| The Nursing Baby—Why Three HundredThousand Babies Are Sacrificed EveryYear to Ignorance—Influence of theMother’s Diet on the Baby’s Health—Whenthe New-Born Baby Must BeBottle-Fed—A Well-Balanced Diet forthe Nursing Mother—Care of theBreasts and Nipples—Importance of Regularityin Nursing | ||
| CHAPTER IV | ||
| ARTIFICIAL FEEDING | [50] | |
| When Artificial Feeding Is Necessary—Weightthe Test of Proper Nourishment—Cow’sMilk, Carefully Modified,Is the Best Substitute for Mother’sMilk—Source of Supply and Care—Careof the Bottles and Nipples | ||
| CHAPTER V | ||
| FORMULAS FOR ARTIFICIAL FOODS | [65] | |
| Formulas for Modifying Milk—MilkSugar, Cane Sugar, or Malt Sugar—HowTo Tell When the Baby Is ProperlyNourished—Lime Water in the Milk—CondensedMilk—Patent Foods | ||
| CHAPTER VI | ||
| GUARDING THE BABY’S DIGESTION | [79] | |
| Strong Digestion Means a Strong Baby—BowelConditions Tell the Story—TheUnderfed and the Overfed Baby—Symptomsof Disorder in the Digestive System—Vomiting—Colicand Constipation—Diarrheaand Its Treatment | ||
| CHAPTER VII | ||
| TEETHING AND WEANING | [97] | |
| Teething a Natural Process—Puttingthe Baby in Shape to Teethe Easily—DentitionTable—Care of the FirstTeeth—Gradual Weaning is Simple Process—AlternateBreast and Bottle Feeding—Evilsof Delayed Weaning—DietTables for Children from Nine Monthsto Thirty-six Months | ||
| CHAPTER VIII | ||
| CLEANLINESS AND HEALTH | [112] | |
| How To Give the Baby’s Bath—Care ofthe Various Organs—Thrush and ItsTreatment—Special Baths for DelicateChildren—Habits of Cleanliness | ||
| CHAPTER IX | ||
| FRESH AIR AND SLEEP AS HEALTH PRODUCERS | [126] | |
| Heating and Ventilating the Nursery—OutdoorNaps—Sleeping Hours for theNormal Baby—Why Some Babies Do NotSleep | ||
| CHAPTER X | ||
| HOW THE NORMAL BABY GROWS | [137] | |
| What Should Your Baby Weigh andMeasure?—Testing the Baby’s MentalDevelopment—How Soon Should theBaby Walk and Talk?—Crying, CauseAnd Cure | ||
| CHAPTER XI | ||
| BABY-COMFORT THROUGH CLOTHES | [151] | |
| Tight Belly-Bands May Torture Babies—Underwearthat Does Not Irritate—ExtensionSkirts To Protect the Feet—Dressingthe Baby in Hot Weather—HowTo Handle the Baby | ||
| CHAPTER XII | ||
| DEFECTS AND HABITS | [168] | |
| Taking Defects in Time—Habits thatMake Children Ugly—Finger-Suckingand Nail-Biting—Bed-Wetting—ViciousHabits and Their Cure—Nervousnessand Its Treatment—The Habit of Happiness | ||
| CHAPTER XIII | ||
| BABY’S AILMENTS AND HOW TO TREAT THEM | [182] | |
| Mothers Now Studying Preventive Medicine—RemediesWhich Should Be Foundin Every Nursery—Treatment of Diarrheaand Constipation—Colds and TheirCure—Adenoids and Their Removal—Ailmentsof the Skin | ||
| CHAPTER XIV | ||
| NURSERY EMERGENCIES | [202] | |
| Contagious Diseases: Symptoms, Treatmentand Quarantine—Croup and ItsTreatment—Convulsions—When FallsAre Dangerous—Burns and Cuts—Poisonsand Their Antidotes | ||
| CHAPTER XV | ||
| DIET FOR OLDER CHILDREN | [224] | |
| Milk for Growing Children—Eggs, Meatand Fish—Breadstuffs and Cereals—Recipesfor Nourishing Dishes | ||
BETTER BABIES
AND THEIR CARE
BETTER BABIES AND
THEIR CARE
CHAPTER I
PREPARATION FOR MOTHERHOOD
MOTHERHOOD A PROFESSION WHICH REQUIRES TRAINING—PRENATAL INFLUENCE AND HYGIENE—MATERNITY CLOTHES
Maternity is woman’s exclusive profession, the only one of which progress and science cannot rob her. It is also her highest profession, for, compared to motherhood, art and science dwindle into insignificance.
Successful motherhood, like genius in any art or profession, is founded on efficiency and joy in the chosen work, and the greater of these is joy. She who is merely efficient can reduce the mountains which rise in the pathway of the mother; joy in motherhood can remove them. For joy casts out doubt, fear, and all sense of burden. The woman who finds joy in maternity is absolute mistress of the domestic and social situation. Through it she commands the love and reverence of the husband to whose eyes she has opened the wonders and the mysteries of parenthood. For her the doors of the divorce court never yawn. For her motherhood entails no sacrifice. She has no regrets for a career cut short by marriage, because she finds in maternity the same supreme satisfaction of accomplishment which comes to the successful lawyer, financier, writer or artist.
Motherhood, like any other profession, requires preparation. For many generations the world has held that the maternal instinct and the ability to rear children were born in woman. It has been discovered that the maternal instinct, like many others, needs encouragement, while the ability to bring up children requires development or practical training. The phrase, “a born mother,” has rather fallen into disrepute. We are beginning to realize that one “born mother” in a thousand is not enough to leaven the maternal mass. And out of this discovery has risen a demand, which comes largely from women themselves, for education in motherhood, practical, sincere preparation for woman’s exclusive profession.
Perhaps the day will come when each college for women will have its endowed chair of motherhood, when the care and feeding of infants will be taught in our normal and high schools for girls. At present, certain colleges offer a course in psychology which prepares young women to guide, mentally and spiritually, the children they will some day bear. In a few city schools, particularly in the congested districts, girls are now taught how to bathe, dress and feed infants, largely for the purpose of having the message of sanitation and hygiene carried home to the tenement house mother.
Until these two forms of training for motherhood are combined, the American girl must enter the profession of maternity without the sort of practical preparation which will insure efficiency and joy in her chosen work. What knowledge she now possesses is a smattering of what her mother has learned by experience, what the family physician imparts at odd moments, what she reads in books or magazine articles, and what she hears at lectures where a few valiant souls proclaim motherhood as a profession which requires the most thorough of training.