Health Habits
Children are trained to regular habits in three ways; first, by having meals at fixed hours; second, by having regular times for sleeping and waking; and third, by being taught when young to be clean and regular in their daily clear-out. They must have plenty of healthful, peaceful sleep and the earlier they go to bed the better for their brains and nerves in after life. The bedroom must be airy and quiet; the windows kept open.
Bath
Nobody can be healthy unless he is clean, and cleanliness is one of the first habits you want Baby to form. So he should have a daily bath. The temperature for his bath should range from 80° to 98° and you should be able to read the bath thermometer as well as the room thermometer. Before you undress Baby get together everything that you will need for the bath and dressing; your hand basin of warm water, soap, soft wash cloths and towels, comb and brush, etc., and his clothes laid out in the order in which you will put them on.
It is handier as well as safer to begin baby laid on a table or bed rather than on your lap. He should of course have under him a soft towel or canton flannel. First wash his head carefully and rub it dry gently. Do the outer parts of his ears and let no water get inside them. The nose may be cleaned with a bit of cotton rolled to a point and the nails should be carefully cleaned. Then put him gently in the tub. Some people soap the baby first, and a soapy little baby wiggles, so hold him very firmly and comfortably, supporting his head all the time he is kicking and splashing in the tub. After you lift him out be careful to dry all the creases in his little body. It is perfectly proper for a baby to cry as much as twenty minutes every day till he begins to talk, and he may take his bath time for doing it, so don’t scold him. A baby can be kept sweet and clean by a daily sponge bath.
Food
The baby needs proper food to build up his body. Milk is his only food for the first months of his life and even up to three years he takes mostly milk.
For the first eight or nine months of a baby’s life mother’s milk is the best food for him, and if he is unfortunate enough to have to take his milk from a bottle you will have to learn the best kind of bottle to use and how to prepare it. Baby is very particular about his milk being fresh and good.
Punctual feeding makes good digestion and even if he wants that extra nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meal at regular hours, than to let his digestion get out of order. Some babies are very punctual and feel it keenly if you do not feed them at the fixed hour. They will very likely let you know it too, and woe betide you if they find you have not properly boiled the bottle after each meal to sterilize it. Between meals a little drink of water which has been boiled and cooled (sterile water) will wash out his mouth as well as refresh him. Do not give a baby too much food at a time, and keep him on plain food. This applies to you as well as to baby. When the digestion is not right the appetite will not be good. Digestion makes the food you eat ready to be turned into muscle and bone and brain, and indigestion means that you have not used up the food you ate and therefore you have those uncomfortable pains in the middle of the night. Eat only the foods you know you can digest comfortably.
By the time a child is two years old, he should have a well varied though simple bill of fare. This may include cereals such as well cooked oatmeal and cream of wheat, soft boiled eggs, fresh juice, (beef) milk puddings, milk toast, baked potatoes, apple sauce and chicken broth.