The two factors which must be considered in supplying the baby with fresh air are the condition and vigor of the baby himself and the immediate temperature and state of the weather. His age and the season of the year can be only partial guides because of the difference between individual babies of the same age and the variations in temperature, winds and moisture during any one season.
The air of the room which the baby occupies should be changing constantly in order that it may always be fresh, but the temperature should be equable and the baby protected from drafts. As the tendency here, as with the baby’s clothes, is toward overheating, you will do well to remember that the young baby who lies covered up in his crib, may usually be kept in a colder room than is advisable for an older one who is creeping or walking about.
During cold weather the baby’s bed should not be directly in front of an open window and he should be protected from direct currents of cold air by a sheet hung over the head and side of his crib.
Two or three times daily, while the baby is out of the room, the windows should be opened wide to air the room thoroughly, one of these airings being just before the baby is put to bed for the night.
The doctor’s usual instructions concerning the temperature of the nursery are to keep it from 68° F. to 70° F. during the day and about 65° F. at night, during the first three months and lower it gradually to 64° F. during the day and about 55° F. at night as the baby grows older. It is customary to begin to open the nursery window at night when the baby is three or four months old, if he is well and the temperature is above freezing.
In planning to take the baby out of doors it is wiser, as a rule, to begin with the indoor airing when he is about a month old, except, of course, during the moderate or mild months of the year, when he is taken out at once. If the weather is cold, the baby may be protected with extra wraps and carried in the arms, into a room in which the windows are open and kept there for fifteen or twenty minutes. This indoor airing is increased by being gradually lengthened to two or three hours and by having the windows opened wider and wider. By the time he is two or three months old he is taken out of doors on clear, bright days, the best time being between ten and three o’clock, when the sun is high. If he is carried in the nurse’s arms at first the warmth of her body serves as a protection and helps to accustom him to the out-of-door life, when he spends a good deal of his time out of doors in his carriage.
On windy, stormy days or when there is melting snow on the ground, the baby may be given his airing on a protected porch or in a room with the windows open. He is not usually taken out if the temperature is below freezing until the third or fourth month. After this time the average baby is taken out when the temperature is not lower than 20° F.
When the baby is dressed in his extra wraps he must be taken out of doors or the windows opened immediately, for otherwise he will become overheated and be in danger of chilling when taken into the colder air.
Warm hands and feet, a good color and the baby’s tendency to sleep most of the time while out of doors are evidences of his being adequately clothed for his airing, while the reverse is true if he is not warm enough.
A robust baby who has been gradually accustomed to being out of doors during the day will usually be much benefited by sleeping out at night. But he must be protected from winds and his clothing so arranged that he cannot be chilled. Knitted or flannel sleeping garments or sleeping bags (See Fig. [20]) are valuable and in addition, the blankets which cover the baby should be securely pinned to the mattress with safety-pins and tucked well under it at the sides and foot. The baby should wear a warm cap and the bed should be warmed before he is put into it. Or better still, he may be dressed for the night, put to bed in a warm room and the crib then moved out on the sleeping-porch.