Should the newly-born babe have its eyes exposed to the light? The eyes are very sensitive, and the sun or artificial light should not be allowed to shine on them. The first day the baby is deaf, but his hearing develops and becomes very acute so that he is very much disturbed by sudden, sharp noises.
[548 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
What is the "soft" spot on a baby's head? This is called the "fontanelle." Do not touch this spot. This closes in time. At six months of age the fontanelle is somewhat larger than it was at birth because the brain expands faster than the boney matter deposited around the edges in the skull bones. After this another deposit of bone goes on more rapidly than the growth of the brain substance, and by sixteen or eighteen months the opening should be entirely closed.
When should the baby be given the second tub bath? Not until the cord has dropped off.
How and when should this be given? The room should be warm. The head and face should be washed first and dried; then the body soaped and the infant placed in the tub with its head and body well supported by the hands. The bath should be given quickly with no special rubbing, drying with a soft towel. (An hour after feeding).
What should be the temperature of the bath? One hundred degrees F. for the first few weeks, later ninety-eight F. After six months ninety-five F.; during the second year from eighty-five to ninety degrees F.
What should you use in giving the bath? Soft, clean sponges or smooth cloths. There should be separate pieces for each eye, for the head, face and buttocks.
What are the objections to sponges? They are very apt to become dirty and are hard to keep clean.
When should the daily bath be omitted? In the case of infants who are delicate and feeble, when the bath seems to harm them; in all forms of acute sickness, unless the bath is directed. In eczema and many other forms of skin diseases a great deal of harm is often done by soap and water or water baths.
How should a genuine bath be given? If possible the bath should be given in front of an open fire, in a room where the temperature is from seventy to seventy-two F. and the draughts kept off by a large screen. Have everything at hand with which to give the bath. A folding rubber bath-tub is the best, next a papier-mache one; or if tin must be used, put a piece of flannel in the tub to protect the baby from the tin. If necessary place the tub on a low table, place another low table to the right of the one on which the tub sets, and on this table should be the baby's basket containing a soft brush, different sizes of pins in a pin-cushion, several threaded needles, a thimble, squares of soft linen, absorbent cotton, wooden tooth-picks, a powder-box and puff, or a powder-shaker containing pure talcum powder, a box of bismuth subnitrate, one of cold cream, a tube of white vaselin, a dish containing castile, ivory, or pure French soap should be placed by the basket on the table; also a cup containing a saturated solution of boric acid; two cheese-cloth washcloths, a soft towel, a thermometer to test the water, several toothpicks on which a little absorbent cotton is twisted, and the rolled flannel band. Then a basin containing warm water, 98 to 100 degrees F., also one with cold water. The baby-clothes should be hung on a rack close at hand.