Until a baby can walk, the petticoats and frocks should come over the feet and woollen or silk boots be worn. If a child suffers from the cold, have the little shirt made of silk longcloth, which is warmer than anything of the same weight. Silk boots are warmer than wool, and easily knitted. High merino combinations would be excellent, but they are costly, and apt to be worn soiled. Head flannels are preferable to caps in almost all cases, though some contend that babies who wear caps for the first 2 months are much less liable to colds in the eyes. The greatest safeguard against catching cold out of doors is a large white silk handkerchief, to be worn all the year round, folded crosswise, and put on like an old woman’s shawl, crossed in front and tied behind; if, after the pelisse or jacket is on, you pull this up all round the neck, the child will rarely take cold. Full-skirted pelisses are preferable to jackets for children under 3. When a child is sitting up in a perambulator, a pelisse will pull down all over the feet, whereas a jacket only comes as far as the knees. Nothing equals a merino pelisse lined with flannel, full, and for a small baby long enough to come over the feet about 2 in.; the cape should also be lined with very thin wadding, and have a silk lining.
Cashmere or silk hoods, lined with flannel when cold, are better than fur or woollen. In winter, gaiters and flannel knickerbockers must be added, or, for a child that cannot walk, woollen gaiters that end in a bag, to tie up over the diapers. Fur jackets are unhealthy, producing undue heat, thereby weakening the child, and being very uncomfortable and heavy for running in. Unless there is any tendency to weakness in the ankles, strap shoes are best, both indoors and out; where the ankles are weak, very tight boots are better. The time of changing the knitted boots to regular leather shoes, with socks, entirely depends upon whether the child is forward or not. Fat, heavy children should never be put to their feet early, therefore they may wear their first boots longer than light active ones; probably 7-8 months is quite early enough for the change for any child; but in this matter, as in many others, mothers disagree.
When out of doors, infants up to 10 months old should wear the hoods already described, and warm woollen overdresses made to fasten at the back, as babies’ arms are very easily dislocated, and in garments which fasten down the front, they have to be forced dangerously back into the sleeves. In cold weather young infants should have veils over their faces and mouths. The best things for this purpose are old-fashioned Brussels lace veils, doubled; woollen veils are apt to irritate. Children over 10 months should wear jackets out of doors. Capes are very injurious; they hang entirely from the neck and shoulders, and are apt to open, leaving the chest exposed, and admitting cold air to it and the armpits. Woollen jackets are as a rule preferable to fur unless the latter is very light; for winter wear they should be made long enough to nearly reach the ankle, and should fasten with hooks and eyes down to the very bottom. Children able to walk should have woollen gaiters over their legs when they go out in winter. Choose head gear always of the lightest kind: warm and close fitting in winter; cool and shady in summer.
Washing.—Never put a child to bed dirty. The whole body should be washed every day. Young babies and infants should be bathed and well washed every morning in warm (96°-98° F.) water, and thoroughly well dried afterwards. As they grow older, the water need not be so warm, but it should not be quite cold during the cold weather. In summer cold water is best. Have a large tub and plenty of water. Beware of a chill from draughts while washing and drying the child. Young infants are best washed after their first meal, older children before breakfast. A clean skin is all important; if not washed away, the perspiration dries and remains on the skin, chokes up the pores and sets up an irritation which frequently ends in some positive skin disease. Dry the skin quickly and thoroughly, rub it briskly, and do not leave off until it is perfectly dry; a half dried skin is sure to be made rough and sore very soon by the wind, and the daily morning wash should be a stimulant and tonic to the whole system, helping to make it vigorous and healthy. Sponges are generally used for washing children, and as long as they are not used for any other purpose, there is no objection; but remember that a sponge is very liable to convey infectious diseases and impurities. Some medical men recommend a piece of fine flannel, instead of a sponge. Use the purest soap. Very young infants should have no soap applied near their eyes, as it is liable to produce severe inflammation in them, not to speak of pain from the irritation of soap. It is particularly necessary to attend to the cleanliness and dryness of the napkins; the discharges from the bowels and bladder of a baby are very irritating, and if a wet and dirty napkin is allowed to remain applied to the skin it soon makes it sore, the skin gets inflamed and peels off, and these sores take a long time and much care to heal. The tender skin is soothed and protected by the use of violet powder after being washed. Some toilet powders are, in a degree, antiseptic. French chalk, white fuller’s earth, Taylor’s Cimolia, and sanitary rose powder (containing borax) are among the best. Iron or wire guards are indispensable to nursery fireplaces. It is well to wash and dress a baby near a fire; but never allow the child’s eyes to be exposed to the glare of the fire or its head to be heated.
Air and Exercise.—Children should never be kept indoors simply because the weather is cold; if they are properly dressed, the cold will do them no harm, unless they are already out of health. Even drizzling rain is not to be feared, and the children may be taken out in frosty weather, or slight sleet, and even when the snow is thick on the ground, provided their boots are waterproof, falls not to be feared, and garments all changed on returning home. Fogs and high winds, especially east winds, are to be avoided. Let the little ones be out in the air as much as possible. In winter they should go out in the morning from 10.30-12.30, and in the afternoon from 1.45-3 o’clock. In summer they should be out from 8.30-10.45 in the morning and from 4.30-7 o’clock in the afternoon; their meals must be managed so as to leave these hours free. In winter they should have dinner ¼ hour after returning from their morning airing, and should sleep in the afternoon from 3.30-5 o’clock, when they should have another meal. In summer they should have a very light meal on returning from their morning walk, and be put to sleep at about 11.30, dine at 3 o’clock, and have supper at 7.15. Of course young infants require to be fed more often than this, and cannot be kept out continuously for so long; but they can be taken in for a few minutes, fed, and then brought out again.
Perambulators are a doubtful blessing. A very young child ought to be carried in the arms for the first 6 months; it is so much warmer for one thing. The nurse’s arm, changed at short intervals, should project beyond the baby’s head at the back to protect it from passers by. After 6 months, perambulators may do very well, provided the child is carefully put in, which is very rarely the case. If seated facing forwards, a cold will be the natural result, without taking such care as is beyond the ordinary nursemaid. Every watchfulness must be used to prevent young children getting chills; never let them sit on the grass, nor on a seat which is exposed to the wind in the intervals of play. When they return home warm do not remove their overclothes in a cold room: nothing is more certain to produce ill effects.
Once or twice a day an infant should be set free from all hampering binders, &c.; and laid down on a soft rug on the floor to kick and sprawl to its heart’s content. This is the finest exercise, much better than all the jumping and romping, which only makes a baby giddy and over-excited. Do not be in too big a hurry to teach a child to walk; lay it on its back and let it kick about as much as it likes while it is very young. A little later it may crawl and creep about in perfect safety, but when a child is made to stand before its legs are strong enough to bear it, they are very likely to give way and become bent—the body is too heavy for the weak bones of the legs, and they become deformed.
As the child advances in age and strength, means of a healthy exercise should be provided in the nursery. Beyond the infantile stage of life, the movements of the child become more and more “purposive.” They are performed for definite purposes, and to effect ends which are clearly mapped out in the child’s mind. Hence, as these movements are of more decided character than those of infancy, “games”—which merely represent play with a purpose—are naturally indulged in. The young child does not “play” aimlessly and listlessly, as is too often supposed. If a child is provided with a ball, nothing delights it more than some defined amusement with that toy. It will aim at effecting some particular plan—as, for example, knocking down an object, or catching the ball in its rebound. Possibly the ball is the best plaything for the child just emerged from its infantile state. Freedom of movement is encouraged in such an exercise, and there is, besides, little danger of fatigue or undue prolongation of this exercise. The child should never be set down to regular exercises, or to any stereotyped course of mild gymnastics, until it has reached its seventh or eighth year. Nursery gymnastics and the use of swinging bars, the trapeze, and allied apparatus will only tend to injure the child if they are used before the age of 7-8. The movements these exercises excite and demand are too severe for young children, whilst, on the contrary, they are well adapted for boys and girls of 8-12 years of age. The same caution applies to the use of “dumb-bells,” which are well adapted for boys and girls of 10-11 and onwards, but are injurious to younger children.
Sleep.—Children require much more sleep than adults. They require to be kept very warm when sleeping; the natural warmth of the body is less during sleep than at other times. The hours of sleeping should be made quite regular: this is easy to manage if you begin with a baby at once; they soon acquire regular habits, and in the matter of sleep and feeding, this regularity of habit cannot be begun too soon: a bad habit is difficult to break. For the first few weeks a baby should sleep almost constantly, only awaking at regular intervals to be fed. After the first 2 months it lies awake longer, and is fed less often—it should then be put to sleep for at least 2 hours in the forenoon, from 10-12 or thereabouts, and again in the afternoon for at least an hour. But too much sleep during the day at and after this time spoils the rest at night, which is the most important time for rest. For the first month a child is better to sleep with its mother, after this it may be put into a crib, but never cover its face with a handkerchief, and never have curtains to the crib—they cause the child to breathe its own air over again and always do much harm. Place the crib where no draught can reach it, and let the bedclothes be warm but light. Uneasy sleep is a sign of ill health. An hour’s sleep before dinner should be allowed to children of 4-5 years, after this it may be discontinued. Put them to bed at night between 6-7 o’clock, and they will generally sleep 12-14 hours. Never wake a child suddenly, the change should be gradual. When a child awakes in the morning it should not be permitted to lie long in bed; take it up and dress it, and so you may get it into the regular, healthy, and most valuable habit of early rising. After the child is up let the mattress be well shaken, and have the sheets and blankets thrown over the back of a chair or off the bed, and exposed to the air for an hour or two, that they be thoroughly dried and ventilated. Open the window freely.
Feeding.—Every mother should make it her duty, as it is her privilege, to nurse her baby at the breast. The only exceptions to this rule are those cases in which, because of special delicacy or disease, they are forbidden by the doctor to do so. Whenever, from any cause, the child cannot be brought up on the breast, the only food which should be given to it for the first 7-8 months is the milk of the cow or goat. Milk contains all ingredients necessary for the growth and nourishment of the child; and nothing can take its place. A child’s stomach has not for many months the power to digest foods which contain much starch, such as cornflour, arrowroot, sago, and others; these foods irritate the stomach and bowels, while the child is being starved for want of the only food it can digest. Milk may be given either from the breast of the mother, or from the bottle. If from the latter, care must be taken not to give the food when either too hot or too cold. Dollond, of 1, Ludgate Hill, has introduced a good thermometer for this purpose, on which thick black lines indicate the right temperature. Breast milk is infinitely to be preferred. Let the child have as much breast milk as possible, and only make up the deficiencies with the bottle. The child should be put to the breast early, within the first 12 hours. The first milk is different to what comes afterwards, and helps by gently acting on the bowels to prepare the passages to properly digest the fully formed milk. Instead of doing this nurses are far too apt to administer a dose of castor oil, which is quite unnecessary and wrong. If the milk has not yet come sucking will help it; and if the child cries with hunger, a little weak milk and water may be given with a spoon. The child should be put to the breast regularly at stated intervals—every 2 hours during the day, and less often at night.