A Pouting Navel.—If the stump of the cord should protrude, a piece of strong pasteboard, the size of a fifty-cent piece, should be wrapped in soft gauze and placed over the navel, over this a gauze pad, and if necessary this should be held in place by a strip of adhesive plaster, though the binder is usually sufficient if it is put on carefully. If this pad is held properly and worn for a month the tendency to protrusion or rupture will have passed away. These pads may of course, be removed when the baby is being bathed and put back again before the binder is applied.

Bathing Baby.—A baby should not be put into water for a bath until after the cord has been off for forty-eight hours.

During the first few months the temperature of the water should be 98° F. The temperature of the water should be taken with a bath thermometer; it should not be guessed at. A bath thermometer is an inexpensive commodity and it will be in daily use in many ways in a home where there is a baby—it should therefore be procured wherever possible. The room should be warm; there should be no draughts. The mother or nurse should cultivate the habit of bathing baby quickly and with system. Everything should be ready and at hand. A little salt in the water will tend to strengthen the skin; it will also relieve any superficial rashes or excoriations which may be on the skin. Four tablespoonfuls to a gallon of water will be sufficient. The sea salt sold in the stores may be used in lesser quantities.

By the end of the fifth month the temperature of the water may be reduced to 95° F., and by the end of the first year to 90° F. After the first year the mother should accustom the child to a quick sponge with cool water on the chest and spine immediately after the bath. This simple means, if kept up, will often prevent the development of colds and bronchial troubles so common to children in temperate latitudes.

The best time to give the warm bath is at night. In the morning a cold sponge bath is desirable. This should be given as described in the chapter on cold sponge or shower baths.

In certain children bathing seems to depress their entire system. They do not react well even to a warm bath. They remain blue or pale around the mouth and eyes; bathing should therefore be carefully undertaken with these children until such time as they acquire strength.

Clothing of Baby.—The baby should wear a woolen shirt, with a high neck and long sleeves. The abdominal binder may be worn for the first three months. It is not necessary after that time. If worn longer the habit is acquired and chronic indigestion may ensue when it is ultimately taken off. If the baby is very thin it may be wise to leave it on, simply for its warming effect, for a few months longer. If the child is normal and healthy the binder should be left off permanently after three months. The band for the first four weeks should be made of plain flannel; after this period a knitted band with shoulder straps is the better article. All petticoats and skirts should be supported from the shoulders. Stockinet is a good material for diapers; it is soft, warm, and pliable.

Baby's feet should be warm always. Cold feet are frequently responsible for colic and gastro-intestinal troubles. A hot water bottle should be placed in the carriage if the weather is cold, but care should be taken to see that it does not touch the feet, otherwise it may burn them. The same measure may be adopted in the baby's crib if the feet are cold.

During the summer the outer clothing should be made of the thinnest quality of material possible, and the underclothing of the finest flannel or gauze. Body heat may be maintained during changes of temperature by extra outer wraps—not by dressing the baby in clothes that keep it too hot and uncomfortable all the time.

The main object to be attained in clothing the baby is to ensure a sufficient protection, but the clothing must be light, warm, loose, and non-irritating. Don't bundle up the arms and legs so that they cannot be moved; don't pin them so tight that the child cannot breathe properly and don't put the band on so that the child is in torture all the time from inability to move the abdomen.