Baby's Night Clothes.—The night clothing should be the same as that worn during the day, but it should be loose and of the lightest flannel material. For older children a thin woolen shirt (not the one worn during the day) and a suit of union clothing with feet is best.
The mistake must not be made to cover children too warmly at night. They can do with relatively less than adults. Too much covering will render the sleep restless, will encourage nightmare, and in older children will engender bad habits. Delicate children especially must not be over-covered at night.
For the first few months children should sleep in a darkened room.
Care of the Eyes.—The eyes should be cleansed for the first few days with a saturated solution of boracic acid. They should be protected from the direct light for two or three weeks after birth.
Care of the Mouth and First Teeth.—Boiled cooled water should be used to cleanse the mouth every morning after the bath. A soft piece of sterile gauze should used for this purpose. The mother must guard against using too much force in cleaning the mouth of an infant.
The milk teeth should receive attention. If they are allowed to become dirty they will become carious and cause bad breath and neuralgia. Teeth of this character are a menace to health because they harbor germs and in this way infect the mouth and cause stomach troubles. Teeth that are carious should be filled or removed.
Care of the Skin.—The skin of a baby, because of its delicate character, is susceptible to the slightest changes in the weather or to the condition of the digestive organs. Babies are frequently subject to rashes, intertrigo, excoriations, eczema, and other skin affections. It is much easier to prevent these conditions than to cure them. Cleanliness, not only in giving a daily efficient bath, but in every other respect, is essential. Castile soap only should be used, and no rubbing indulged in, simply mopping the parts with gauze well saturated with soapy water. All napkins should be removed as soon as soiled. If the skin is easily chafed the child should be bathed in salt water or water in which bran is mixed as explained in the chapter on bran baths.
The baby should be well powdered with a good quality of toilet powder. Ordinary starch, or talcum, or the stearate of zinc is suitable. Fat infants should be powdered in all the skin folds; otherwise they are sure to chafe.
Care of the Genital Organs.—The mother should make it a habit to remove any dirt from the genitals of the baby during the morning bath. Fecal matter sometimes gets into the folds of the female baby; this should be removed promptly. In older female children, dirt and dust get into the genitals which often has to be removed carefully with a soft piece of cloth. An exceedingly chronic form of inflammation is often seen in poor children because of neglect of these parts.
In male babies the mother must daily push back the foreskin and clean under it. If this is not done the natural secretion will gather there and cause much trouble. If the foreskin is long, the child should be circumcised; if it is not long it must be pushed back daily for a number of weeks; otherwise it will contract and it may be necessary to operate on it at a later date. If this is not faithfully attended to the prepuce will become adherent, the child becomes nervous and irritable, and it may become addicted to self-abuse at a very early date—simply because the mother is derelict in the performance of her duty. If you are afraid to do your duty, don't neglect it, ask the doctor to show you just what has to be done and just how it should be done. You will find it to be a simple matter when you know how, as most things are.