The Habitual Crier.—If a child becomes a habitual crier, it is because it is uncomfortable and unhappy. There are restless, often vigorous, crying, whining infants, and the trouble, as a rule, is in the intestinal tract. Badly managed, "spoiled babies" cry from inattention, and when left alone. If they are taken up and talked to, the crying ceases, thus proving that it was not pain or discomfort that was causing the crying. In the case of the habitual crier we try to find out the cause of the bowel trouble and cure it; the spoiled infant we discipline rigidly, or leave it alone if its parents prefer that kind of baby.
The Habit of Feeding Baby Every Time It Cries.—The habit of regular feeding will, if persisted in and successfully established, render advice on this subject unnecessary. So also will the explanation of the evil of overfeeding have its effect on mothers. Apart from these reasons, however, the habit of feeding baby every time it cries is a pernicious one, and no doubt the mother, who will be striving to faithfully follow instructions, will have to overcome the advice of meddling friends who will regard it as a cruelty to allow the baby to cry. Do not give in to these busy-bodies; insist on attending to your own affairs, but be absolutely sure baby is not crying for a just cause. A child can only cry; that is its only language, but it cries for many things other than the nipple or the bottle. Examine it carefully,—a wet diaper a pin, an uncomfortable position, a drink of water, any of these may be the cause.
It is just as essential that a child should cry as that it should sleep. Every healthy child should cry for twenty or thirty minutes every twenty-four hours. Nature calls for this as an exercise in order to develop the lungs; therefore, if there is no just cause for the crying you must regard it as a necessary evil, even if you look upon it as a domestic affliction.
The Habit of Walking the Floor With Baby Every Time It Cries.—This is another habit that is indulged in to the sorrow and ridicule of the race. If you are a victim of this habit, you have yourself to blame. It is a matter of education, or habit, pure and simple, and, like all bad habits, it is difficult to break away from. In the preceding paragraph, you have been told that when baby wants something, or is uncomfortable, it employs the language nature gave it,—it cries. No child ever cried to be walked up and down the floor in the dead of the night. Begin at the beginning, when it first cries, find out why it is crying. Offer it a little water if it is not feeding time. Examine its diaper and if soiled change it. It may be overdressed and consequently hot, perspiring, and uncomfortable; change its position. Find out if any pin is open and hurting it; loosen the binder so it can breathe easily. If it is a colicky child follow the instructions given in the treatment of colic. Be patient the first few nights, and be thorough, because you may discover why it cries and each discovery will help you next time. If you discover something wrong, some reasonable excuse for the crying, does it not prove the folly of walking the floor? If it wants a drink of water, or if its diaper is wet, how is walking the floor going to cure it, or how can you expect the baby to stop crying when you so unjustly construe its reasonable and its only way of asking a favor? If walking the floor stops its crying, it stops it by exhausting the child, not by relieving it of its little ailment.
Jouncing or Hobbling Baby.—This is another habit that should be frowned upon. So many persons are addicted to this form of baby torture, that it is astonishing more immediate harm does not result from it. Be particularly careful not to indulge in it, or permit anyone else to do it immediately after feeding. If you form the habit of putting baby down at once after each feeding, as you have been instructed to do, the opportunity to jounce it will not exist. A little reasoning will clearly convince you that to subject a baby to violent exercise when its stomach is full would interrupt digestion and so shake the full stomach hat it would distend it and cause indigestion. You would not think of exercising yourself after a meal; why exercise a baby?
Baby Needs Water to Drink.—Boil a quantity of water each morning, put in a clean bottle, and keep in a cool place. Give the baby some, three or four times daily between feedings. One teaspoonful is enough to begin with, and as it grows older it will take more. It may not always take the water but it will take what it wants, and it needs some every day; it is therefore your duty, inasmuch as baby cannot ask for it, to offer it regularly each day as part of your daily routine.
KISSING
A child should never be kissed on the mouth by anyone, not even its own parents.
Kissing should not be allowed among children. If any kissing is done it should be on the brow, never on the mouth, hands, or fingers.
Many diseases are carried by this pernicious habit, and you cannot afford to have baby's health jeopardized by this promiscuous and unnecessary liberty.