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2
ATTENTION TO THE BOWELS.
But not only must a baby be kept clean, it must be kept
dry, or there will be "scalding" or chafing. On no account
should clothing (napkins in particular) which has been wetted by
baby be dried and used a second time without having been
thoroughly washed. This practice, too often followed by mothers,
will very quickly cause chafing. Soda should never be used in the
washing of napkins as it irritates the skin. A little common
starch powder may be used with advantage to powder baby after
bathing and when changing, as it absorbs moisture and helps to
prevent chafing. Nothing adds more to the mother's or the
baby's comfort than regular attention to the natural functions.
Baby should be held out at regular intervals each day. Habits
are sometimes established within a week of birth that persist
through babyhood. Not only is constipation by this means
avoided, but also a good deal of the insanitariness arising from
soiled or wetted linen. It will be found that the habit is most
quickly formed if the baby is held out after the first meal in the
morning and again after the bath.
SLEEP.
Healthy infants sleep the greater part of their time. To
secure this, they should be put to bed at regular hours. On no
occasion should babies ever sleep with their mothers. So
important is this that, in some countries, it is recognised as a
criminal offence for the mother to sleep in the same bed with the
baby. It is more dangerous to the life of the child than all the
other causes of accident put together. It is most unhealthy for
the child, and cannot be condemned too strongly. Poverty is no
excuse for it, for an orange box will make a healthier cot than the
best appointed bed shared by the mother. The infant should be
put to its cot in the bedroom at an early hour, and left there—not
nursed to sleep. This is one of the secrets of having good as well
as healthy children. A little crying is good for the baby's lungs.
Much crying comes of encouraging baby to cry by giving it what
it very soon learns to know it gets by crying for. If a baby is not
taught to have someone by its cot to keep it awake when it is
sleepy, it will never learn to expect or cry for the luxury, and will
go to sleep as a good child should.