CHAPTER IV The Care of Infants Bathing the Little One-Its Clothing-Taking the Air-Weighing as a Guide to Growth-The First Teeth-Nursing and Weaning-Special Diets. CARE OF THE BABY.-Immediately following the tying of the navel cord, the baby's face and eyes should be washed. It is best to let boric-acid solution flow directly into the eyes from a cup (using as much boric acid as the water will dissolve), so that they are thoroughly cleansed. The stump of the navel cord is dressed by wrapping it in absorbent cotton wet with alcohol, or with the dry cotton if alcohol is not at hand. The baby is then anointed all over with warm sweet oil or vaseline, wrapped in a flannel, and put in a warm place, but not bathed for some hours. From time to time the baby must be watched to see that the navel cord does not bleed, and if it does, another piece of narrow tape or cotton string, previously boiled, must be tied tightly about the stump. The cheesy matter may be washed off the body in a few hours with warm water and Castile soap, but the baby should not be put in the bath tub for about ten days. Until that time, daily sponging may be done with warm water, or, if the baby is feeble, it must be rubbed with warm oil instead. The dressing over the navel is kept in place by a loose, flannel binder. The cord should drop off about the fifth day, and any raw spot remaining should be cleaned by pouring on water which has been boiled, and then dusting on dry boric acid and applying absorbent cotton. Bathing. After the tenth day the baby should be bathed daily in a tub. First wash the head and face and dry them; then soap the body with Castile soap and place him in water at the temperature of 100° F., while supporting his head and back, and wash off the soap. Avoid chilling in every way. A soft, boiled wash rag is more suitable than a sponge. A cloth should be kept separate for use about the buttocks. The eyes should be bathed daily with boricacid solution (one-quarter teaspoonful to pint of water). Any soreness or discharge from the eyes should demand the immediate attention of a physician (consult also p. 32). Chafing is avoided by scrupulous cleanliness and changing of diapers as soon as soiled or wet; also by dusting in the folds of skin a powder consisting of a mixture of starch, three parts, boric acid, one part. If the skin is very delicate, the bran bath may be used to advantage. This is made by tying one pint of bran in a bag of cheese cloth and placing it in the baby's bath for five minutes, and then squeezing it out thoroughly into the bath. The bag should then be dried and may be used again. Drying should be done with a soft towel without rubbing the skin. If there is a rash on the body, it is wiser to omit the bath altogether until it is gone. After six months the bath may be reduced to 95° F.; after the end of the first year to 90° F., which is continued during the second year. - Clothing. A bellyband, four inches wide and long enough to encircle the body and overlap four inches, should be worn the first six months. After this a knitted band may be used for two years. Most babies are dressed too warmly in the house, and the rooms are overheated. The thinnest gauze shirts are most suitable for summer, the next to the heaviest flannels in winter. Thick coats and leggings in winter, worn only when the infant goes outdoors, are better than heavy flannels worn all the time. The writer is indebted for many valuable suggestions as to the hygiene and feeding of babies to Dr. L. Emmet Holt's most practical book entitled "The Care and Feeding of Children," than which there is no better guide of its kind for mothers. Temperature. The nursery should be kept at a temperature of 68° F. during the day; never above 70° F. at any time, and not below 65° F. at night, for the first three months. After the first year it may be as low as 45° to 50° F. at night. The windows may be open at night after the first three months, except in very cold weather. If the child is born in hot weather, of course the windows may be open at any time. It is well to air the room after the bathing time and before bedtime. There should be no cooking, washing, or drying clothes in the nursery, and there should be no unnecessary curtains, hangings, or upholstery in the room, which should be large and sunshiny and heated preferably by an open grate. A gas stove for heating is unwholesome, except for temporary use for the bath. The baby may go outdoors in summer when one week old; in winter on warm days when three months old, if kept out of the wind. A temperature below freezing, melting snow, or high winds, make outdoor airing inadvisable at this age. At one month, airing of the baby in the nursery while dressed and in the crib may be begun, at first, for fifteen minutes a day; later, it may be continued for an hour. This may be done in all but the most severe and inclement weather. To accomplish the airing, the windows of the nursery are opened wide as possible, doors being shut and a screen used, if necessary. When eight months old the baby may go outdoors in a carriage if the temperature is not below 20° F. The best hours are the middle of the morning and afternoon. Sleeping while in the carriage in winter is allowable if the wind and sun are not in the baby's face, and if the feet and body are well covered. The infant is as well off in a carriage as in the nurse's arms outdoors at any age. Colds may be best avoided by keeping the nursery cool, by not overdressing indoors, and by bathing the chest and back with cold water (60° F.), while the baby sits in warm water at the close of the daily bath. Weight. The weight of a baby is the best guide we have in indicating whether the food is sufficient and of the right kind, and whether the infant is rightly flourishing. Therefore the baby should be weighed regularly every week. During the first week there is commonly some loss; from the end of the first week to the sixth month the average gain should be from four to eight ounces a week; from this time to the end of the first year, from two to four ounces each week. An average baby should weigh twelve pounds at three months; fifteen pounds at six months; seventeen pounds at nine months; twenty and a half pounds at one year. The fontanel, or open spot in the top of the skull under the scalp, should close at fourteen to eighteen months. The failure of the fontanel to close at the end of the second year indicates some arrest in development, which may be due only to previous malnutrition or to some more serious developmental irregularity. The baby holds up his head at the third or fourth month; sits up unsupported at the end of the seventh month; and stands with assistance at about the end of the first year. At fourteen or fifteen months baby will usually begin to walk unassisted, although this is not to be encouraged. Baby usually begins to talk and say mamma" and "papa" at one year. If the child does |