BABY 



highly important that the sleeping room of the 

 child be thoroughly ventilated, and open win- 

 dows will not give the child a cold if precau- 

 tions are taken in regard to drafts. If there is 

 danger that the wind will blow on the baby a 



HOME-MADE SLEEPING BOX 



screen should be placed before the crib. In 

 the summer outdoor naps are excellent for the 

 child, and a simple bed for the purpose can 

 easily be made by anyone familiar with tools. 

 This is essentially a box with a hinged top, set 

 on strong rollers and having sides of wire or 

 cotton mosquito netting. Wherever baby 

 sleeps, he should be protected from flies and 

 mosquitoes. 



During the first month the child should sleep 

 twenty hours a day, and then sixteen hours a 

 day until the end of the first year. Daily 

 naps should be continued for several years. 

 If it can possibly be arranged the baby should 

 sleep in a bed and a room of its own. The 

 practice of having an infant sleep with its 

 mother is most unwise and is strongly con- 

 demned by all experts. Another unwise prac- 

 tice is that of rocking the child to sleep. It 

 is quite unnecessary to begin that way, and 

 the habit if once acquired is hard to break. It 

 is better to lay the little one in its crib in 

 a cool and quiet place, see that it is comfort- 

 able, and let it become accustomed to going 

 to sleep alone. Pacifiers and other devices 

 for putting children to sleep are pernicious, 

 and should not be tolerated any more than 

 the soothing syrups and other patent mixtures 

 that are frequently advertised. 



Feeding. The ideal food for any baby, 

 especially during the first few months, is milk 

 from the mother's breast. Unless there are 

 reasons which make it unwise or impossible to 

 do so, every mother should nurse her child. 

 Breast milk never sours and is at all times 

 ready for use. It does not have to be pre- 



:>2S BABY 



pared, cooked or measured, and it passes to 

 the child's mouth directly from the source. It 

 contains neither germs nor dirt and so is a 

 protection against many baby diseases, espe- 

 cially bowel disorders. It is the only perfect 

 baby food known, for it contains all the food 

 elements needed by the growing child, and 

 these are always found in their proper propor- 

 tions. By taking certain precautions the nurs- 

 ing mother can protect her baby from the 

 intestinal disorders that cause the death of so 

 many infants. She must keep her own diges- 

 tion in the proper condition, avoiding anything 

 that may cause stomach and bowel trouble. 

 She should eat nourishing food, drink plenty 

 of pure water, have plenty of sleep and rest, 

 exercise in the open air each day, avoid fretting 

 or overworking, and be careful not to nurse the 

 baby when she is herself overheated. The 

 breasts should be carefully washed with water 

 or boric acid after each nursing. 



Babies should be nursed at definite intervals, 

 for regular feeding means regular sleep. If 

 necessary at first, the child should be wakened 

 at nursing time; he will soon acquire the habit 

 of waking voluntarily when it is time to be 

 fed. Dr. L. E. Holt, the well-known baby 

 authority, advises the following schedule: Be- 

 ginning with the third day, the baby should be 

 fed not oftener than every three hours between 

 six in the morning and ten at night; during 

 the night there should be but one nursing. 

 After four months no night feeding after ten 

 o'clock P. M. should be given, and after six 

 months the day feedings should occur at four- 

 hour intervals. Breast-fed babies should have 

 cooled (not iced) boiled water to drink between 

 feedings. In many cases the baby needs more 

 than breast food after the first months, and it 

 is advisable then to give one or two bottle 

 feedings a day at the regular nursing periods. 

 As a rule, breast feeding should be discontinued 

 at the twelfth month. 



Artificial feeding has become so general that 

 authorities are giving a great deal of study to 

 the subject. It is of course not always possible 

 to feed the baby at the breast. In such cases 

 the best substitute obtainable should be used, 

 and that is clean, fresh milk from the cow. 

 Every mother who feeds her baby from the 

 bottle should insist on getting clean milk from 

 a clean source. Milk delivered in bottles is 

 the only safe kind, and city-dwellers should 

 purchase certified milk. This is milk guaran- 

 teed to be produced under sanitary conditions 

 and handled with special care. If there is ever 



