Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1872-04-26
HOW WE CIV S.SJ.E OUR Child
REV.

We all know that in the civilized world
an alan ming proportion of all the children
born die under three years of age. The
reason usually given are that teething, the
most trying process of childhood, takes
place during those years, and some Of the
acute diseases Of childhood, such rs chol-
era-iufintum, frequently terminating in
brain difficulty, are more liable to occur
during that period. The fact is before MS,
and mothers must all he greatly interested
to know how this mortality can be lessened
Among the royal families of Europe, we
find that a child's death rarely occurs. This
fact leads us to believe that it is in the
rower of human intelligence and skill to
mitigate the evil that creeps into and sad
dens so many of our homes.
Tho usual mode of dressing children is
one great cause of this terrible loss of life.
The fondness of the mother for exhibiting
the dmpled arms and neck of her baby is
early rebuked by the closed eyes and life
less form of her little one. 1t is true that
fashion now sanctions the custom of high
neck and long sleeves, but it only allows
the dress to be of thin material-a covering
barely. II this or that mother tells us that
her children have lived, are well, and have
borne the exposure, it is not sufficient
argument in its favor if there is a safer
way.
with young mcthers first anxiety for
the care Of my little boy, asked my
physician, an elderly man of long expert
euce what mode Of treatment would most
l,t. 4 -, II.
replied "The care given by the mother or
nurse is infinitely more important than
any medical skill | can only say to you,
put on flannels and trust in the Lord"
1t seems TO be matter well proven,
though not understood by mothers so gen.
orally as it should be, that nothing so pro-
tects the child from the diseases peculiar to
infancy as flannel worn next the body.
This prevents the child from feeling the
| changes of temperature to which it must
be more or less subject, and also any child
from dampness of the clothes, as very
| young children, especially during sleep
! frequently perspire as to completely y
saturatc the garment next the skin. If thi,
be flannel, the child when taken up vii
remain warm and comfortable but cottoi
or linen will conduct heat much mor
readily aud produce sensation of chilli
ness. During the winter. the body ant
limbs should be covered with flannel. II
the summer, full-blooded, healthy child
rem may be burdened or overheated by ii
and we would then keep IL simply over tn,
body, It being even more essential that th,
bowels should be covered in the summer
than in the winter, on account of the dlsea
ses peculiar to that season.
But in climates where the nights ar,
much colder than the days, the limbs alsC
should be pr tccted by long flannel night
dresses. Fine, son, delicate flannel, nC
matter how fine and soft for summer use
should always cover the bowels closely
More deaths, We firmly believe, are causeC
by lack of warm clothing in August thar
in December.
The infant, requiring the tenderest carr
and feeling the least exposure, is dressed
upon summer morning in thin cambria
dress with no other covering than this upor
its neck and arms, while the mother Il
dressed in comfortable wrapper, to b'
laid aside, as the warmth of midday may
demand. In consequence, the infant musI
be kept in a heated room, with all th'
freshness cooked out of it, and so lose th'
best of the day for gaining strength, or i
submitted to the air, instead of gaining
health, It finds only collie.
Flannel shirts and skirts and soft lamb
wool stockings for infants should never b'
laid aside at any season of the year, ant
when mothers como to believe in and b,
! hNF shall tnwp
deaths, and more stout children among thu
living. Do not dress your children in to'
thin clothing, and then talk of the dealing
! of Providence and Home.