Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-03-11
Babies and Their Belongings.

Happening to visit lady who was in
blissful possession Of her first baby she
begged me to tell her where she could
find corset for the infant or even pat
tern to make one. She remembered that
her own baby brothers and sisters were
inClOsed in such an article, but she re-
membered It's pecuGarities of form only
in that vague way which ladies who are
born in idleness are likely to recollect.
did you wear corset when you were
baby?" we inquired. Certainly
Don't you see how slight I am" We
have observed it. Indeed we have often
perplexed our brains about this lady's
figure. She was six feet and one inch in
height, and as Slight and graceful as a
willow and just about as fraiI. The
corset explained it. Doubtless there was
SO much material to dispose of somehow
and it was forced to be OblOng, as the
corset refused to give it room to spread
itself. Now this idea may not be scien-
tifc, but facts are facts My friend, who
was remarkably beautiful very lovely in
all wOmanly ways and as accomplished
and cultivated as the best masters and
close and continuous cOrsets permitted,
did not live to see the birth of her sec
Ond baby. Her chest was too narrow,
and she died, as many other people do,
speedily and almost painlessly, of de-
cayed lungs. Could she have found the
infants corset pattern, her baby would
have followed her very soon. Of course
baby must wear a smooth, unhemmed
flannel bandage above its abdomen for a
month, but after that we should trust to
it's muscles. Dress it in soft, white fan
mel next to its person, keep it in warm,
loose clothing, but DO not permit the
room to be Over-beated, or the air to be
unchanged less than three times day,
and yet never permit it to be exposed to
draft. Never remove it from the
nursery without lifting the window, so
that pure oxygen may await its return.
ClOthe its feet and legs with warm, long
stockings, but do not retain the long
dresses an hour after it's feet become
for exercise. The misshapen legs that
are so frequently seen upon boys,
and the ungraceful carriage of
many girls and women, may
be traced to that vanity of the
mothers which kept long, unrumpled
white dress upon the baby until it was
eight or ten months old. Of course all
the life that an infant possesses is mani
tested by motion and appetite, and is of
as vital consequence as the other. Many
mothers never permit a scream to issue
from the baby's mouth, even when, per-
haps, the noise only means cry for
more air in its lungs, but they pass more
food into it's stomach to invite collie,
which does not, as a general thing, re-
fuse the invitation. a wise mother
knows that babe cannot generate
warmth as rapidly as an older person,
and she dresses it accordingly. A ten
der mother is likely to furnish too much
animal warmth by overmuch caressing,
and, if she be not healthy, she is likely
to vitiate the atmosphere thatit breathes.
No one should sleep with babe. 1t is
not wholesome for either party, and the
rest of the child is broken by the nervous
stir of the mother, or else she remains
so quiet that she fails of properrest, and
the nOurishment given to the babe is not
likely to agree with its sensitive digest
i've organs. A baby should always sleep
in a crib by its mothers side.-1he |
Metropolitan.