River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-02-26
BABIES and Their belongings.

Happening to visit lady who was in
bhssiul possession Of her first baby, she
begged me to tell her where she could
find corset for her infant, or even a
pattern to make one. She remembered
that her own baby brothers and sisters
wire enclosed in such an article, but she
remembered its peculiarities of form only
In the vague way which ladies who are
born in idleness are likely to recollect.
Did you wear corset when you We're a
baby 7" we inquired. "Certainly; don't
you see how slight am? We had OBJ
served it. Indeed, we have often per-
picked our brains about this lady's fig.
ure. She was six feet and one inch in
height, and as slight and graceful as a
willow, and just about as frail. The cor
set 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.
tific, 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 permit
ted, 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, speed
lily and almost painlessly, of decayed
lungs. Could she have found the infants
corset pattern, her baby would have fol-
lowed her very soon. of course, baby
must wear a smooth, unhemmed flannel
bandage above its abdomen for month,
but alter that we should trust to its mus
cleS. Dress it in soft, white flannel next
to its person, keep it in warm loose cloth
ing, but do not permit the room to be
over-heated, 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 lift
ing 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 its
feet become active and the child indicates
its desire 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 Tn
ill it was eight or ten months old. OF
course, all the life that an infant possesses
is manifested by motion and appetite,
and one is of as vital consequence as the
other. Many mothers never permit a
scream to issue from the baby's mouth,
even when, perhaps, the noise only means
cry for more air in its lungs, but they
pass more food into its stomach, to invite
collie, which does not, as a general thing,
refuse the invitation. \ wise mother
knows that babe cannot generate
warmth as rapidly as an older person,
and she dresses it accordingly. A tender
mother is likely to furnish toe much ami
NAL warmth, by over.much caressing, and,
if she be not healthy, she is likely to viii
ate the atmosphere that il 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 proper rest, and the
nourishment given to the babe is not like
ly to agree, with its sensitive digestive or.
gans. A baby should always sleep in a
crib by its mothers side.--The Metro.
DOLif1n