The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-12-24
Baby at Home IN Winter.

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NoTE.-Have you a Baby at home this
Wintez? Well, anyway most homes are
liable to!have 'em Except arristocratic
folks who don't fancy the bother of the
little yelpers), SO we print some lntorma-
ton on the subject. If you Amt specially
interested now, you can lay it aside until
you are.)
The coverings of body and bed must be
both light and warm. For this purpose
~all-wool fabrics for underwear and wraps
cannot be too highly recommended. The
soft, elastic knitted socks, shirts, leggings
and sacques of Shetland and Saxeny
wool described by Dickens as q 'cempll-
cation Of defences against the cold, and
forming a complete suit of armor. with a
headpiece and CATERS" cradle-blankets
Of the same; skirts Of silk-warp flannel;
hall-wraps of cashmere, merino, flannel,
or Atwood delaine, serve the purpose of
excluding the wintery air without bur-
dening weak infants and ~clogging the
pores of strong ones with unabsorbed
perspiration. Nothing can take the place
of flannel worn nearest the body. The
gentle friction maintains natural warmth
and dislodges dead scarf skin, and the
texture allows the passage and evapora-
ton of moisture that would become
humid poison if retained.
The most conscientious nurse | ever
knew lived for ten years in one family.
and served three children with ~tireless
devotion. In all matters of diet, exercise,
cleanliness, and general regimen she was
exemplary, but she had one incurable
habit. Being herself thin of frame aud
blood. she labored under the haunting
dread that the blessed creatures might
catch cold. Unless prevented by the
mother authority, she bundled them up
for outdoor excursions until they could
hardly stir a limb; heaped Masters
Baby's perambulator with tufts and turs,
and bound a double Shetland veil over
his ~nostrils and loudly protestant mouth.
1t availed little that the mistress pre-
scribed, to a feather. weight. what COW
erings we're to be used on bed and CRIB.
Her nightly round of the juvenile en-
| campment was as likely as not to reveal
that nurse had added her shawl to the
blankets of the little girls couch, con-
ceallng 1t with plous fraud by spreading
the white Counterpart over all; While
her boy" was swathed in flannel petit
coats and o~vertopped by dGretes, until
every thread of his night-clothes were
| soaked, aud the imprint of his small per
son On the llneu sheet was as well defined
as that of a P~ompeian skeleton In the
wet ashes that made his sarcophagus.
1t is generally useless to argue against
the ldiosyncrasies OF the unlearned. The
processes-if they deserve the name-of
unframed minds are past finding out,
since they cannot describe, nor others
divine, them. The mother should be
intelligent, if her employees cannot be
made to see reason, and diplomatic in
correcting evils she cannot avert. The
lnordlnate love of lower classes for sweet.
and tat is as notorious as their proper
sity to burrow in feather-beds under a
mountain of rugs and ''comfortables"-
tnmuli Of living bodies, effete exhalations
saturated cotton and unsavOry wool.
The child who is drawn from a den of
wadded coverings. dripping with sweat,
which every pore gapes to emit, the
entire system enervated by the drain,
escapes taking cold only by miracle. IF
1T is the mothers duty to see that he is
kept warm, it is equally essential that she
should manage not to have him sodden-
Until he is able to run alone baby should
not be suffered to sit on the floor In cold
rdtDcIs HOWcNtI heartily lis may De-
This is hard saying, at first sight. 1t is
such a pleasure to himself, such a relief
TO nurse to have him established on the
carpet, a pillow behind him to save his
head should he lose his balance, play
things all around him, while other work
goes on. He likes to sprawl and roll, and
In this way soon learns the use of his
limbs. AS We shall see at a future dav,
1t is not good for him to be handled aud
cosseted continually. The safe mean be
tween the two courses of treatment in
wolves some work and ingenuity. but
both pay IN the end.
In the best warmed room there Is inc
vitality a current OF cooled air close to
the floor, in which as baby sits on the
carpet his feet are bathed while his
shoulders may overtop. 1t is a common
thing 10 discover on taking him up, and
undressing min for the midday nap, that
his toes are icy while his hands are warm.
Mamma exclaims at the phenomenon.
chates his feet, feeds and puts him to
sleep, and when he awakes pulls him
closing and dewy, from the blankets,
gives him warm drink to ~ncourag
further perspiration, and pumps him
down again into the cold-air bath. The
middle of the bed or the corner of the
lounge is the safer place for him. Bari
cade him with cushions, and if he can
creep, add ~"chevaux.d de .frise" of chair.
leaving a clear space Immediately about
him wherein he can disport himself.
When older give him the wilder field of
a small, deep mattress. covered by a
folded quilt. near the middle of the room |
to escape the heat of the register or crate
while he is beyond the reach Of window |
Oh aughts. A nursery basket-chair, made !
luxurious with padded sides and back,
should be supplemented by a hassock for
the Others named With the mouaLIa |