Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-12-07
WOMAN AND HOME.
MANAGEMENT OF THE BABY DUR
ING THE FIRST WEEK.

Happiness Of the Married - Pleasures
Within Reach-young PeopIe-Care Of
the Iamp--Odds and Ends
The management of the baby during the
first week of its existence may be summed
up in one word--quet. new born infant,
say the wise ones, has little mere perception
than jelly fish. 1t is a tiny bundle Of flesh
and hlood-a packet of potentialities rather
than an actual human entity Even grant
ing all this the fact remains that the wee
frame contains in miniature all the essential
parts that bring happiness or misery to an
older child
This morsel of humanity has the capability
for being comfortable or uncomfortable as
fully developed as if it were five years old
1t shrinks from cold; it suffers from pin
pricks or rough usage; it knows, poor little
creature, the pangs of collie, and its nervous
system is in sufficiently advanced state to
render it keenly susceptible to the glare Of
bright light or to such loud noises as heavy
tread or the banging Of doors Add to this
that its soft velvety skin is in state Of sensi-
tiveness unknown to the epidermis toughened
by contact with our atmosphere and by fric-
ton, and it will readily appear why the little
new conner should be enveloped in tranquility
and tenderness as in garment.
Almost equal in importance to this con-
dition for the small stranger is that of
warmth. While the spirit may have come,
as fond mothers love to think, from climate
where the air is neither too hot nor too cold,
the body has left much higher and more
even temperature than that which now sur
rounds it The atmosphere that seems none
too cool to older people is chilling to the deli
| cate organization accustomed heretofore to n
warmth of s. dogs.
| 1t is, of course, out of the question to keep
the temperature of a room at this point.
| The child will in time become acclimated
to the atmosphere in which he is henceforth
to live. But while this process is going on
the baby must be wrapped in soft warm
clothing that will to a certain exten make
up for what he has just quilted Without
going so far as those who declare that the
cuticle of new born infant is SO exquisitely
tender that even the slightest touch causes
him pain, it must be conceded that his skin
is far more sensitivethan is ordinarily sup
posed. 1t should be submitted to as little
chatting as possible. Covered with the soft
est flannel and linen, it will become tough
ened by such gradual means that the expert
ence will be unaccompanied by pain.
Too much cannot be said in condemnation
of the practice of hardening infants by
barbarous methods as bathing them in cold
water, subjecting them 10 rude handling and
similar harsh courses. One would affirm
that the only excuse for such treatment Of q
tender little baby was ignorance, were it not
that it is pursued by those whose reading and
study of the subject should have taught
them wisdom
The baby's eyes should for long time be
carefully shielded from the light Some
nurses say that babies are blind at birth, as
are kittens and puppies Even were this the
case, the glare of sunshine or gas upon the
translucent covering that shields the sight
should be avoided. Monthly nurses require
good deal of watching in this respect. One
of them, who could not herself sleep except
in darkened room, alleging that the least
ray of light upon her eyelids was enough to
waken her, would lay the slumbering baby
she had in charge with his face turned
toward the unshuttered window or the un-
screened gas. To expostulations she returned
always the same answer: "Why, the child Is
| uSlttp. HIS Eyes tIt BLU. hIlI otttutu W COu-
slider that a sufficient reason why the little
ones eyes should be unshaded-
| Loud noises often cause young babies acute
suffering. Before they are old enough to
distinguish between the voices of those about
them they will cry ont as in pain when there is
loud talking near them, and start and culver
from head to foot at the slamming of door
or window or the falling of piece of furni-
ture. The whole delicately balanced system
seems to feel the jar. Well authenticated
cases are recorded where the death of ner-
vous baby has resulted from a sudden loud
noise, such as the firing of gun or pistol in
the vicinity, or any like violent and sudden
report These are extreme instances, but the
fact of their occurrence should put parents
and nurses on their guard to spare young
babies the shocks that would have been moth
ing to those of less easily unstrung nerves.
In the endeavor to secure quiet for mother
ard child, visits must be tabooed. No callers
except the physician and the immediate
members Of the family should be admitted tc
the sick room until at least a week after the
little ones arrival 1t will do the baby nc
good to be exhibited to a succession Of ad
miring friends and relatives Its chief bust
ness for the first few weeks of its e1stenc,
is to eat and sleep. These duties are Sc
: riously interfered with if he is to be con
stantly on dress parade Another consider
alton which should carry weight with ever,
mother is that a baby is never less beautiful
I than when it is under fortnight old T
the unprecedented observer its charms will b
, more potent as it advances in age than the
are while its features are an indistinguish
able magenta knot,
The food for the baby, and how it Is to b
administered, will be treated at length in
succeeding chapter. 1t may not be amis.
g however, to offer protest here against ovei
] feedin, the child at the outset. Many phys
clans advise and practice giving the bah
e nothing for the first twenty-four hours e1
D cept few teaspoonfuls of cool-not cold
water. Others follow the Old fashione
method of putting the infant TO the breast
Il soon as the child has been washed and dresseS
o The milk does not come in full force until IL
:, third day or after, but nature has provided
h sufficient nourishment in the coiostrum,
first milk. This ''physics" the babe, as tt
:, old nurses say, and sustains its strengtMunt
the arrival Of the full supply in the breast.
III Christine Terhune Herrick in Harper's Baza