Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-10
DRESSING THE BABY.
Mistakes Our GrandmOthers Made in
Clothing Little Folks.
COMMON SENSE THE BEST GUIDE.
How Little Cherubs Are Made FretfuI by
Too Much DrygOOds.
A COLUMN FOB THE YOUNG MOTHERS
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH. ]


When two people go into business
together they sit down and first calculate
the cost: "How can 1 obtain the best re-
suits with the least expenditure of money
and labor, and also keep the business
abreast of the newest inventions and custom
Of the day?"
When, however, the young mother goes
into the business of dressing her first baby
she does not ask: "How can I dress my
child according to the best physiological
light of the day? How can dress it SO that
it will be perfectly comfortable and healthy7
How can dress it with the greatest ease
and least trouble to MYSELF" What they
do unconsciously say is: "Hov did my
grandmother do thjs?" And so they go
back 30 years for their styles. ALI honor
and glory to the grandmothers, and may
God bless them They did nobly and
beautifully considering the light they had,
but if the mothers Of to-day do not manage
better than their grandmothers they manage
very badly, indeed.
GRANDMoTHER's MISTAKES.
The young mother can look without a
shudder at the terribly complicated system
OF clothing which our ancestors have
handed down to us; first, the little bsndage
to go two or three times around the BODY;
then the little linen shirt, the coolest goods
In the world; then the pinning blanket,
which, rext to the bandage, is the most un-
comfortable and unhealthy garment
ever put on a baby. Then the
skirt with its Objectionable tightness
about the chest; and, lastly, the dress All
has 80, ,IokI1 L
leave the shoulders with but slight cover
ing Of thin muslin-the dress. The shoul-
der blanket which is supposed to remedy
this deficiency, is a snare and delusion;
sometimes being over the head, sometimes
about the shoulders and neck, and some
times off entirely, and these changes are all
exposures. Babies should, from the first,
90 without them.
At night the poor little thing is expected
to sleep sweetly with its bandage, its pin
ming blanket, its skirt and double gown;
all senseless articles, for while babies should
be kept warm, L am confident many of them
are made fretful and weakened by being
kept too much so. A Canton flannel night
dress is all that is needed. Indeed, a good
rule Is to dress our babies as we would like
to be dressed If we were babies.
WHAT NURSES SAY.
Too many mothers fail of having the
courage to throw the models of the past to
the winds and make q fresh start on their
own responsibility. I shall never forget
the deep anxiety displayed by a number Of
experienced advisers when refused to
bundle up my first-born in such fashion.
'But," said Mrs. Camps prototype, I've
must put on bandage, and put it on snug
ly, too, or the baby will be all out of shape,
and perhaps rupture himself"
Nonsense" said the good doctor whose
advice was putting into practice, ga baby
is little animal, and all young animals
are in constant motion and need plenty of
room for the distension of their muscles.
Don't you suppose the Creator knew what
he was about when he made the abdominal
wall 30 elastic? How otherwise is the
,hild's digestion to be accomodated?"
OF course the nurse opposed this en-
upon a time-honored custom.
a little tact and explanation
won her over-as it finally will do with all
sensible people-especially as the baby
never cried and did not once suffer from
collie If small waists are so desirable as
many mothers appear to think, would it not
be better to use more efficient measures than
a flannel band from the earliest period Of
Our Chinese friends know the
Importance of beginning early if they
would secure the chief element of Chinese
beauty; and am convinced that our sue
,ess would be much greater if we would be-
gin to remake our babies while their bones
IRE soft and pliabls and their shape entirely
IN our own hands
SENSIBLE DRESSING.
1t is easy to find fault, but it Is not so easy
% point out better way; yet there is an
better model, perfectly healthfu1
ind beautiful, entirely free from all the OBJ
ections mentioned and verY convenient to
he mothers and comfortable for the child.
All the unyielding bands can be cast aside.
The first undergarment, cut princess with
ong sleeves and high neck made of soft,
Medium weight canton flannel, combines
hirt and pinning blanket. The
lext garment is the flannel skirt,
.ut the same way but without sleeves,
eaving good large armEoles which should
,e scalloped not bound. This should be
made of woolen or baby flannel, and can be
IS ornamental about the bottom as desired;
,ver this is the dress. Any prevailing style
.an be used, though a plain slip, cut prin-
,ess, is advocated. All the garments are
,laced sleeve within sleeve and are all
lrawn over baby's head together. There is
me turning and all are buttoned and tied,
me safetv-pin being used instead of fifteen,
he usual number. and baby is dressed in
i've minutes instead of from 80 to 40 min
ties. and the mother and child are far less
yeary and cross than by the old method.
Ifmothers will only grasp theidea and then
york accordingly, changing the garments
s to warmth and beauty, but adhering
trictIy to the "no band" system, in spite Of
he vell-meaning friends who will tell them
hat their babies will have an abnormally
arge waist, or be ruptured, or have its bones
roken, etc., etc., we shall have happier
abies and healthier mothersl
Every superfuous article, like white
kirts, and the little linen shirts, adds not
nly to the trouble of dressing little baby
ut also adds to the washing, which is Sc
ious consideration to the average family
eeping only one servant. Cleanliness is
1e most important consideration where a
tile baby is concerned, and the tightening
f the wash by making the clothes simply so
lat they can be easily ironed will save q
bod deal OF unnecessary trouble ip the
ouse. I speak from experience and not as
Tro. T. u. Ii WADE.
SISTER GERTRUDE IN TROUBLE