Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-07-19
THE SUMNER BABY.
BY MARY ANNABLE rASroS.

babies all sorts OF woes that are not ended
| until cool October sets in. Babies not
only suffer more with heat than grown
| PEOPLE, but they can't dress to suit their
| own comfort They are swaddled and
| tucked in and handled ell summer. And
besides they have no compensations. II a
baby could rise up in his crib on a scorch-
| ing day and say, ''Oh, well, what matter;
Sunday I'll go yachting and stay out of
doors every blessed second. and those
stunning new white fiannels demand this
weather to look really good forms"
But there are no such comforting re-
Elections for baby when the Thermometer
is 90. The chanees are that he is taken
out in a flannel cape because his father
took cold one summer at that age. Or
every bit OF air is shut away for fear of a
| draught.
II he could only throw OF restraint and
extra clothes and carol: s.W no cares, I've
| just got to be comfortable for once, y SIS
his father does. Even when he is think
| ing these things, kind hand bundles him
| up and cuddles him lest he is ill, when he
is warm and cross aud covered with
| prickly heat, and thinking wicked
kindergarten thoughts to cope with the
terrible situation.
No, there is no reason in the world why
babies should love warm weather. They
| learn to submit to better grown up
| standards coupled with baby inconveni-
ences. They are petted too much and
snubbed too much. There is just one
chance for baby TO find peace OF mind
and creature comfort in the summer, and
that is through wise mother.
And fortunately for the American baby
he very often has a most intelligent moth
er. II is fact that the pretty, gay, at
tractive American girl often settles down
into the sweetest most sympathetic and
| wisest OF mothers. She has sense as well
| as sentiment about her babies; she is usu-
ally healthy and athletic herself and she
wants her sons and daughters to grow up
| well and beautiful. So she studies her
| children instead of shutting them up in
nnrsery and paying other people to love
| them.
She makes the nursery the most attrsc-
tive wholesome place. She knows that
for baby TO. be healthy, his room and
clothes have to be hygienic. She sees
| to it that the,room il regularly and thor
! oughly disinfected and the clothes as well
as the room, and the baby himself for that
matter.
There are no draperies, and only wash
able curtains.and carpets and upholstered
chairs in the babys room. There Is a
| natural wood floor and washable rugs.
The furniture is hard wood, and the mus
| lin curtains at the windows can be washed
once a week.
And when the woodwork is cleaned, or
the curtains done up, or the babies clothes
| washed, il is all done in the most sanitary
| hygienic fashion with water in which
| borax has been dissolved, two teaspoonfuls
| to gallon OF water.
The bottles and dishes in the nursery
are washed in a solution the same
strength. In the modern nursery the tube
| nursing bottle is never used, just the sim
plest bottle, with little black rubber
| nipple cleansed careful always after using.
| A great deal of chatting for the summer
baby can be avoided If the napkins are
washed in solution of borax water.
| They are also easier to clean in this way.
| Outside of clean clothes and a whole
/ some nursery always well aired, very
much of a bahy's comfort in warm
weather depends upon the way he is
dressed. Thin soft clothes are necessary
with little or no trimming, made short,
and linen color for tumbliug about
| Nothing is better for a little baby than
jumper, and the ideal dress for baby
| from the time he can creep is soft jean
| overalls
OF course there must be some snow
white frocks that baby may be seen
therein by possibly carping relations, but
| even the white frocks should be without
\ puffs or ruffies or stiff embroidery, just a
| fine tuck or two and some hand-stitching.
Then half hose and thin slippers and short
| petticoats, only the most necessary under
wear, and that soft and comfortabl II
warmth is necessary there are long and
short kimonos of pale flannel or crochet,
loose or unhampering.
| With clothes fresh and few and com
| Portable the baby has a good start of an
August morning, providing the bath is
the right sort at the very beginning of the
day. Undoubtedly most mothers do not
realize that it comes very close to cruelty
to battle little babies in hard water.
They do not realize that it means rough
skin susceptible to various warm weather
irritations, that it means bad temper and
| often nervous illness.
A baby should have bath every morn.
ing, and that bath should be soft water
If possible, otherwise softened with a
pinch of pure borax which gives the most
| mineral water the quality of rain water.
| Although little thing, it is worth rem
embering when you stop TO think how
much the summer baby suffers with skin
difficulties