Evening star., 1914-07-26
Don't Amuse the Babe.

!
The baby does better if left quietly to
| itself than if constantly kept in some one
arms to be jostled and amused Too
much excitement is harmful. and the child
should sleep as much as sixteen hours out
| of every twenty-four until he is one
year old More sleep is required during
| the first few weeks of life
Never allow the baby to have paci-
| fer" This misnamed article is always
dirty, and may become the means of in
| fcctinC the child with some infectious
disease Allowing the baby to suck ITS
| thumb to keep it quiet is very wrong :
there is not only danger OF lnfectloh'
but the baby's mouth may be nlade an
| normal. and the development OF adenoids
is more likely to take place when this
practice is allowed or "pacifiers are
used
Baths should he given at least once
day, and during summer three or TOUR
tcpid sponge baths daily are beneficial
The baby should he very gradually ac-
customed to outdoor life, and should al
ways he SO clothed as to prevent any
great loss of body heat. and yet not 100
warmly in the summer time Exposure
to direct sun is harmful The BABY De
velops strength by proper care ana toon
and not by overcoming hardshlps-
Never allow the baby to be exposed TO
contagious diseases, so that il may have
it while it is small. Resistance to such
diseases increases with age. so that pN
proper care it is possible to aVoIc these
diseases i'll childhood. These diseases ..ten
result in permanent injury to some func-
ton of the child, which Will remain
handicap throughout life.
The fIy undoubtedly kills many babies.
Therefore. the house should he screened @
The dining room and kitchen and the
baby's room should be properly protected
against flies The babyS bed should have
a good mosquito net properly tucked III.
Cleanup Campaigns.
Cleanup campaigns show by actual
figures the good accomplished i'll saving
human life. In a case where certain
district was rendered "fy1ess,' the total
number of days of sickness from
diarrheal diseases of children under five
years of age was reduced from 9S4
days in the filthy area to 2t5 days IN
the 'tlyless' region. The mothers IN
the filthy area expended an average OF
nearly three years in nursing their SICK
babies, while in the 'flyless' area less
than one year was spent.
High temperature alone has harm-
full influence upon young ch1idren.
While very light clothing should be
chilling at night or when exposed to
GRATIS. The chilu should also receive
tepid baths to promote elimination OF
heat. and the amount of pure drinking
water given the baby should be IN
creased in hot weather.
If the baby is being fed from the
bottle there is great danger of over
feeding during hot weather The guam
tity of food should be reduced and the
amount of fat and casein contained IN
the food lessened temporarily during
periods of great heat, but this reduc-
tion should not he so great as to cause
the baby 20 lose weight.
Not ouly is there "a lessened desire
for food during hot weather. but the
digestive power of the infant is low
cred. This allows fermentation "i iocd
to take place, and such germs as are
taken in with food increase and null
tiply.
the gain of weight during the hot
months is necessarily less than during
tie same period under more favorable
conditions of temperature. There
should be no loss of weight.
Mothers Of small children should not
work outside their own homes. Infant
mortality increases in proportion to the
number of women who go out to work.
even though this may result in a higher
standard of comfort in the home itself.