The Washington herald., 1916-04-24

Interesting dicussions in all our
mothers clubs have followed hard
upon the observance of what has been
called baby week in very many cities
Throughout our country. Mothers who
have attended these exhibitions are
enthusiastic over them. and letters
have come to me from many OF these
mothers asking that I give a club talk
on the subject.
Dear Aunt Chatty," one of them
wrote after she had seen the exhibit
tion of baby clothing, beds and foods,
and heard the lectures on the care and
feeding of infants during a recent
| baby week" in one of our Eastern
cities. do, please. say something about
this baby week business in one of
your good club talks. I never was
more impressed with my ignorance in
my life than l was by the lessons on
the care of babies. ! do not see how
my precious little ones ever came
through alive with the kind Of care
II gave them. wish every mother in
the country would attend the baby
week exhibitions. I am sure the lives
of a great many little babies will be
saved if they do. that otherwise will
be lost through the ignorance of the
mothers. Helen A"
Helen A is right. Many little chill
dren are lost through improper feed
ing, that might have been saved had
the mothers known what to feed them
and how to prepare that food. In
better babies" contest held a few
years ago at one of the New York
settlements in which I am greatly IN
terested, we learned some important
facts We found that the children Of
those poor, hardworking mothers down
on what is called the East Side, often
have a better chance in the beginning
than the babies that come into the
homes of the wealthy, so-called $50
ciety" people. The great majority of
the poorer mothers nurse their own
children, and as long as the baby gets
| its mothers milk it thrives and is
healthy. At this period. the rate of
infant mortality is less than among
the children of people surrounded by
| all the comforts and luxuries of life.
| It is after they are weaned that the
children OF the poor begin to suffer.
| Ignorant OF food values, not knowing
| how to take care of and to modify the
| milk she gives her baby, the East Side
mother sees with anguish her bright
and healthy little one grow thin and
| white. and pine away until at last its
little head is pillowed in its coffin,
and one more is borne away from the
home already desolated by frequent
losses.
But it is not only the East Side mother
who sacrifices her children to her lack
Of knowledge. None Of us knows as
much as we should about the care and
nurture Of infants. We pay more at
tention to raising pigs and chickens than
we do to babies. Some way, we expect
that knowledge to descend upon US,
heaven sent, and we blithely enter upon
the sacred duties of motherhood with no
preparation for our profession, no study
of the subject of infant foods and only
haphazard instruction gathered here and
there from old wives tales about car
ing for the little bodies, the temples
of the immortal souls sent to us to train
for time and for eternity. I remember
my mother telling Of the old nurse en-
gagged to care for ME in the first few
weeks Of my life. When my mother
had gained her own strength sufhcient-
ly to become interested In watching the
nurse give me my daily bath she was
horrifed to see the old woman take
me by the feet, turn me upside down
and give me a vigorous shake. To an
indignant protest from the bed the nurse
calmly replied. You has to do that to
keep them from being liver grown!"
I wish I could give whole series OF
talks on the subject of the feeding OF
infants. It is one Of the most impor-
tant subjects for our mothers clubs to
consider. Fortunately for us, many
5roadminded people are interesting them
selves in bringing the question promi-
nently to the attention Of the country,
and perhaps in time We shall be quite
as much concerned with the kind of hu-
man beings we are producing as we now
are with the grade of our cattle and
horses
Baby bulletins are being issued by the
United States department of agriculture,
treating of the care Of children from
three to six years old, and these are
of the utmost value to mothers. l wish
every member of our Mothers Clubs
would send for this series. They are