Year: 1869




When a Young mother sets to work to prepare
the precious .'hg-leaves" that are TO clothe her
expected darling, she ought seriously to consider
and aim to supply the real needs Of the tender
little dnimdI.-for divine "a Il the soul OF each
human infant, We must own that at birth there
Il only the animal part of it which We can deal
with directly. There may be no lack of love on
the mothers part, but there Il often great lack
of knowledge and forethought. She does as her
friends do. consults tn. fashions for baby gar
ments. These are not so changing as the
fashions for women and misses, and are not so
freely published, but baby clothes are pretty
much all alike IN general style OF making up.
1t would seem reasonable that the little body
should be dressed to afford rs equal
warmth and circulation possible, but usually
the lower limbs are warmly wrapped in flannel,
while the arms and shoulders are left bare, ex-
cept as a loose blanket is folded about them,
straining motion and constantly liable to disar-
Iangement. In cold weather more sensible
mothers put a long-sleeved flannel sack over the
short-sleeved dress, but the sleeves of this added
garment are often 30 short and loose as to afford
little warmth below the elbow. OF late, the
bands worn during the first few months of in
fancy are usually made of hannel-a great inn
Irovement on the old-fashioned double linen
bands. Ordinarily, these. bands are worse than
useless after the first month"; but in cases of weak
ness, when they seem TO be necessary on older in
fants great care should be taken to have them hit
easily, yet be so securely fastened to retain
their proper position. These bands never hit the
to three inches apart, at the lower edge of each
where IL comes down below the bowels. IL
worn after the babe is six weeks old, when it be-
gins TO move about some, a bit of tape should
be sewed between these CORES to reach down
and be held firmly in place by the diaper PIN
This prevents slipping up. Shoulder-straps of
inch-wide tape will prevent slipping down
Made thus, and pinned very carefully, that
there may be suffering from sticking pins,
the band may be fastened 50 loosely as not to
impede respiration or freedom of motion, and
Vet form a safe protection from injury by Sc
we're CRYING or straining Instead of the or,li
nary short-sleeved linen shirt and the flannel
pettieoat with its straight waist of cotton or
linen, let put next over the properly con
structed band, a long flannel sack, made with
cores under the arms and in the back. fitting
the waist quite loosely, and going out below into
convenient dimensions for a skirt. This
sack, made of soft flannel, and with long,
straight sleeves, and fastened in front with small
thin buttons, is surely a much more comfortable
garment for the helpless baby than the close
waists and folds and gathers of its ordinary un-
Gerclothes- Every invalid knows the luxury OF
loose wrappers for laying down, and this poor
baby Is nit for no other position during the first
four six weeks Of its life. Over this, dress or
simple slip may be worn, long g-seeves, of course,
and reasonably high i'm the neck. A soft, thin
blanket is useful, especially to protect the hands
and head when the little one Is carried about
american A1ricutturist.