The Mother And Her Child Part 16

Draperies that cannot be washed, and upholstered furniture, do not belong in the baby's room. A hardwood floor is better than a carpet or matting; while a few light-weight rugs, easily cleaned, are advisable.

Enameled walls are easily washed and are, therefore, preferable to wall paper or other dressings.

The windows should be well screened, for by far the greatest dangers to which the baby is exposed, are flies and mosquitoes--carriers of filth and disease. Flies, mosquitoes, c.o.c.kroaches, bed bugs, cats, dogs, lice, and mice are all disease carriers and must therefore be kept out of baby's room.

NURSERY EQUIPMENT

At each window should be found dark shades, and if curtains are desired they should be of an easily washable material, such as mull, swiss, lawn, voile, or scrim. The hardwood floor may be covered where necessary with easily handled rugs which should be aired daily. The other necessary articles of furniture are a crib of enameled iron whose bedding will be described elsewhere in this chapter, a chest for baby's clothes and other necessary supplies, a screen or two, a low table and a low rocker, a small clothes rack on which to air the clothes at night, a pair of scales, and a medicine chest placed high on the wall.

If the room will conveniently admit it, a couch will add greatly to the mother's comfort; and, if possible, it should be of leather upholstery; otherwise, it should possess a washable cover, for all articles that promote the acc.u.mulation of dust are not to be allowed in the nursery. In these early weeks and months baby will not benefit from pictures or other wall decorations, and so let him have clean walls that are easily washed and quickly dusted.

The necessities for baby's personal care are:

Talc.u.m powder.

Castile soap.

Soft wash cloths.

Soft linen towels.

Bottle of plain vaseline.

Boracic acid, oz. IV (Saturated Solution).

Olive oil.

Sterile cotton b.a.l.l.s in covered gla.s.s jar.

Safety pins of different sizes.

Hot water bag with flannel cover.

Baby scales.

Drying frames for s.h.i.+rt and stockings.

BABY'S BED

Since the days of Solomon, accidents have occurred where mother and babe have occupied the same bed. Not only is there the ever-present danger of smothering the babe, but there are also many other reasons why a baby should have its own bed. The constant tendency to nurse it too often and the possibility of the bed clothing shutting off the fresh air supply, are in and of themselves sufficient reasons for having a separate bed for baby.

The first bed is usually a basinet--a wicker basket with high sides--with or without a hood. A suitable washable lining and outside drape present a neat as well as sanitary appearance. The mattress of the basinet is usually a folded clean comfort slipped into a pillow slip; this is to be preferred to a feather pillow, as it is cooler and in every way better for the babe.

Drapes about the head of the basinet are not only often in the way, shutting out air, etc., but they also gather dust and are unsanitary.

Screens are movable--they may be used or put away at will--and are, therefore, very convenient about the nursery.

The basinet may be dispensed with entirely if the sides of the enameled crib are lined to cut off draughts and the babe is properly supported by pillows. After the baby is four to six months of age it is transferred to the crib. The basinet has an advantage over the crib during those early weeks in that its high sides protect the babe from draughts, and the comforts and blankets can be more easily tucked about the little fellow to keep him warm. The sides should not extend more than four inches above the lying position of the child.

THE CRIB

The enameled iron crib should be provided with a woven-wire mattress, over which is placed a mattress; hair is best as a filling for the mattress, wool next, and cotton last. Over the mattress should be placed a rubber sheet, and over all a folded sheet.

A pillow of hair or down is not to be discarded; for recent investigation has shown that the pillow favors nasal drainage, while lying flat encourages the retaining of mucus in the nose and nasal chambers--the sinuses. The pillow slip should be of linen texture.

During the winter a folded soft blanket over the rubber sheet increases both softness and warmth. No top sheet is used during the first months, particularly if the first months are the winter months.

The baby is wrapped loosely in a light weight clean blanket or shawl, and other blankets--as many as the season demands are tucked about the child. These blankets should be aired daily, and the one next to the baby changed, aired, or washed very often.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7. Making the Sleeping Blanket]

THE SLEEPING BLANKET

To prevent baby from becoming uncovered the sleeping blanket has been devised. The blanket is folded and st.i.tched in such a way as completely to envelop the sleeping babe, and at the same time afford the utmost freedom (Fig. 7). The babe may turn as often as he desires, but cannot possibly uncover himself. Bed clothes fasteners are also used--an elastic tape being securely fastened to the head posts and then by means of clamps or safety pins attachment is made to the blankets on either side. The elasticity allows considerable freedom to the child in turning (See Fig. 8).

NURSERY HEATING AND VENTILATION

The subject of ventilation has been so fully discussed by the authors in another work that we refer the reader to _The Science of Living, or the Art of Keeping Well_.

For the first two or three weeks the nursery temperature should be maintained at seventy degrees Fahrenheit by day and from sixty degrees to sixty-five degrees by night. In the third week the day temperature should be sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit measured by a thermometer hanging three feet from the floor. After three months the night temperature may go as low as fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and after the first year it may go as low as forty-five degrees.

The heating of the nursery is usually controlled by the general heating plant, and no matter what system of heating is maintained, humidifiers must be used, the necessity for which is doubled when the system is that of the hot-air furnace.

These shallow pans of water with large wick evaporating surfaces will evaporate from three to four quarts during the twenty-four hours. The humidity should be fifty throughout the seasons of artificial heating.

Many colds may be entirely avoided by the use of humidifiers or evaporators. The open grate is one of the very best means of nursery heating. Gas and oil heaters should not be depended upon for nursery heat. Only in an emergency should they be used at all, and the electric heater is by far the best device for such occasions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8. In the Sleeping Blanket]

BABY'S CORNER IN MOTHER'S ROOM

It is probably a conservative estimate to say that ninety-five per cent of all the babies occupy a corner of mother's and father's bedroom for the first two or three years. And believing this estimate to be correct, it is advisable to give the matter some consideration.

To begin with, a lot of the non-essentials, ruffles and fluffles of the average bedroom, must go. The good father's chiffonier may have to be put in the bath room; heavy floor coverings must be discarded, to be replaced by one or two small, light-weight rugs; wall decorations and the usual bric-a-brac of dressers, tables, etc., should be carefully packed away. In fact, there should be nothing in the room save the parents' bed, dresser (several drawers of which must be devoted to baby's necessities), table, low rocker, a stool, baby's bed and a good big generous screen, made out of a large clothes horse enameled white and filled with washable swiss.

Window draperies must be taken down and packed away, while they are replaced with simple muslin which can go to the laundry twice a month.

If it be within the means of the family purse, it is well to renovate the walls just prior to the advent of the little stranger.

And now the baby's bed is placed in the corner most protected from draughts and the glare of the sunlight. If it can be so arranged that baby looks away from the light, and not at it, we are guarding it from defective vision in the future.

CRIB SUBSt.i.tUTES

Many a beautiful artistic creation so much admired in this world is found to be, on closer inspection, a very ordinary thing which has received an artistic touch; and so, many convenient, sanitary, and beautiful cribs are fas.h.i.+oned from market baskets fastened to tops of small tables whose legs are sawed off a bit; from soap boxes fastened to a frame, and from clothes baskets. A can of white enamel, a paint brush and the deft hand of a merry, cheery-hearted expectant mother can work almost miracles. Remember, please, that all draperies must be washable and attached with thumb tacks so as to admit of easy and frequent visits to the laundry.

A medium-sized clothes basket will take care of our baby for four or five months. The same general plan for the mattress and bedding is followed as before described.

EXTRA HEAT TO THE CRIB

If necessary--and it usually is, especially during the winter months--a hot-water bottle may be placed underneath the bedding on top of the mattress. This insures a steady, mild, uniform warmth and it not only saves the baby from the danger of being burned, but it also obviates the temporary overheating of the child which usually occurs when the bottle is placed inside the bed, next to the baby. If the bed is properly made--the blankets coming from under the babe up and over--there is little or no need for extra heat for well babies after the first month.

LIGHTING BABY'S ROOM

If electric lighting is not an equipment of the home neither gas or oil lamps should be allowed to burn in the room for long periods. For emergency night lighting a well-protected wax candle should be used.

However, don't go to sleep and allow a candle to burn unprotected as did one tired, exhausted mother. The father, suddenly aroused from his sleep, saw a large flame caused by the overturning of a wax candle into a box of candles, while the lace drapery of the basinet was within a few inches of the flame and the baby just beyond. Grabbing a pillow he smothered the flames and saved baby and all.