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The Ministry of Healing
The baby should be kept free from every influence that would
tend to weaken or to poison the system. The most scrupulous care
should be taken to have everything about it sweet and clean. While
it may be necessary to protect the little ones from sudden or too
great changes of temperature, care should be taken, that, sleeping or
waking, day or night, they breathe a pure, invigorating atmosphere.
In the preparation of the baby’s wardrobe, convenience, comfort,
and health should be sought before fashion or a desire to excite
admiration. The mother should not spend time in embroidery and
fancywork to make the little garments beautiful, thus taxing herself
with unnecessary labor at the expense of her own health and the
health of her child. She should not bend over sewing that severely
taxes eyes and nerves, at a time when she needs much rest and
pleasant exercise. She should realize her obligation to cherish her
strength, that she may be able to meet the demands that will be made
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upon her.
If the dress of the child combines warmth, protection, and com-
fort, one of the chief causes of irritation and restlessness will be
removed. The little one will have better health, and the mother will
not find the care of the child so heavy a tax upon her strength and
time.
Tight bands or waists hinder the action of the heart and lungs, and
should be avoided. No part of the body should at any time be made
uncomfortable by clothing that compresses any organ or restricts its
freedom of movement. The clothing of all children should be loose
enough to admit of the freest and fullest respiration, and so arranged
that the shoulders will support its weight.
In some countries the custom of leaving bare the shoulders and
limbs of little children still prevails. This custom cannot be too
severely condemned. The limbs being remote from the center of
circulation, demand greater protection than the other parts of the
body. The arteries that convey the blood to the extremities are large,
providing for a sufficient quantity of blood to afford warmth and nu-
trition. But when the limbs are left unprotected or are insufficiently
clad, the arteries and veins become contracted, the sensitive portions
of the body are chilled, and the circulation of the blood hindered.
In growing children all the forces of nature need every advan-
tage to enable them to perfect the physical frame. If the limbs are