Some writers on these subjects appear to doubt whether, after all that they say, they shall have much influence on mothers in inducing them to give up feather beds for their infants.  But they need not be so faithless.  Multitudes have already been reformed by their writings; and multitudes larger still would be so, could they gain access to them.  It is a most serious evil that they are often so written and published that comparatively few mothers will ever possess them.

The pillow, as well as the bed, should be rather hard; and its thickness should be much less than is usual, or we shall do mischief by bending the neck, and thus compressing the vessels, and obstructing the circulation of the blood.  But on this subject I will say more, when I come to treat on “Posture.”

The child’s bed should not be placed near the wall, on account of dampness.  There is also, during the summer, another reason.  Should lightning strike the house, it will be much more apt to injure those who are near the wall than other persons; as it seldom leaves the wall to pass over the central part of the room.

Curtains are not only useless, but injurious.  They prevent a free circulation of the air.  Everything which has this tendency must be studiously guarded against, in the management of infants.

Nothing is more injurious to the old or the young than damp beds and damp covering.  It behoves, especially, all those who have the care of infants, to see that everything about their beds is thoroughly dry.  The walls and clothes should also be dry; and wet clothes should never be hung up in the room.  By neglecting these precautions, colds, rheumatisms, inflammations, fevers, consumptions, and death, may ensue.  Many a person loses his health, and not a few their lives, in this way.  The author of this work was once thrown into a fever from such a cause.

Warming the bed is, in all cases, a bad practice.  While in the nursery, if the air be kept at a proper temperature, there will be no need of it; after the child is assigned to a separate chamber, its enervating tendency would result in more evil than good.  It is better to let the bed became gradually heated by the body, in a natural and healthy way.

No person, and above all, no infant, should be suffered to sleep in a bed that has been recently occupied by the sick.  The bed and all the clothes should first be thoroughly aired.  Could we see with our eyes at once, how rapidly these bodies of ours fill the air, and even the beds we sleep in, with carbonic acid and other hurtful gases and impurities, even while in health, but much more so in sickness, we should be cautious of exposing the lungs of the tender infant, in such an atmosphere, until everything had been properly cleansed, and the apartments properly ventilated.

SEC. 5. The Covering.

The covering of the bed should be sufficiently warm, but never any warmer than is absolutely necessary to protect the child from chilliness.  The lightest covering which will secure this object is the best.  Perhaps there is nothing in use that, with so little weight, secures so much heat as what are called “comfortables.”