6.  THE CLOTHING OF THE INFANT.—­The clothing of the infant should be light, soft and perfectly loose.  A soft flannel band is necessary only until the navel is healed.  Afterwards discard bands entirely if you wish your babe to be happy and well.  Make the dresses “Mother Hubbard” Put on first a soft woolen shirt, then prepare the flannel skirts to hang from the neck like a slip.  Make one kind with sleeves and one just like it without sleeves, then white muslin skirts (if they are desired), all the same way.  Then baby is ready for any weather.  In intense heat simply put on the one flannel slip with sleeves, leaving off the shirt.  In Spring and Fall the shirt and skirt with no sleeves.  In Cold weather shirt and both skirts.  These garments can be all put on at once, thus making the process of dressing very quick and easy.  These are the most approved modern styles for dressing infants, and with long cashmere stockings pinned to the diapers the little feet are free to kick with no old-fashioned pinning blanket to torture the naturally active, healthy child, and retard its development.  If tight bands are an injury to grown people, then in the name of pity emancipate the poor little infant from their torture!

7.  THE DIAPER.—­Diapers should be of soft linen, and great care should be exercised not to pin them too tightly.  Never dry them, but always wash them thoroughly before being used again.

8.  The band need not be worn after the navel has healed so that it requires no dressing, as it serves no purpose save to keep in place the dressing of the navel.  The child’s body should be kept thoroughly warm around the chest, bowels and feet.  Give the heart and lungs plenty of room to heave.

9.  The proper time for shortening the clothes is about three months in Summer and six months in Winter.

10.  INFANT BATHING.—­The first week of a child’s life it should not be entirely stripped and washed.  It is too exhausting.  After a child is over a week old it should be bathed every day; after a child is three weeks old it may be put in the water and supported with one hand while it is being washed with the other.  Never, however, allow it to remain too long in the water.  From ten to twenty minutes is the limit.  Use Pears’ soap or castile soap, and with a sponge wipe quickly, or use a soft towel.

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NURSING.

1.  The new-born infant requires only the mother’s milk.  The true mother will nurse her child if it is a possibility.  The infant will thrive better and have many more chances for life.

2.  The mother’s milk is the natural food, and nothing can fully take its place.  It needs no feeding for the first few days as it was commonly deemed necessary a few years ago.  The secretions in the mother’s breast are sufficient.

3.  Artificial Food.  Tokology says:  “The best artificial food is cream reduced and sweetened with sugar of mill.  Analysis shows that human milk contains more cream and sugar and less casein than the milk of animals.”