THE YOUNG MOTHER

or

Management of Children in Regard to Health.

BY WM. A. ALCOTT

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.

The present edition has been much enlarged. The author has added a section on the conduct and management of the mother herself, besides several other important amendments and additions. The whole has also been carefully revised, and we cannot but indulge the hope that no popular work of the kind will be found more perfect, or more worthy of the public confidence.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE NURSERY.

General remarks. Importance of a Nursery—generally overlooked. Its walls—ceiling—windows—chimney. Two apartments. Sliding partition. Reasons for this arrangement. Objections to carpets. Furniture, &c. Feather beds. Holes or crevices. Currents of air. Cats and dogs. "Sucking the child's breath." Brilliant objects. Squinting. Causes of blindness.

CHAPTER II. TEMPERATURE.

General principle—"Keep cool." Our own sensations not always to be trusted. Thermometer. Why infants require more external heat than adults. Means of warmth. Air heated in other apartments. Clothes taking fire. Stove—railing around it. Excess of heat—its dangers.

CHAPTER III. VENTILATION.

General ignorance of the constitution of the atmosphere. The subject briefly explained. Oxygen gas. Nitrogen. Carbonic acid. Fires, candles, and breathing dependent on oxygen. Danger from carbonic acid. How it destroys people. Impurity of the air arising from lamps and candles. Other sources of impurity. Experiment of putting the candle under the bed-clothes. Covering the heads of infants while sleeping—its dangers. Proportions of oxygen and nitrogen in pure and impure air. No wonder children become sickly. Particular means of ventilating rooms. Caution in regard to lamps. Washing, ironing, cooking, &c., in a nursery. Their evil tendency. Fumigation—camphor, vinegar.

CHAPTER IV. THE CHILD'S DRESS.

General principles—1. To cover us; 2. To defend us from cold; 3. from injury.

SEC. 1. Swathing the Body.

Buffon's remarks. Transforming children into mummies. Use of a belly-band. Evils produced by having it too tight. Cripples sometimes made. Absurdity of confining the arms. Infants should be made happy.

SEC. 2. Form of the Dress.

Curious suggestion of a London writer. Advantages of his plan. Killing with kindness. Dr. Buchan's opinion. Conformity to fashion. Tight-lacing the chest. Its effects—dangerous. Physiology of the chest. Its motions. An attempt to make the subject intelligible. Serious mistakes of some writers. Appeal to facts. Color of females. Their breathing. Their diseases. Customs of Tunis. Our own customs little less ridiculous.

SEC. 3. Material.

Flannel in cold weather. Its use—1. As a kind of flesh brush; 2. As a protection against taking cold; 3. As means of equalizing the temperature. Clothing should be kept clean—often changed—color—lightness—softness. Cotton apt to take fire. Silk expensive. Linen not warm enough. Flannel under-clothes.

SEC. 4. Quantity.

The power of habit, in this respect. Opinion that no clothing is necessary. Anecdote of Alexander and the Scythian. Argument from analogy. Begin right, in early life. We generally use too much clothing. Should clothing be often varied?—objections to it. Avoid dampness.

SEC. 5. Caps.

How caps produce disease. Nature's head-dress. Miserable apology for caps. What diseases are avoided by going with the head bare. Judicious remarks of a foreign writer. Covering the "open of the head." Wetting the head with spirits.

SEC. 6. Hats and Bonnets.

Hats usually too warm. No covering needed in the house; and but little in the sun or rain. Is it dangerous to go with the head always bare?

SEC. 7. Covering for the Feet.

The feet should be well covered. Why. Rule of medical men. No garters. Objections to covering the feet considered. Shoes useful. Not too thick. Thick soles. Mr. Locke's opinion.

SEC. 8. Pins.

These ought not to be used. Why. Substitutes. Practice of Dr. Dewees. Needles—their danger. Shocking anecdote.

SEC. 9. Remaining Wet.

Changing wet clothing. Monstrous error—its evils. Clean as well as dry. A lame excuse for negligence. No excuse sufficient but poverty.

SEC. 10. Remarks on the Dress of Boys.

Every restraint of body or limb injurious. Tight jackets. Stiff stocks and thick cravats. Boots. Evils of having them too tight. A painful sight.

SEC. 11. On the Dress of Girls.

Clothing should be loose for girls or boys. Girls to be kept warmer than boys. Few girls comfortable, at home or abroad. Going out of warm rooms into the night air. How it promotes disease.

CHAPTER V. CLEANLINESS.

Physiology of the human skin. Of checking perspiration. Diseases thus produced. "Dirt" not "healthy." How the mistake originated. "Smell of the earth." Effect of uncleanliness on the morals. Filthiness produces bowel complaints. Changing dress for the sake of cleanliness.

CHAPTER VI. BATHING.

Practice of savage nations. Rather dangerous. Mistake of Rousseau. Plunging into cold water at birth may produce immediate death. Hundreds injured where one is benefited. Spirits added to the water. First washings of the child—should be thorough. Rules in regard to the temperature of both the water and the air. Washing an introduction to bathing. Hour for bathing changes with age. Temperature of the water. Size of a bathing vessel. Unreasonable fears of the warm bath. How they arose. A list of common whims. Apology for opposing cold baths. Dr Dewees' eight objections to them. Does cold water harden?