href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@10482@[email protected]#CHAPTER_X." class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">CHAPTER X. EXERCISE.

SEC. 1. Rocking in the Cradle.

Objections to the use of cradles. Under what circumstances they are least objectionable.

SEC. 2. Carrying in the Arms.

Carrying in the arms a suitable exercise for the first two months of life. Danger of too early sitting up. Improper position in the arms. Mothers must see to this themselves. Motion in the arms should be gentle. No tossing, running, or jumping. Infants should not always be carried on the same arm.

SEC. 3. Creeping.

Creeping useful to health. Why. Go-carts and leading strings prohibited. The longer children creep, the better. Their progress in learning to stand. Let it be slow and natural. Let it be, as much as possible, by their own voluntary efforts.

SEC. 4. Walking.

Walking in the nursery. Walking abroad. Hoisting children into carriages. Walks should not become fatiguing.

SEC. 5. Riding in Carriages.

Carriages useful before children can walk. Their construction. Should be drawn steadily. Position of the child in them: Falling asleep. How long this exercise should be continued.

SEC. 6. Riding on Horseback.

Never safe for infants. Riding schools. Objections to riding on horseback, while very young. Tends to cruelty and tyranny.

CHAPTER XI. AMUSEMENTS.

Universal need of amusements. Why so necessary. Error of schools. Error of families. Infant schools, as often conducted, particularly injurious. Lessons, or tasks, should be short. Mistakes of some manual labor schools. Of particular amusements in the nursery. With small wooden cubes—pictures—shuttlecock—the rocking horse—tops and marbles—backgammon—checkers—morrice—dice—nine-pins—skipping the rope—trundling the hoop—playing at ball—kites—skating and swimming—dissected maps—black boards—elements of letters—dissected pictures.

CHAPTER XII. CRYING.

Its importance. Danger of repressing a tendency to cry. Anecdote from Dr. Rush. Physiology of crying. Folly of attempting wholly to suppress it.

CHAPTER XIII. LAUGHING.

"Laugh and be fat." Laughing is healthy. A common error. Monastic notions yet too prevalent on this subject.

CHAPTER XIV. SLEEP.

General remarks. A prevalent mistake. A hint to fathers. Few Catos. Everything left to mothers.

SEC. 1. Hour for Repose.

Night the season of repose, generally. Infants require all hours. Sleeping in dark rooms. Excess of caution. Habit of sleeping amid noise.

SEC. 2. Place.

Where the infant should sleep. Why alone. Poisoning by impure air. Illustration. Proofs. Friedlander. Dr. Dewees. Destruction of children by mothers. Anecdote. Moral reasons for having children sleep alone. Sleeping with the aged. Sleeping with cats and dogs.

SEC. 3 Purity of the Air.

Nurseries. Windows open during the night. Lowering them from the top. Habit of Dr. Gregory. Going abroad in the open air.

SEC. 4. The Bed.

No feathers should be used. They are too warm. Their effluvia oppressive. Other objections to their use. Mattresses. Air beds. Beds of cut straw. Soft beds. Testimony of physicians. The pillow. Dampness. Curtains. Warming the bed. Beds recently occupied by the sick.

SEC. 5. The Covering.

Light covering. Mistakes of some mothers. Covering the head with bed clothes.

SEC. 6. Night Dresses.

As little dress during sleep as possible. No caps. No stockings. Loose night shirt. No tight articles of nightdress. Frequent exchanging of clothes.

SEC. 7. Posture of the Body.

Sleeping on the back—on the sides. Position of the head. The infant's bedstead. Sir Charles Bell. Darkening the room.

SEC. 8. State of the Mind.

Mental quiet favorable to sleep. Crying to sleep. A good father. All anxiety should be avoided.

SEC. 9. Quality of Sleep.

Soundness of our sleep. Nightmare. How produced. Late reading. Late suppers. Influence of religion on sleep. Different opinions about sleep. Truth midway between extremes. Effect of silence and darkness on our sleep. Of sleep before midnight. Light unfavorable to sleep.

SEC. 10. Quantity.

Infants need to sleep nearly the whole time. Number of hours required for sleep. Opinions of eminent men. The author's own opinion. Statements of Macnish. Estimates on the loss of time by over-sleeping. Hint to young mothers.

CHAPTER XV. EARLY RISING.

All children naturally early risers. Evils of sitting up late at night. Excitements in the evening. The morning, by its beauties, invites us abroad. Example of parents. Forbidding children to rise early. Keeping them out of the way. Burning them up. "Lecturing" them. What is an early hour?

CHAPTER XVI. HARDENING THE CONSTITUTION.

Mistakes about hardening children. Their clothing. Much cold enfeebles. The Scotch Highlanders. The two extremes equally fatal—over-tenderness and neglect. An interesting anecdote from Dr. Dewees.

CHAPTER XVII. SOCIETY.

Duty of mothers in this matter. Children prefer the society of parents. Importance of other society. Necessity of society. Early diffidence. Selecting companions. Moral effects of society on the young. Parents should play with their children.