The Infant's Toilet.-- After the application of the binder and napkin, comes the undervest; the fingers of the nurse are passed up through the sleeve to seize the infant's hand and pull it through; as soon as it gets a little older the child will grasp a finger laid in its palm, which greatly facilitates this part of the toilet. The stockings are next put on and pinned with safety-pins to the napkin; then comes the petticoat, the band of which is also loosely fastened with safety-pins, and with the slip the toilet is complete. All the clothing should be changed night and morning.
The eyes and mouth should be washed out with separate pieces of gauze or old linen. For the mouth, a small piece of cloth wet in warm water is wrapped around the little finger of the right hand, going into the left angle of the baby's mouth and coming out at the right, going between the gums and cheeks as well as over the tongue. This procedure should be gone through with every time preceding and following the nursing, and in this way the milk is prevented from souring in the mouth, and the digestion is kept in good condition. A sore mouth in a baby indicates carelessness on the part of the nurse.
A soft hair-brush may be used, but the scalp is too tender to permit the use of a comb.
After the toilet has been completed, the baby is laid in its crib, on the right side of the body, and warmly covered. The weaker the baby, the more attention must be paid to the external warmth. It may be necessary to place a warm-water bottle in the crib, but this must never touch the infant.
The Crib.-- The infant must have its own crib, without rockers, and it must on no account be put to sleep in the same bed with its mother. In its early life it should never be taken out of its crib except to be fed, to have its clothing changed, or to be bathed. There should be no holding on the lap, no dangling, no carrying or fussing over the new-born infant; and the more the baby is let alone, the better and healthier it will be. If baby cries, look at once to see if it needs a fresh napkin; if not, if any pins are sticking into it, if the clothing is possibly too tight; if none of these things are wrong, give it a sup of water and turn it over on the other side. The baby often becomes restless by sleeping for several hours in the same position. But on no account take the infant up out of its crib simply because it cries.