THE MOTHERCRAFT MANUAL

Copyright, 1916,
By Little, Brown, and Company.

All rights reserved

“Seventy-five per cent. of the women of America are married, and most of these have children.” It is not conceivable that women entering into any other vocation of life would think of undertaking it without deliberate preparation. Motherhood is so precious and wonderful that we fear to think of it in terms of definite preparedness. We like to think that it comes natural to be good mothers and that to study in preparation for it or to analyze it might produce more harm than good.

Let me use my own case as an illustration of how ill-prepared even earnest women are for motherhood. I was married twenty-nine years ago. I wanted children with all my heart. My first baby came sixteen months after I was married. I bought all the literature I could find on my new occupation, kindergarten books beginning with Froebel and ending with Susan Blow and her contemporaries; I studied Spencer’s Education, William James’ chapters on habit and attention, and read biographies of great people. My first ambition was to be a good mother, and I was eager to learn all I could about it. My college studies for five years were Greek, Latin, and higher mathematics, with an occasional semester of botany, evidences of Christianity, physics, etc. I do not remember hearing a reference to motherhood during my college experience.

[Pg viii]

I have had six children, four of whom are living. Had I had the knowledge I now have, or know how to get, it seems that the little seven-months-old boy could have been saved. I was called a scientific mother, my babies were fed regularly, put to bed regularly, and were dressed as sensibly as babies are now, but at that time we did not have the knowledge about the physical care of babies which we now have. What I object to is the amount of time I had to give when my children were little to learn things which I ought to have known before motherhood came to me, so that I could have been free to give myself to them. I knew “education through play” only as a figure of speech. Last summer I took a year-old baby to camp. I had the care of her three consecutive months, and was responsible for her six months. I yielded to the impulse to play with her, and in gratifying this instinct I used all the store of knowledge which experience had brought to me. It was evident that she was learning things every day, and that progress was astonishingly rapid. Most of the things I taught her were taught by the use of signs and objects. I asked her if she wanted to come to me by holding out my hands to her. She understood, and soon asked me to take her by holding out her hands to me. I asked her where her eyes were, her mouth, nose, ears, by touching each in turn. She understood and touched each in turn. It was interesting to note when it was no longer necessary to use the sign, when she understood spoken language without the aid of gesture.

The phrase that “education begins at the cradle” took on a new significance. I felt that I was a teacher as well as a mother and the importance of my part in the education of this baby opened up amazingly. It was play, but it was also education. Those minutes with her when no one was near, when we were all in all to each other, were precious beyond words.[Pg ix] Through this love-relation there was intense joy in both learning and teaching. The reason the mother’s part in education is incomparable to any other is because of this love-relation.

We are told that during the first five years of life more is learned than during all the rest of life. The teachers during these years are primarily the mothers. The mother-teacher relation goes on after school days begin, but gradually is regarded less important, and the teacher’s part grows. Mother is forgotten as a teacher. She loses confidence in herself and forgets that no one can take her place.

It does not seem to me that any woman could have more earnestly desired and striven to be a good mother. I studied and worked as hard as I could, but it was not possible for me to secure the training that girls can get to-day. It now seems to me that it is about as rational for a woman to learn by experience with her own children to be a good mother, as it would be for a doctor to get his education merely by practising on his patients. Motherhood offers no less opportunities for success than do the professions of law or medicine. The preparation for it is just as definite and is more important. It has remained for Mary L. Read, with splendid devotion and university training, to put these matters together and to organize and conduct a “School for Mothercraft.”

The time is coming when women will no more go into physical and spiritual motherhood unprepared, trusting to “mother instinct”, than they will go into law or medicine, trusting to their sense of right and of sympathy with the sick to guide them.

CHARLOTTE V. GULICK.

Certain definite ideals have been constantly in mind in the preparation of the present volume, among these the following:

To write a handbook that is so definite, concrete, and clear that the least experienced person of average intelligence will find it practical.

To bring directly to those who have opportunity to use it,—the home-makers, present and prospective,—some of the wealth of present knowledge in biology, dietetics, hygiene, domestic efficiency, child psychology, education, that is stored in the laboratories, research reports, medical records, technical journals, and educational classics, translating these from the obscure tongue of technical language into the clearer speech of daily life.

To furnish a guide to more technical or detailed consideration of each subject.

To present fundamental principles and facts rather than mere rule of thumb procedure, so that the reader may act intelligently and make intelligent variations.

Not to compromise on half-way procedure that merely prevents disaster, but to make clear the means to greatest personal efficiency and social power.

To keep a progressive yet reserved attitude between conservative and radical theories.

[Pg xii]

To bring the spirit of sympathy and humanness, of love and child-nature and poetry into the teaching of home-making.

To lighten the burden and enlighten the minds and hearts of earnest young people so that with joy and satisfaction they may essay and find the home and family life that their hearts desire.

Froebel outlined, nearly a century ago, a thorough, practical training course for young women, preparatory to home-making or to vocational work as teachers or mothers’ assistants. At Pestalozzi-Froebel House in Berlin, half a century ago, under the administration of Frau Shrader and Miss Annette Schepel, such a course was organized. Echoes of it to-day are found in the German secondary schools and special schools for girls. The same idea spread to England a quarter of a century ago, and there to-day a score of special schools, and some girls’ high schools, provide such a training.

In America, the School of Mothercraft was opened in New York City in December, 1911, to work out experimentally a training course for educated young women.[1] Here has been developed a comprehensive, human, practical course including domestic science and art, and the care and training of babies and little children. The students work in a home atmosphere, under home conditions, using the household for their practice work, caring for the resident babies and children, educating and training them in the course of the day’s régime, and receiving their own training in personality and technique as well as in theory. Extension classes have been maintained for young mothers, brides, and engaged young women.

[Pg xiii]

It is work with young women and the children in the School of Mothercraft that has made possible the preparation of the present volume.

No book can take the place of the living teacher. No amount of discussion of theory can be a substitute for experience. Yet experience, without sound principles, is also of minor value. Any book presupposes a modicum of common sense and rational judgment in its readers.

In a volume of such limited compass only a few significant principles can be presented, and some of the important elementary facts and technique that more technical books may overlook. The present volume aims only to be an introduction to the many phases of home-making, child care, and child training, to furnish something of vision for these responsibilities, and a guide for further study.

No book can be a substitute for the personal advice of the physician, the hygienist, the psychologist, and the teacher. The reader of any book on applied science may easily make the mistake of interpreting statements out of proportion to their significance, or of misunderstanding directions so that they even become misleading. Only discussion with the living teacher will discover and correct such errors.

The reader must be open-minded to new discoveries, new theories, new methods. At the present time, as never before, extensive researches are being made in biology, hygiene, dietetics, child psychology, and pedagogy. Important discoveries as revolutionary as the discovery of the circulation of the blood, radio-activity, the cellular basis of life, may be made at any future time.

In the present volume no attempt has been made to present controversial points of view, but a consistently constructive régime and programme has been given. The novice in any art must first learn to work constructively[Pg xiv] and rather dogmatically, until he has learned to apply one set of principles efficiently. Then he may begin to modify details according to some rational principle, instead of by mere whim, and to compare his method with other possibilities. The basis and the special authorities for the régime here presented will be found in the final chapter on bibliography.

[Pg xv]

The author begs to acknowledge indebtedness and gratitude to many who have participated in the making of the book.

To the Messrs. Macmillan Co., Ginn Company, F. A. Stokes Co., and D. Appleton & Co., for permission to quote from their publications; to the American Medical Association Press and Dr. Roland G. Freeman for use of the graphs on growth; to Mr. William S. Bailey and The Nurse Studio for many of the photographs taken specially for this work.

Especially the author begs to tender sincere thanks for many criticisms, suggestions, and reviewing of manuscript to Dr. David Starr Jordan, Dr. William F. Snow, Professors Rudolph M. Binder, Willystine Goodsell, Robert M. Yerkes, and Mr. Paul Popenoe, on the sections dealing with the home and the family; to Dr. Josephine H. Kenyon for sections on maternity and infancy, Drs. Henry I. Bowditch, William Shannon, and William H. Burnham, for sections on hygiene and growth; to physicians and nurses at Battle Creek Sanitarium for assistance in the sections on nursing and nutrition; to Dr. William H. Park for revising data on communicable diseases, and to Professors Henry C. Sherman and Mary S. Rose for suggestions and for unpublished data on nutrition. Mrs. Anna Martin[Pg xvi] Crocker and Miss Sunnyve Carlsen have kindly given literary assistance. Helpful suggestions on the reading list have been furnished by science teachers of Horace Mann, Ethical Culture, Francis Parker, and the University of Chicago Elementary Schools. Miss Helen O. Rider and Miss Mary Scott Allen have rendered invaluable aid in criticism and clerical details. To the many others who have furnished technical data or read portions of the manuscript, the author here expresses thanks. Finally, the author would gratefully acknowledge the unfailing patience and kindly encouragement of the publishers. For such errors as may be found the author alone is responsible. Criticisms or suggestions from readers, which may improve the helpfulness or accuracy of the Manual, will be gratefully received.

MARY L. READ.

July, 1916.

“To know a child is to love it, and the more we know it, the better we love it.

“To know, love, and serve childhood is the most satisfying, soul-filling of all human activities.

“It rests on the oldest and strongest and sanest of all instincts.

“It gives to our lives a rounded-out completeness as does no other service.

“No other object is so worthy of service and sacrifice; and the fullness of the measure in which this is rendered is the very best test of a nation and race and a civilization.”

—G. Stanley Hall.

Mothercraft is the skilful, practical doing of all that is involved in the nourishing and training of children, in a sympathetic, happy, religious spirit. It is not merely the care of the little baby; that is a very small, though significant, part. Its practice is not dependent upon physical parenthood, but is part of the responsibility of every woman who has to do with children as teacher, nurse, friend, or household associate. It is no more an instinct than is gardening or building. It is not merely being with children. Its requisite is vital working knowledge of the fundamental principles of biology, hygiene, economics, psychology, education, arts. It is mothering—that oldest, steadiest, most satisfactory vocation to women always[Pg 2] and everywhere—made intelligent and efficient and joyous.

Mothercraft cannot be learned simply from books any more than can music, agriculture, carpentry, dentistry. The most important factor in the learning of mothercraft is the daily intelligent association with the children in their natural environment of home. A hospital with sick children is a place to learn its pathological phases.

No one of intelligence will dispute the theory that the most important period in the child’s life is the first seven years. It is in these years that the foundation of his physical life is settled (or unsettled); that the lifelong habits are formed; that the prejudices and the bases of his spiritual and social life are laid. The “gates of gifts”—his potentialities—are closed at birth, possibly when his parents are chosen. Whether one is an advocate of heredity or of environment as the most influential factor in the life of the individual, none will now gainsay that both the heredity and the environment of every individual can be controlled, and that each of these factors may be made vastly more efficient through the high ideals, the intelligence, and the foresight of parents present and potential.

In these days of radical change in the activities and education of women, mothercraft has not kept pace with the other vocations open to women. In a society where marriage is no longer an economic, domestic, or conventional necessity, there has developed a tacit assumption that youth would not marry, and therefore special preparation for home-making (and especially for child care) would be presumptuous and a waste of time. The school has left this part of a girl’s training for the home to give, and in a large proportion of homes there has not been the time or the intelligence or the foresight to give it. Girls have gone from elementary[Pg 3] school directly into industry, or to high school and college, or to finishing school and society. Educators and vocational guides have frequently overlooked it in educational and vocational conferences, exhibits, and guidebooks.

And yet to-day in America, the care and training of young children is chiefly in the hands of women. Seventy-five per cent. of women in America are married, and presumably most of them have the responsibility of children in their own homes.

There are ten million children under six years of age whose care and training is naturally in the entire control of their homes. There are fourteen million children between five and fifteen years of age who, on the average, spend thirty hours a week, for forty weeks a year, in school, while all the rest of their life—about seventy per cent. of their waking hours, as well as all their sleeping hours—is in the control of their mothers and fathers.

Nursing, within fifty years, has become a profession, and to-day it is almost impossible for a woman to find employment as a nurse unless she has had a special training for three years. Yet nursing has only to do with sick folk, usually in a hospital, which is still a far cry from the daily care, hygiene, and training of the normal child in a home. For an equal period, teachers of young children have been expected to take a special normal course of two to four years. Yet this training has had little to do, until recently in some quarters, with hygiene, biology, or the psychology of the child, but has concerned itself chiefly with subjects in the curriculum and with masses of children in an artificial grouping and environment, foreign to their native interests and inimical to their physical needs.

Only within the last twenty-five years has medicine developed pediatrics—the special study of children’s[Pg 4] treatment. Child-hygiene is still later as an exact science. Child-study, as an exact science, dates back to Froebel and the early nineteenth century, and is still a new field.

The mother in her home, herself with slight special preparation, busy with her children, could scarcely have been expected to keep pace with these developments and to teach them to her daughters, even had she the foresight. The higher institutions of learning, naturally among the most conservative forces of society, have not yet begun to perceive the significance of such a subject as mothercraft in the curriculum, although the beginnings of some phases are being made. The secondary and elementary schools, bound by the fetish of college requirements, are only beginning to show here and there indications of efforts to prepare for living instead of simply for college.

And the young woman—still immature, inexperienced, and therefore not appreciative of life’s values and impending responsibilities—has had neither the guidance of school and home, nor the educational opportunity, nor the personal foresight to prepare adequately for this vocation.

What is the consequence? A generation of women, the majority of whom are notoriously (and sometimes shamelessly) ignorant and unskilled in the most vital and significant human responsibilities. In millions of homes women are wasting their time and energy, losing the joy of their motherhood (and too often their little ones), perplexed, harassed, over-burdened, because they are bungling, stumbling blindly, groping at their vocation. And those they love most dearly are paying the penalty, in less happy homes, less efficient lives. Hundreds of thousands of self-supporting young women every year are going into industrial or commercial work or school teaching, not because they prefer it, but because opportunities[Pg 5] for acquiring the requisite skill are at hand, and conditions of work have been standardized. Hundreds of thousands of mothers with young children are seeking in vain for assistants of desirable personality and efficient training. For such workers there has been no adequate opportunity for training and no standardizing of working conditions. In all this, America is far behind both Germany and England.

What does mothercraft require in its practitioners? First, personality: love of children and sympathy with child-nature, responsibility, patience, thoroughness in the minute details day in and day out, self-control, good judgment, adaptability, the play spirit. Fundamental also are open-mindedness, spiritual vision, and the poise that results from a well-regulated physical régime and a firm apprehension of eternal verities.

Then knowledge: a sound foundation in the fundamental principles and vital facts of applied biology, psychology, sociology, ethics, economics, natural sciences, play, arts, as they relate to the home, the family, and childhood. Equally important is the scientific mind that knows how to approach new problems and receive new principles.

Then technique: the actual doing and practice of mothercraft. Knowledge is of no value until it is translated into efficient action. There must be little children to care for, tend, play with, educate.

What of fathercraft? Every child has two parents, equal in responsibility for his heredity and likewise for his rearing. Fathers could hardly be expected ordinarily to be versed in the intricacies of clothing, feeding, and bathing the baby. But why should not every man understand the principles of hygiene and foods as a matter of his general knowledge quite as much as for coöperation with the mother in the children’s régime? Why should he not with equal zest make a study of growth and development during childhood?[Pg 6] Even more, why should he not be intimately acquainted with child psychology and the fundamental principles of child training and education, that he may understand his own children and coöperate sympathetically in their upbringing? Is there any valid reason why he should not be equally acquainted with the sociology of the home, the meaning and principles of eugenics, the psychology of harmony in home life?

There is no profession open to either men or women that offers such opportunities for personal culture, individual expression, technical skill, scientific research, social contribution and welfare, as mothercraft. Perhaps the very comprehensiveness of it and its humanness have presented a problem so complex that it has baffled the educators and delayed its admission to academic dignity.

Through the channels of child welfare, eugenics, and pediatrics, a keener sense of responsibility toward the child unborn is developing. Through the increasing knowledge of heredity, child psychology, and education, a clearer vision is appearing to young men and young women of what they themselves might have been, and of what they may yet create and develop by combining wisdom with their great love. Philanthropists are realizing the futility of simply relieving immediate suffering, crime, inefficiency, for generation after generation. They are looking to the elimination of the causes: ignorance of the rudiments of living, poor heredity, neglect in childhood, unsanitary, ugly, unspiritual living conditions. “There is no wealth but life,” we are realizing with Ruskin. Statesmen and legislators are beginning to see that the stability of society and the State demand that the organizing of homes, the founding of families, the spending of family incomes, shall not be intrusted to novices and unskilled workers. As indications of this, we have the recently established Children’s Bureau, and the Smith-Lever[Pg 7] Bill with its appropriation for education that includes home-making.

In America, clubs, reading courses, and special correspondence for parents have been developed in the last quarter century by the International Congress of Mothers, Parent-Teachers’ Association, Home and School League, American Institute of Child Life. This is good and is helping many parents in meeting their perplexities, but as a national means of vocational training, its psychology and pedagogy is shortsighted and inefficient.

What banker would trust his ledgers to a youth just out of school, whose only special preparation for bookkeeping was a current reading course in business methods? What woman would permit a man to experiment on her garden if he was just beginning a correspondence course in agriculture? What business man wants to intrust his correspondence to a stenographer just out of a business course, even after months of such vocational training? All this is recognized as inefficient, wasteful, expensive in business; how much more so is it in the home, where precious human lives are the factors to be dealt with.

Slowly, but certainly, there is coming a new ideal in education. Children and young people are to be prepared for living. They are to know how to develop physical vitality and mental ability and spiritual power. They are to be prepared in spirit and intelligence, in skill and in science, in personality and technique for the responsibilities that most of them will assume, for the greatest responsibility any of them can assume—home-making and family rearing.

Both the school and the home are responsible for the preparation of these future parents. They must apply to this vocational problem all their knowledge of psychology and pedagogy. Right habits of regularity, responsibility, self-control, must be carefully[Pg 8] trained in those babyhood and early childhood stages; the manual phases of household work are to be taught in the manual stage before the teens; boys and girls are to be imbued with a wholesome, responsible spirit toward motherhood and fatherhood and the home which they are taught to look forward to as the goal for themselves; girls in their teens are to have companionship and experience with little children, learning the essential details and the significant guiding principles of their high calling in a practical, human, motherly way, under wise and sympathetic teachers. Girls, and boys likewise, will be encouraged to foresee the significance and values and responsibility of home and family, and to conduct themselves worthily of such a mission.

Secondary and elementary schools are beginning to give school credit for assistance at home. Domestic science and art are now taught in hundreds of schools. Their field as yet is narrowly restricted to the mechanics of the household, usually taught in an academic way. This, however, is an entering wedge for more practical, comprehensive, and human phases of home-making education whenever school administrators, teachers, and parents shall see that vision. The day seems not distant when colleges generally will give credit for all home-making branches, as a few do now for some phases. We may even yet see universities granting M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mothercraft and fathercraft, as well as in philology, astronomy, history, or other more consequential branches of learning. College alumnæ themselves are making earnest appeals to their Alma Maters to prepare their students for home-making responsibilities. It is not unthinkable that the colleges, before many decades, might even include the preparatory work in these subjects among their entrance requirements, as they now do algebra and Latin. In that day “applied science” will be esteemed more[Pg 9] worthy than “pure science”, and ability to utilize more honorable than ability to memorize. By the next century, a mothercraft course may become as conventional a part of the curriculum of a finishing school as French or vocal training or æsthetic dancing; and its rudiments as requisite as a certificate of age for working papers; and preparedness in fathercraft as stringent a requirement for a marriage license as a medical certificate. Why not?

The Purpose of the Home. The cause, historically, and the reason, socially, for the home is the child and the family. Home is the great training school of life for parents as well as for children. It is not merely a place to eat and sleep; any boarding-house can provide that. The ideal home is a community of congenial spirits, a place of inspiration, comfort, rest of spirit as well as of body. Here dwell together two who have chosen each other as comrades in the complex problem of living, to share their fare, their mirth, their troubles, to give cheer in distress, encouragement in struggle, ambition for achievement, sympathy in trial and happiness, friendly criticism to refine; and to coöperate in their mutual desire, responsibility, joys, and trials of rearing a family.

As young men and women face squarely the possibilities in a home, as they perceive the causes of discord in family life, and study the basis of family stability and happiness, as they take the time before marriage to compare sincerely their ideals, tastes, standards, expectations, they will minimize the possibilities of later discord—even tragedy. If they cannot agree sincerely and heartily on economic, social, physiological, and psychological adjustments before the wedding ceremony, when each has the altruism of romance and the spur of the game, how can they expect to adjust themselves amicably afterwards, in the severe test of everyday needs and situations?

[Pg 11]

Marriage is the concern of the individual, because his happiness and his activity are involved. It is also the concern of the State, because property rights, social harmony, and future citizenship are involved. A brief study of the historical and social development of the home and family relations will give a surer basis for the rational discussion of this problem than would a theoretical discussion based merely on prejudices of individualism or altruism.

Evolution of Marriage. In the human species, infancy is prolonged over several years. From this mutual care by the mother and the father in primitive society, there evolved the mutual love for the little child and later for each other; and with this the permanent relationship which alone could produce the organization of the family. The beginnings of morality likewise developed from this sense of a community interest which called for a subordination of selfish desires.

For ages mankind has experimented with different forms of family relation and home organization, trying to discover which serve best to foster the child, conserve the State, and satisfy the men and women who form the family. Under different social and economic conditions, polygamy and polyandry (more than one wife or husband), promiscuity (several temporal husbands or wives) and monogamy (one husband or wife) have been tried.

Polygamy, in primitive society, developed where women were in excess, or their labor increased family income, or where a man’s fortune enabled him to support more than one wife and her children. The polygamous nature of man was accepted by Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Mohammedan religions, and its practice permitted by their statutes. The Jewish nation early evolved from polygamy to monogamy, and incorporated the latter into its religion and customs. Anglo-Saxon ideals were of monogamy. The teachings[Pg 12] of Christ emphasized monogamy. The early Christian teachers even carried this, as other ideals, to its farthest extreme, and preached the ideal of celibacy. It remained for Mormonism to sanctify polygamy and make it a duty. But polygamy, which was flatly opposed by the general sentiment of the United States, was short-lived in the territory of the Mormon Church. The local feeling on this issue at present may be summarized in the following sentiment, expressed by a distinguished citizen of Utah:

“Our citizenship must be world citizenship. It is a matter of common knowledge and comment that that citizen is most valuable to his town who can see the town’s needs in relation to those of his county; that he is of most value to his county who sees that county as a constituent part of the state and consents to nothing for his county that would hurt the state; that a state’s most valuable and serviceable citizen is the man who has the power in his thinking, reasoning, and acting to rise above sectionalism and act as a citizen of the nation. This is the test to which our citizenship must submit—the standard up to which it must measure.”

In primitive, as well as in civilized societies, the beginning of a new home is customarily celebrated with civil and religious ceremonies; customs and laws provide for the relative rights of the husband and wife to their persons, their children, their property, and the returns from their labor. Infidelity (particularly of the wife), common-law marriages (living as husband and wife without legal marriage), promiscuous relations, divorce, have generally been branded as anti-social and reprehensible, expressions of lack of self-control, altruism, and foresight.

Mankind is finding through the experience of the ages that monogamy best conserves child life, the home, the State, and individual happiness. It has found[Pg 13] that irresponsible parenthood, shallowness of marital or parental affection, promiscuous relations, all endanger the life and welfare of the child. It has learned that marriage customs and laws requiring considerable formality and therefore deliberation of the contracting parties, reduced the proportion of hasty, unsatisfactory, and temporary unions with their uncertain responsibility for the children, and their quarrels over property. Many factors have contributed to the establishment of the really monogamous family and home as the social ideal and the increasing social practice. The lengthening period of infancy, with the consequent longer period of mutual coöperation of parents in nurture and training; realization of the Christ spirit of love for others, of respect for the value and individuality of every human life; the consequent refinement of the emotional life and social feeling, and the sublimating of sex instincts to the development of a richer personality, to mental creative work and to social service; the democratization of education and social status; freedom in choice of a marriage partner—all have contributed a part.

Freedom of choice has been far less prevalent than capture, purchase, or family contract, in marriages of the past. It is wearisome to even try to imagine the procession of brides, since those early days of the cavemen, who had no choice in the matter of their husbands. For what countless millions of brides was the marriage arranged by barter between their fathers and their future household lords, sometimes the father requiring a purchase price, sometimes the bridegroom demanding a dowry. What millions of girls have been selected while mere children as the future wives and slaves of their husbands and the family drudges of the household. How many millions of brides and bridegrooms have never been consulted as to their personal feelings or desires, but have been[Pg 14] married because the elders of their families decreed it. Under all such conditions, if husband and wife developed affection for each other, that was so much of advantage to them from the combination; otherwise they must adapt themselves as best they could to the daily round of life in their common dwelling and throughout their family responsibilities.

Trial marriages have been an experiment in many societies. They are based upon suspicion and expectation of termination, instead of upon that whole-hearted confidence and expectation of endurance which is the basis of a permanent relation. Psychologically, therefore, their basis is false and weak. They presented a crude method of testing mutual adaptation and affection, which to-day may be gained by visiting a few weeks in each other’s families, by thorough preliminary discussion of problems of adjustment, and by consultation with a competent physician, biologist, and sociologist or a mature and thoughtful counsellor.

Thus has marriage evolved by stages from biological matings, based on physical attraction; to the business contract, based on economic relations; to the social contract, based on social advantage to the family, clan, or State; and finally to a spiritual relationship, based on mutual social and intellectual interests and ties. Romantic love as a general experience in marriage has developed only during the past few hundred years. No one of these phases—the biological, economic, social, or spiritual—can be ignored in marriage to-day without disaster, as divorce records and daily observation show so clearly. To ignore the higher relationships and base marriage simply on the biological or material is to revert back to a lower stage in human development. A marriage based simply on physical attraction soon loses its glamour, and is as a house built upon the sands. The enduring ties are those of spiritual comradeship. It is this spiritual-biological[Pg 15] love, evolving with the personality and soul of man, that has inspired the great wealth of spiritual creations in poetry, music, drama, and painting.

The American young woman of to-day, especially of the middle classes, is economically, socially, and religiously free to choose from among her suitors the one she finds most congenial and whom she really loves. Legislators are providing in many States for the woman’s equal rights in marriage to her person, property, and children. Churches, associations, and parents are awakening to their responsibility in providing natural and wholesome social opportunities for young men and women to become acquainted. If a woman does not find her ideal in the community where she lives, she is socially free to migrate to any part of the country, enter any one of a thousand occupations, and seek until she finds a suitable helpmeet. In this country, in contrast to Europe, there is an excess of some two million men in the population. She will find a large proportion of young men of her social class and education, whose standards and habits of life are as fine as Sir Galahad’s, who have the economic ability to make a comfortable living, and who are ready to coöperate intelligently and whole-heartedly in home-making. The young man of to-day will find an increasing proportion of young women who combine physical charm, social gifts, intellectual comradeship, home-making instincts, and preparation.

Why Homes Are Broken. In a country where divorce is easily obtained by either husband or wife, for serious cause, the proportion of divorces is an index (1) to the percentage of dissatisfied couples (which will always be considerably higher than the percentage of divorces); and (2) to the intelligence and forethought with which young people enter marriage. The census of 1910 estimated one marriage in twelve ending in divorce, and counted as direct parties about one half of one per[Pg 16] cent. of the population, something over three hundred thousand men and women, with children involved in about sixty per cent. of these families. The causes stated in the court records would, of course, be only those allowed in the laws as the legal grounds for granting a divorce. These, in the order of their frequency, were (1) desertion by the husband, (2) cruelty of the husband, (3) desertion by the wife, (4) non-support by the husband, (5) cruelty of the wife, (6) adultery. The most frequent real causes, as found by social investigation, are lack of self-control, lack of mutual ideals in regard to sex relations, ignorance of sex hygiene, use of alcohol, irresponsibility, economic extravagance, disagreement regarding the family income, hasty marriage after brief acquaintance. Among the other causes productive of discord are selfishness, insincerity, false pride, nagging, poor housekeeping, the husband’s lack of economic ability; marked differences in age, education, social status, religion; abnormal craving for social excitement; unnatural, crowded, unattractive homes.

How Homes Are Made Steadfast and a Benediction. The fundamental requisite of family happiness is love; not merely sex attraction, which may be wholly selfish, but love that is service, happier to give than to receive, willing to share. In some respects similarity between husband and wife is important in their social and intellectual tastes, moral standards, religious faith, refinement, love of children, rate of ability to progress, degree of seriousness or frivolousness, ardor and expression of affection. These make for congenial daily living. In some respects complementary qualities are desired. If one is impatient, the other may well possess a degree of patience and sense of humor to meet this; if one is extravagant, the other should be thrifty; if one is radical, the other may well be conservative, although marked extremes would always[Pg 17] clash. The degree of positiveness in the one should approximate that in the other; if equal, neither is willing to yield; if very unequal, one domineers the other. These complementary traits make for balance of family life. The qualities that each should possess would include responsibility, self-control, sincerity, kindliness; freedom from drugs, conscientious abstinence from alcohol and from vicious habits; a degree of maturity and experience equal to the responsibilities of home-making (usually not under twenty years for women and twenty-one for men), love of home life and of children; good health, freedom from any serious germ disease, a family history free from criminal tendencies, alcoholism, mental defects, tuberculosis. A gambler, spendthrift, flirt, vacillating or superficial man or woman, or one who is “sowing wild oats” has not the qualifications for establishing a home. The man should be able to earn a comfortable living, and the woman to administer the household efficiently and smoothly. Every woman should have some means of making her livelihood at the time she marries; it will greatly increase her husband’s respect for her and be a source of confidence to herself. She usually cannot do better, from the economic aspect, than to become thoroughly skilled in phases of home-making.

How the family income should be divided, what share the wife shall have for household use and for her personal use, is so diplomatic and acute a problem that it should be as sincerely and frankly discussed as all these other phases.

Whether the wife should undertake work besides managing the home-making is a moot question. Certainly her first responsibility is to make a home not only comfortable but inspiring. She needs to have such opportunity for relaxation, meditation, reading, personal development, that however weary and tense her husband may return in the evening, she can give rest,[Pg 18] good cheer, and refreshment of spirit, because of her reserve of vitality, and can send him each morning to his work with the courage and good spirits stimulated by her blitheness. She needs, also, to be storing reserve strength for her children.

The location of the house greatly affects the family life. Ideally, it should be a separate dwelling, with a porch for outdoor social life, a garden where all members of the family have room to work and play, with rooms enough for individual privacy; and it should be owned, not rented.

The minimum income on which two people may advisably marry will depend largely upon their degree of adaptability, patience, and sense of humor. Acquaintance before marriage may safely be not less than a year and preferably two, not only for thorough and sincere acquaintance, but for the possibility of the reaction and even repulsion that is so likely to follow a violent case of love on short acquaintance. If love is too ardent, it needs this discipline of patience and restraint. If it is deep enough to last through the rest of time, it will stand the test of waiting.

Having established their home, husband and wife may well cultivate their love wisely, seeing that it does not starve from lack of service in little thoughtfulnesses; that it is not surfeited by too much of sweetness or selfish expression; that it is protected by residence separate from relatives, friends, strangers; that both have individual social life and friends and pursuits so that they do not become wearisome to each other; that they busy themselves in some mutual objective interest—social welfare, club, lodge work or a reading course. The few minutes spent together each day in gaining inspiration, either in religious worship, or reading from some great book, or singing noble songs, will do much to keep the family life harmonious and to reduce the petty frictions. It is well to agree[Pg 19] on the first day—and carry through the agreement—that if misunderstanding or the least suspicion arises, it shall be frankly and thoroughly faced, discussed, and eliminated, remembering that it is “the little rift within the lute” that silences the music. Then, as the poet sings:

“Efficient housekeeping is the beginning of good citizenship.”

—Professor Martha van Rensselaer.

The Budget. Many young people hesitate to marry on a modest income, either through confessed inability to manage a small budget, or an unwillingness to begin humbly and live simply. Many mothers are sorely perplexed over the problem of finding time and energy from their household work for the education of and play with their children. Parents are perplexed over how to provide for and educate more than one or two children in what they consider a fitting manner.

Efficiency Methods. The whole complexity may be reduced to definite problems of philosophy, scientific efficiency, physics, and mathematics. The first step is to appreciate the relative value of life and of things, of genuine simplicity and vulgar show; of educating the children to share, to carry responsibility, to be self-reliant, or to be selfish, dependent, luxury-loving.

Second, all the labor-saving machinery in the world will but slightly reduce the output of time and energy in the household work unless the worker will apply her mind to the problem, adapt herself to new ways of performing a piece of work, and be willing to think.

Third, the individual problem must be studied. Have a regular monthly session to analyze seriously, with pencil and paper, the household situation, and to question every process of work and every expenditure.[Pg 21] Can the household régime be made simpler yet socially efficient? Where is there waste of energy, time, materials, income? How can the accumulation of dirt and dust be reduced? How can dishwashing and laundry work be reduced? How can time spent in cooking be decreased? How could any work be done in a less tiring position? Where could there be a reduction in the number of steps, trips, arm movements, duplications of work, arranging which requires later disarrangement? Where could pipes, drains, hose lines, faucets, pulleys, speaking tubes, signals, or other simple mechanical devices reduce time and labor? What work could be done by a part-time helper at an hourly or daily rate? What is the difference in cost between food cooked at home or purchased already cooked? What has been the loss from food wasted, spoiled, thrown away, improperly cooked? Could any foods be purchased directly from the producer, with a saving of cost? Are the dealers sending honest measures and correct bills? How could a reduction be made in the cost of fuel or of lighting?

Domestic engineers, housekeeping experiment stations, household efficiency laboratories already exist, but they are so new that the terms are not yet quite familiar. It may prove a great saving of time and energy to consult one of the new domestic engineers, whose business it is to analyze a kitchen or a house or a family budget, plan its rearrangement for economy of time, energy, and money, recommend labor-saving machinery, or organize a system of routine.

Fourth, begin at once to put efficiency principles into practice in the household work. Do not dawdle or potter over work. Analyze the work of the household into units, for example, preparation of breakfast, laying and clearing the dining table, care of a bedroom, washing the dishes. Specify the maximum amount of time each unit is worth, then see how this can be[Pg 22] reduced, using the fewest arm motions and least walking.

Saving Time and Energy. Learn to plan and organize work. Have a monthly, weekly, and daily schedule of work. It will often be necessary to vary this, but a well-planned schedule will nevertheless reduce the time otherwise wasted in unnecessary duplication and without definite purpose. “A stitch in time saves nine.” This applies to sanitation, plumbing, cleaning, gardening, colds, and sore throats, as well as to socks and frocks.

Study how to eliminate useless motions. Make exact studies, using a watch and a record pad. Observe how many trips were made in laying the table, and the length of time required. Discover ways of reducing this by half, through use of a tray, more convenient arrangement of supplies, fewer dishes, simpler service. Make similar studies with other processes, such as cleaning a room, or preparing a meal.

In an ordinary household, preparation of breakfast for a family of five persons should not require more than half an hour; lunch from twenty minutes to an hour; dinner from half an hour to two hours. The daily care of a bedroom should be completed in ten to twenty minutes. Washing of dishes, clearing of dining room and kitchen, should be finished in from twenty to sixty minutes after a meal. The weekly washing for such a family should be completed in four to six hours, and likewise the ironing. Five hours a week is enough to spend in baking, and only two should be necessary if bread is not made.

Make out the menus for a whole week, revising daily as necessary. This will assure better-balanced menus, more variety, economy of time and money in marketing, and will prevent the worry of unpreparedness. In marketing, purchase a two or four months’ supply of such staples as can be bought and stored advantageously.[Pg 23] Have a regular day weekly to inspect supplies and order staples. Have two or three regular days a week for purchasing fresh vegetables, fruits, meats.

The general architectural plan of a house, finish of walls and floors, construction of windows, doors, wainscoting, corners, mopboards, can make hours of difference in the week’s labor. Even when the general architecture cannot be altered, the floors may be improved. Carpeted or waxed floors are the most difficult to care for, while those painted or oiled are easiest. Useless bric-a-brac, carved and ornate furniture, all are dust and germ holders, and consume an extravagant amount of time for their care. For every unnecessary and useless piece of furniture, drapery, or utensil, the housekeeper must pay a tax of time and strength in handling. The Japanese have learned the beauty of simplicity in house furnishing.

Rearrange the plan of the kitchen until supplies, utensils, stove, water, sink are so placed that there are fewest steps and motions, and it is as convenient as an apartment house kitchenette. Tables, sinks, and ironing boards adjusted to the height of the worker will economize energy. A low stool to stand upon will reduce the height of work tables; a detached wooden frame or block on top of a low kitchen table or sink will often give the desired height without stooping. A cushioned stool or chair to sit upon while doing stationary work, or a soft rug under feet while standing, all add to comfort.

Electricity is the housekeeper’s man-of-all-work. It can heat, light, cook, supply the energy for the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, wringer, dishwasher. In some communities it is now furnished at a sufficiently low rate for such general use, and other communities can have the same low rates whenever the housekeepers organize and demand it.

[Pg 24]

Simple cooking is more digestible, nourishing, economical of labor, and, to a natural appetite, more appetizing. The most valuable part of potatoes and apples is next the skin, the removal of which before cooking is wasteful of time and materials. A coal stove is an enormous consumer of time and energy. An alcohol stove furnishes the cleanest method of cooking, quite practicable, with a fireless cooker and steam cooker, for a small family. Next in convenience, and more economical, are the gas or oil vapor stoves. A good fireless cooker vastly reduces the time required in the kitchen, and cuts the fuel bill in half.

In serving meals, labor is saved by using a tray, or better still a wheeled tray with several shelves, which may be drawn up to the table to hold the additional courses and the soiled dishes as removed. A special tray that will fit the cupboard shelf, to hold the constant accessories, will save handling.

Dishwashing is an ever-recurring, three-times-a-day problem. There are several fairly good dishwashing machines now on the market, both electric and hand-power. If dishes must be washed in the old-fashioned way, engineering efficiency can be put into it. After washing, scald the china in a wire basket such as business offices use for holding letters, and leave to dry without wiping, then place directly on trays to take to the table instead of placing on shelves only to take down again. In times of stress or of picnic spirit, papier-mâché or wooden dishes will save time.

For cleaning have a vacuum cleaner, carpet sweeper, hair floor brush, dustless mop, dustless dusters or cheesecloth dampened with kerosene, wax oil or furniture polish. It takes an hour or two after sweeping for dust to settle; this interval should be allowed before dusting furniture.

If good laundries, guiltless of injurious chemicals[Pg 25] and extravagant rates, are not available in the locality, a coöperative laundry providing these features may be organized and conducted by the women of the community, as in many places in Wisconsin. If laundry work must be done at home, an equipment of a good washing machine or even a hand vacuum washer, a wringer, stationary tubs, hose lines, running hot and cold water, with sewer connection for waste, greatly reduce the time and energy cost. A cold mangle or one heated by gas or charcoal costs but a few dollars and reduces by about seventy-five per cent. the labor of ironing flat work. Gas or electric irons are inexpensive and energy saving. Necessary laundry work may be greatly minimized by providing silk or cotton crepon for underwear and dresses, seersucker for children’s rompers, dresses, and aprons, with doilies or paper napkins in place of tablecloth, at least for breakfast and lunch, and paper towels for kitchen and bathroom.

The physical and mental condition of the worker is a very considerable factor in time and energy cost. Work attempted when one is fatigued, nervous, or tense consumes vastly more energy and time. Learn to relax at intervals; especially lie down for a few minutes about midday. “Never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down.” If becoming nervous or tense, relax completely, and take long, slow, deep breaths of fresh air. Stand with the weight on the balls of the feet, head erect and chest expanded. Keep the house air in winter at efficiency point: between 65° F. and 68° F. in temperature, and sufficiently humid by well-filled water pans in furnace pipe or by large open dishes of water in room, and with a constant intake of fresh outside air.

Making the Most of the Family Income. Analyze the family income and spend it on paper many times before spending it over the counter. Train the family[Pg 26] to spend less than is planned, rather than more Ordinarily, for incomes up to three thousand dollars, the following is considered by economists a wise distribution, in a family with three children:

Personal ordering and selection of supplies, paying cash and keeping accounts, will furnish the greatest values for expenditures. Accurate scales and measures in the kitchen, with occasional tests of supplies sent, will check errors or dishonesty of marketmen. Cost of supplies may be reduced by keeping posted on market prices; buying in wholesale quantities where possible, in coöperation with other housekeepers; buying directly from the producer wherever possible; knowing the reliable grades and brands of package goods. A knowledge of the values of common foods and their comparative cost for equivalent food value is indispensable for efficiency. A reasonable allowance is two dollars to two dollars and a half a week for food supplies for each person. An ample quantity (eighteen hundred to two thousand calories a day) of nourishing food of limited variety can be purchased for one dollar a week. Luxuries should be had on a four dollar weekly allowance per person

The following table can be expanded by any housekeeper. For other food stuffs: Note calories per pound. (Given in Government Bulletin Number 28 or Rose’s Laboratory Manual in Dietetics) To find the number of calories for one cent, divide calories per pound by cost per pound. Fruits and green vegetables, although[Pg 27] furnishing few calories for one cent, are needed each day, for their vitamines, acids, and minerals.

Comparative Caloric Food Values and Cost

Locating the Home. Life in the open country, town, or suburb reduces the cost of living, as compared with the city, (a) by reducing the stimulation and excitement of daily life, and their energy cost; (b) reducing the temptations to extravagant and frivolous expenditure of money; (c) furnishing better air and more outdoor living, thus increasing the quality of life besides decreasing expenditures for illness; (d) providing a porch and yard where children may play in sight of mother at work, and where the family may find social life; (e) providing space for garden and poultry, whose care is healthful exercise, and whose products may reduce the expenditure for food. By purchasing staples at wholesale and organizing a coöperative marketing group for fruits and vegetables, as wide a variety and[Pg 28] as low a cost of food is possible as under most favorable city conditions. The provision of rural traveling libraries, art exhibits, educational picture films, the use of the schoolhouse as a social center, the improvement of education in the rural and suburban school with its ideal natural environment, all are part of that larger home-making for which every mother and father should feel a responsibility.

The Value of Life and of Things. “The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.” Do not mistake the means for the end in housekeeping. Orderliness, immaculate linen, garnished rooms are means. Good cheer, patience, kindliness, reserve force, poise are of vastly greater value. Often it is necessary to choose between the two. Cherish simplicity, beauty, courtesy, rather than conventionality, aping of passing modes, vulgar show, and ostentation in the house, equipment, household service, the clothing of the family. Train every member of the family to be responsible for the care of his own belongings and to wait upon himself as his share in social coöperation.

Let the children from toddling time help in the household duties and chores. It will be for their guardians a good training in patience, adaptability, and sympathy. What if their work is crude, with many mistakes and mishaps? They are learning motor coördinations, manual dexterity, a knowledge of homely routine, the meaning of labor and service, the joy of workmanship and creation, the satisfaction of self-reliance, the happiness of intimate comradeship with mother and father. Their character development is the great consideration, not the materials they are handling or the petty work they are accomplishing.

“The business of life is the transmission of the sacred torch of heredity undimmed to future generations. This is the most precious of all worths and values in the world.”

—G. Stanley Hall.

“The young people of the next and all succeeding generations must be taught the supreme sanctity of parenthood—that the highest profession and privilege they can aspire to is responsible fatherhood and motherhood.”

—C. W. Saleeby.

Solicitude for the Child as a Factor in Social Progress. The eugenic education of children is the real beginning. Parents can give to the little children in the home true ideals of parenthood, wholesome respect for maternity and paternity, training in the control of desires and appetites, a controlling sense of their personal and social responsibility, and true instruction regarding the origin and creation of life.

So to live that their children shall be strong and happy is a motive that a child can appreciate, and it can become the most powerful incentive for hygienic living, for industry, education, for social purity that is positive—noble in thought as well as restrictive in action. Trained thus through childhood, boys and girls will be prepared to meet with high-mindedness and moral stamina the storm and stress of adolescence; their ideals of sweetheart and lover will have a wholesome eugenic prejudice, and they will be prepared[Pg 30] to discuss with dignity, scientific spirit, and reverence this significant phase of their future home life.

There is no essential contradiction between romantic love and eugenics. Indeed, sincere, deep and enduring love of parents for each other and for their children is an essential in a eugenic ideal. A young woman knows a hundred young men, but is in love with only one (or possibly none) because the others do not embody the ideal that she has fashioned. Every young man and woman has such an ideal, perhaps only vaguely defined but certainly felt, with which they are in love, for which they search, and with which they sometimes invest an acquaintance only to discover later their illusion. This ideal is composed of the most alluring qualities and personalities they have known.

What young man would be likely to fall in love with a girl, however pretty, even charming, whom he knew could be the mother only of sickly, peevish, stupid children to inherit his name and perpetuate his family, or who would refuse to assume the burden of motherhood? What normal young woman would be attracted by any “fairy prince”, however romantic, wealthy, handsome, if she were aware that his children, should he have any, would be doomed to early death, weakness, or imbecility, and that she herself would be made a sufferer for life? The widespread tendency of young men and women of to-day to include beauty, vitality, and ability in their romantic ideal is itself sufficient evidence. Young men and women are generally too well balanced to marry simply from eugenic consideration without romantic love, although this is less reprehensible than marriage simply for title or livelihood, for social distinction, or personal creature comfort without consideration for either eugenics or romantic love. The prayer of Hector, as he lifted his little child in his arms in the tower of Troy, while the battle raged without the walls, is the prayer of the parent heart[Pg 31] everywhere, that the child shall be nobler and greater than the father.

The normal biological life for every man and woman is parenthood. The normal social relation between parents is mutual, abiding love. Only through the development of such a love has humanity evolved from the materialistic, individualistic stage of the animal to even the present stage of spiritual life and social relationships.

It is mutual solicitude for the child that places the biological relations of men and women on a wholesome, ethical, and spiritual plane. Historically, marriage and monogamy are the result of children. The social stigma upon illegitimacy is not artificial or unreasonable. It is the deep appreciation by the social experience of humanity that parental responsibility and solicitude is at the very foundation of society; that the selfish, reckless use of this creative power, or a cuckoo-like disregard for the child’s life, is undermining to society as well as to the character of the man, the woman, and their child. The far-sighted perceive, too, that the undermining influence of physical relations without spiritual purpose, of individualism that ignores social responsibilities, of blind, unreasoning following of any impulse, in this, as in any phase of life, is quite as destructive to the man, the woman, and society, even without the penalty of the unwelcome child; that usually the man is more blameworthy than the woman; that both are often the victims of ignorance, lack of ideals, and of early training in responsibility and self-control; and that similar selfish lack of solicitude for their child is equally reprehensible within and without marriage.

The child is the equal creation, responsibility, and satisfaction of both father and mother. The parent who willingly shirks the responsibility for the care of his or her own child is a coward, if not a knave or a[Pg 32] defective. The father who would voluntarily forego his share in the care and companionship of his child, or the mother who would demand this, are equally lacking in parental instinct.

Celibacy, marriage without love, parenthood without marriage, are equally undesirable. But if circumstances require a choice, celibacy is less miserable for the individual and less detrimental to society. It is part of the great social responsibility of parents and social administrators to remove the causes of celibacy by:

1. Providing academic, social, and moral education that prepares young men and women for congenial companionship and for home-making;

2. Making provision for wholesome recreational opportunities and acquaintance, for young men and women of similar intellectual and social interests;

3. Affording the economic opportunity for a family income for young men by their early twenties, through vocational training, regulation of the cost of commodities, direction of labor conditions;

4. Abolishing war, that fiendish Minotaur that not only interferes with Nature’s provision of an equal number of men and women in any generation, but that, more serious still, devours the ablest and strongest of the young men, depriving millions of women of their husbands and their children.

The Meaning and Significance of Eugenics. Eugenics, as defined by Sir Francis Galton, is “the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race and that develop these to their utmost advantage.” Wise men in former ages have perceived something of its possibilities.

Positive eugenics is concerned with whatever will enhance the inborn qualities of a new generation, therefore with social conditions that promote the mating of the physically, mentally, and morally able; with[Pg 33] conditions that improve the quality of the germ cells in the individual; with ideals that develop self-control and the spiritualizing of the instinct of race preservation.

Negative eugenics is concerned with the elimination of hereditary diseases and defects; with the prevention or correction of diseases, defects, poisons, and practices in the parent that have a harmful effect upon the germ cells and the unborn child; with the elimination of social and moral conditions that endanger the life or handicap the progress of unborn generations.

Genetics, the study of the laws of heredity, is the biological foundation of the science of eugenics; ethics and religion are the basis of practical eugenics.

In the past century great impetus was given to eugenic research and ideals by Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. Galton, indeed, coined the word “eugenics” from two Greek words meaning “well-born.” To quote from Galton’s own writings:

“Man is gifted with pity and other kindly feelings; he has also the power of preventing many kinds of suffering. I can conceive it to be within his power to replace Natural Selection by other processes that are more merciful and not less effective. This is precisely the aim of eugenics. Its first object is to check the birthrate of the unfit, instead of allowing them to come into being, though doomed in large numbers to perish prematurely. The second object is the improvement of the race by furthering the productivity of the most fit by early marriages and healthful rearing of their children. Natural Selection rests upon excessive production and wholesale destruction; eugenics on bringing into the world no more individuals than can be properly cared for and those only the best stock.”

Galton devoted his time and his fortune to the investigation of these principles and the propaganda of eugenic ideals. He made extensive studies of family[Pg 34] histories, especially to ascertain what evidence they gave of the inheritance of physical, mental, and moral traits. He organized the Eugenics Education Society, whose leaders include eminent scientists, sociologists, physicians, educators, and under whose auspices the First International Eugenics Congress was held in London in 1912.

Present Knowledge of Heredity. More has been learned about heredity in the past quarter century than in all previous history. Through the inspiration of Galton, extensive studies have been made of family histories in many countries, and not only has the certainty of inheritance been established, but some of the laws of heredity have been formulated. Through the laboratory studies made possible by the improvements in the compound microscope, important discoveries have been made of the physiological processes and the mechanism by which characteristics are inherited. This is the summary of our present knowledge:

Physical and mental characteristics are inherited.

Inheritance is of definite traits, such as eye color, height, musical genius, high or low resistance to a germ disease, for example, tuberculosis. Research work in genetics is at the present time especially concerned with discovering what are the unit characters and how each is transmitted.

Special cells, called germ cells, are the carriers of heredity; these contain the determining factors for physical and mental characteristics. These, like all the other cells of the body, are microscopic in size. The body of the individual is the temple in which the sacred cells of the race are protected.

Inheritance is not directly from the parent but from the germ cells, which may carry characteristics not found in the parent but in some of the other ancestors. An individual does not inherit what his parents are[Pg 35] but what is in the two germ cells, one from the mother, one from the father, that unite to form that individual.

With the union of the two germ cells the inborn characteristics of the individual are determined, “the gate of gifts is closed.” Environment and training may increase the strength, or minimize the force of inborn characteristics, or even suppress some of them, but it cannot add to them, or increase their force beyond their inherent limitations.

Some few characteristics are inherited only through the mother, or only through the father, or are transmitted only to the sons or only to the daughters; most characteristics are not thus limited, but may be transmitted by either parent to either son or daughter.

Acquired characteristics are not inherited. If a man loses his hand in an accident, his descendants cannot inherit one-handedness; if he masters a foreign tongue, his descendants cannot inherit his knowledge of that language.

No disease germ is inherited, in the genetic sense of being conveyed in the special germ cells. A child may be infected with a disease before its birth; this is not, strictly speaking, heredity but congenital (or prenatal) infection. Tuberculosis is sometimes thus conveyed from the mother, and syphilis very frequently when either the mother or the father has this disease even in latent form. What may be inherited is a tendency toward a disease, a weakness of specific organs or tissues, a lack of resistance to a specific disease.

Variations sometimes appear apparently spontaneously, as the result of some accident to the germ plasm, or an unusual combination in the two germ cells; such variations may be inherited.

Some characteristics are apparently persistent, and in the process of inheritance tend to predominate over their complementary characteristics. The former are called dominant, the latter recessive characteristics.[Pg 36] The law by which dominant and recessive traits are inherited was first formulated by Mendel, an Austrian monk, less than half a century ago. Biological research is being devoted at present to discovering what traits of human significance are subject to this Mendelian law, as it is called.

A characteristic found in both parents, or in both families, has a double possibility of appearing in their descendants, and some mental defects and abilities tend to appear with greater force and at an earlier age, in the descendants.

Every individual is born with all the germ cells he will ever possess.

These germ cells are highly susceptible to poisons in the circulation, especially to:

(1) alcohol, even in dilute quantities,

(2) fatigue poisons,

(3) opium, morphine, and similar drugs,

(4) lead and other poisonous metals,

(5) lack of nutrition due to anemic condition of the body.

If a germ cell is thus affected by poison at the time of the uniting of two cells, or during the subsequent development, the child is especially liable to:

(a) serious injury resulting in death before birth;

(b) low vitality resulting in death within a year after birth;

(c) defective development resulting in physical deformity or in mental defect, such as feeble-mindedness or idiocy.

If either parent is infected with syphilis, the germs most frequently attack the developing child and cause death before birth or during the first year; or the germs may attack any tissues, crippling, producing deformities, deafness, blindness, idiocy, manifest either at birth or later in life. If either parent is infected with gonorrhea, the eyes of the child will probably be infected at[Pg 37] birth, and blindness prevented only by immediate use of silver nitrate solution; or the mother may be made incapable of having a child.

Fitness for Parenthood. Even the minimum qualifications for parenthood are various. For the fullest welfare of the child the following qualifications are essential:

Spiritual: a sense of the responsibility of parenthood, love of children; love of harmony and mutual agreement between parents; self-control, unselfishness, patience.

Social: legal marriage, good moral character.

Economic: marketable skill, energy, adaptability; ability of father to earn a comfortable living, potential ability of mother to earn a living, ability to use income economically.

Mental: Maturity, experience, judgment to conduct one’s share of the family and household responsibility, ability to learn; for the mother, knowledge of at least the elements of hygiene, child-care and training, some experience in caring for little children.

Physical: physical and mental soundness; sound heredity, especially freedom from neuropathic taint, alcoholism, tuberculosis, venereal disease (syphilis or gonorrhea); freedom from poisons of alcohol, fatigue, worry, overwork; mother not less than twenty or more than forty-five; father not less than twenty, preferably past twenty-four; maximum vitality and physical energy.

Blood tests recently discovered make possible the diagnosis of tuberculosis and venereal disease in the system, even when no symptoms are obvious. It is estimated that about twenty to thirty per cent. of cases of venereal disease are innocently acquired, through public drinking cups, towels, lavatories, toilets, or by infection of the husband or wife after marriage. Infection is usually acquired through sex immorality.[Pg 38] The certainty of a cure can never be made absolute; the probability requires years of persistent treatment by a responsible physician, not a quack. The man who has “sown his wild oats” has verily sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, and is most liable to have acquired one of these loathsome diseases, habits of drinking, and of self-indulgence. It is dangerous to his wife and children for him to become a father until all of these have been overcome. A woman who contemplates marrying such a man to reform him is inviting disease and destruction upon herself and her children.

Some individuals should never become parents because they carry so serious an hereditary taint which some of their children would probably inherit and carry on. This includes individuals afflicted with the following:

If an individual with a family history that includes one of these taints in hereditary form should marry an individual having a family history with the same taint, some of their children would probably be afflicted with the taint, and others of them would carry it on. Marriage of blood relations, such as cousins, is subject to[Pg 39] this law; it is eugenically permissible, provided the same hereditary defect does not appear in both family histories.

The most advantageous years for parenthood, for the welfare of the children, are between twenty or twenty-five and forty years of age for the mother and past twenty-five years for the father. An interval of two or three years should elapse between the children, to give ample opportunity for the mother to gain reserve vitality and to care adequately for each child.

On the average, four children to a family are required merely to maintain a constant population; families in which the average is less than this are in danger of extinction.

As soon as its far-reaching significance to themselves and to their children is generally perceived by parents and young people, men and women who genuinely love each other will voluntarily give and absolutely require a medical certificate before marriage. Before undertaking the responsibility of parenthood, both mother and father should put themselves into the best possible physical and spiritual condition, and if necessary, go through as thorough a course of training as that of any aspirant for an athletic prize or of any priest for a great spiritual work. The Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindoos, contained special prayers for those about to assume this creative work.

Nature has provided one effective, safe, and ethical method of limiting the birth rate in the family, a method that is entirely in the control of parents. This method is abstinence, except for the end to which nature implanted this instinct,—the creation of a new life. It is conducive to the welfare of the children. This is in no wise harmful to the physical, mental, social, or spiritual well-being of men and women, if both are temperamentally adapted to each other, mutually agreed, and thoroughly honest with each other; if they[Pg 40] have learned to transmute this instinct and energy to other activities; and if their recreations, personal hygiene, and adjustment of daily living are normal and wholesome, not artificially stimulating.

In conclusion, to quote from two English writers:

Children do not grow and develop by any haphazard process. Too often parents have had so little, either of first-hand acquaintance with other children, recollection of their own childhood, or knowledge of the literature of child-study, that they have fumbled in the dark, misunderstanding and experimenting on their own children, without either standards for comparison or principles for guidance.

There is a wealth of material, both technical and popular, available in this “century of the child.” The impetus given to the study of the child by Pestalozzi and Froebel a century ago has gained increasing momentum in Europe and America. Some investigators have made laborious studies of large numbers of children to ascertain average rates and factors of growth or development of some part of the body or some phase of spirit. Others have made painstaking, intensive studies of individual children and have reported the characteristics observed at different ages.

[Pg 42]

The outlines, main features, and basal principles are already defined. A knowledge of these is as essential to the intelligent worker with children as a knowledge of the processes of plant growth and development to the intelligent agriculturist. Many blanks and gaps in our knowledge of child development are yet to be filled. The father, mother, teacher who is sympathetic with child nature, who has the scientific mind for accuracy, definiteness and persistence of observation, has an opportunity to contribute to the common fund of knowledge of child life by making original observations of the child in the home. Hitherto most of the published studies, both of groups and of individuals, have been made by men. Doctor G. Stanley Hall has been the pioneer leader and chief inspirer of the child-study movement in America. Doctor John Dewey’s contributions and inspirations have been both profound and extensive. Madame Montessori is the one woman who has made large contributions.

It should be noted that a science of child-study and development was not possible until the idea of evolution became known and appreciated. Froebel sensed this evolution, as will be noted in reading his “Education of Man”, which was published a quarter of a century before Darwin’s “Origin of Species.”

This phase of psychology—tracing the stages of mental development as an organic process from its simple beginnings in the individual or the race to its maturity in adulthood of the individual or civilization of the race—is the field of genetic psychology.

The intelligent worker with children in the home must be acquainted with what is normal and usual at any stage, in child anatomy, physiology, and psychology. Only with such knowledge is it possible to make intelligent observations of the development of the individual child, and to supply a normal environment and guidance suited to his stage of development.[Pg 43] Such knowledge and preparation can be acquired only through study of the literature of child psychology, and through intensive, first-hand acquaintance with children.

It requires about twenty-five years for nature to bring a human individual from birth to physiological maturity. In the nine months before birth the growth and development is very rapid. All the organs are formed, but their development at birth is immature, especially the development of the nervous system. What is accomplished in these years?

From Birth to Maturity

Note the great differences in increase of different parts of the body.

After twenty-five years there is sometimes a slight increase in height and weight; plasticity is slight; new habits are not readily formed; new ideas not readily accepted. The nervous system is capable of continued development.

There are a few foundation facts and principles that should be summarized before taking up in detail the stages of growth and development.

The child is not a small edition of an adult. His anatomical proportions, his physiological processes, his ways of thought and of thinking, his motives, interests, likes, emotions, methods of expression, are all different from the adult’s; and they are all different at different stages in his development.

The child lives through (recapitulates) in a general way the main stages and order of physical and psychological development that organic life and the race have passed through in the countless ages since life began. Starting as a one-celled creature, he recapitulates in the nine months of embryonic life the[Pg 45] processes of evolution that required millions of years, from the amœba to the higher vertebrates, in the evolution of the species.

At birth the baby is less developed and more plastic than the young of any other creature at its birth. This helplessness and plasticity are due to the incompleteness in development of the nervous system. It is because of this incompleteness that the physical, mental, and spiritual life can be shaped in great measure by environment. It is this incompleteness that provides both the opportunity and the responsibility of parents and guardians.

For normal development there must be both the growth principle and power within the individual, and the growth stimulus and materials supplied by the environment.

The rate and nature of growth and development are influenced by two factors: (1) heredity (race, family); (2) environment (climate, social status, economic resources, city or country, materialistic or idealistic atmosphere, commonplace or cultured, ugly or beautiful, expressive or repressive, guiding or neglectful).

Growth and development are two different processes. Growth is increase in size; development is increase in power of function. This principle holds true for every muscle, every nerve, every special organ, every brain center.

Growth is a vegetative process, dependent upon intake of nutrition and elimination of waste. Development is dependent upon use, which involves the exercise of the organ or system and of the related brain center, and this leads to both (a) the initial use of mind and (b) mental development.

Each organ, each physiological system or process, each mental process, is controlled by its own definite nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. By exercise of the specific organ or system, the corresponding nerve[Pg 46] center is developed; and the development of the nerve center makes possible a more adequate and perfect use of the specific organ or system.

During the growth stage of any part, exercise of the part is not normal but injurious. When sufficient growth has been attained for development to begin, there is an instinctive desire or hunger for exercise of the part. This desire is manifested by the natural, spontaneous activity or interest of the child. For example, during some ten or twelve months the muscles of the legs and back, and corresponding nerve centers in the spinal cord and the brain, are growing. When their growth is attained, these muscles and nerve centers begin to function in the process of standing and walking, and the child makes every effort to walk. To put him on his feet and attempt to teach him before this stage, is to strain unprepared organs, bones, muscles, and nerves. To keep him lying in a vehicle so he cannot exercise when he spontaneously attempts to walk, is to retard or prevent this natural development.

The process of growth and development is not uniform during childhood; neither do all the parts grow and develop at the same time. Growth is periodic and by parts; it is variable for each part or system. There are periods of slow or rapid growth and development at different ages.

Development begins first for the oldest (racially) muscles and parts, and for those that are being used reflexly, that is, arms, legs, trunk, hands, which are known as the fundamental muscles. The finer, accessory muscles and their brain centers do not develop completely until several years after birth.

There are no average children. Every child is somewhat different. In rate of growth, children may normally vary one to two years from the average. In individual children, some factors at any stage will normally be more marked than others. Distinction must[Pg 47] therefore be made between (1) chronological age, (2) physiological age, and (3) psychological age. The standards for (2) and (3) are at present the subject of special researches. Physiological age refers to such factors as dentition, development of bones, height, weight, sex maturity. Psychological age refers to mental ability and maturity.

In some children the hereditary force of a specific characteristic is stronger than in other children. Or the environment of one child gives greater stimulus to an instinct at its nascent (beginning) period, and greater opportunity for its use.

The individual who lives most completely in each stage the life normal to that stage, is best prepared for the succeeding stages of life.

To attempt to hurry a child through this process or to permit an arrest of development in any stage or at any point, is to seriously handicap the child’s normal and complete development. Infant prodigies and infantile youths are both abnormal.

In each stage there are some instincts to be especially fostered, some that need encouragement or stimulation, some that require careful direction into useful channels, some to be ignored as only transitory, and a few that may need inhibiting.

The following group of stages has been prepared as possibly most helpful for guidance of parents and teachers in the home. The transition from one stage to another is gradual.

In so brief a summary as the following, only a few of the most significant items can be presented, and these typical of the average. This is not a form into which every child must be expected to fit. Rather it is a suggestion of the usual, which the individual normal child will approximate in general. It presents a method for recording the development of the individual child.

[Pg 48]

Infancy

Birth to 2-3 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Rapid growth, especially of brain
First dentition
Nervous system rapidly developing
Association fibers developing between spinal centers and brain centers
Bones, nervous system plastic
Rapid heat radiation
Rapid pulse, respiration
Tissues flabby
Low vitality
Motor and sensory development rapid
Motor coördinations developing rapidly
Speech develops

Interest in pure motor activity, and sensory experiences
Thinking exceeds power of expression
All mental processes developing
Curiosity about everything seen, handled, heard
Perceptions crude, few
Unconsciously imitative
Activity an end in itself
Imagination crude, vague
Reasons by association of circumstances

Emotions crude, uncontrolled
Fear of noises and strange objects
Humor in surprise

Social dependence
Little self-control
Obedience
Trust

Early Childhood

2-3 to 6-7 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Rapid growth
Nervous system rapidly developing
Rapid growth of brain until 7 yrs.
Fundamental muscles utilized
Accessory muscles immature

Activity its own end
Experiments in motor control

Greatest sensory development and efficiency
Curiosity, analysis, investigation, experimentation strong
Interest in simple construction
Constructs for use

Thought concrete
Suggestibility
Continued plasticity
Attention flitting
Asks “What?” “Why?”
Memory for words
Æsthetic tastes crude
Frankness
Crude experience and association of ideas[Pg 49]

Vivid, concrete imagination; images distorted
Imitation at its strongest
Imitative dramatic play
Humor in incongruity
Curiosity regarding sex biology
Sex feeling undeveloped
Emotions strong, slight control
Imaginary fears
Self-control weak
Selfish, thoughtless
Respect for parents
Wonder at universe
Obedience
Personification of nature
Conscience begins

Infancy and Early Childhood

Birth to 6 Years

Foster:

Cultivate:

Inhibit, or Overcome:

Reckon with:

[Pg 50]

Later Childhood

6-7 to 9-10 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Foster:

Cultivate:

Inhibit:

Reckon with:

[Pg 51]

Youth

Girls, 9 to 12-14 Years

Boys, 9 to 14-16 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Foster:

Cultivate:

Inhibit:

Reckon with:

[Pg 52]

Adolescence

Girls, 12 to 18 Years

Boys, 13 to 21 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Foster:

Cultivate:

Inhibit:

Reckon with:

[Pg 53]

Children vary naturally, and according to their environment, in the rate of development in use of language. Any effort to hasten the process of talking or vocabulary during the first four or five years is an artificial forcing that is more likely to retard development. The following represents all that should be expected of a normal child.

[Pg 54]

Physical and Mental Growth and Development

[Pg 62]

Prenatal Hygiene. If any baby could supervise the preparation for his own coming, he would not wait until the last few months before his advent, that is, any baby who had even moderate ambition for his comfort, his happiness, and his efficiency.

He would begin by selecting his grandparents, who would be high-minded, religious, abstainers, moderate [Pg 63]in all their habits, industrious, neither wealthy nor poverty-stricken, and who would bring up his father and his mother as members of a family of children in the same spirit and with foresight for his welfare. He would direct, during their childhood and adolescence, the physical régime of his father and mother, which would be simple, natural, regular, chiefly in the open air, with habitual deep breathing and, especially for his mother, exercises and clothing that would develop the most efficient digestion, breathing capacity, back and trunk muscles, steady nerves, reserve vitality. He would guide their education, which would include a minimum of traditional junk, parrotlike mimicry and discipline, and a maximum of real experience, valuable information, and æsthetic appreciation acquired through personal exploring, experimenting, judging, creating, with a discipline that developed self-direction, self-control, and self-reliance.

He would anticipate that his mother and father, with such a heredity and education, would be high-minded above dissipation and triflings, sensible beyond unhygienic habits in food and in dress, well-poised and superior to pettiness and discords, with a radiant love that maintained an atmosphere of joyousness, graciousness, courage. Having chosen each other because they loved each other, his father and mother would live and work and plan because they loved him. Before they invited him to come, they would have a comfortable home settled, so his mother could give her chief attention to him and be free to live much out-of-doors; they would consult their physician and bring themselves to their best vitality, so he might have the best physical constitution; and they would make any necessary sacrifice of their own desires that he might be undisturbed and thus grow steadily and sturdily until his birthday.

Physical motherhood is a natural, normal biological[Pg 64] process. Under a natural, rational régime it should be a happy experience with a minimum of discomfort. The essentials, in brief, of such a régime are:

1. Thorough elimination of the increased amount of waste products, through the skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines.

2. Strong, flexible trunk muscles.

3. Avoidance of fatigue, undue excitement, unhappiness, muscular strain; continence.

4. Simple, nourishing diet, carefully balanced, anti-toxic, rich in minerals, moderate in quantity, with a moderate amount of liquid.

The mother should of course be under the physician’s direction and observation during the entire period.

Clothing. The essentials are freedom and warmth. Maternity clothing need not be slovenly nor too obviously negligée. Elaborateness may better be expressed in the maternity clothes than upon the baby clothes. For dresses and coats a design with fullness at the sides, in the waist and skirt, with revers, and a high waist line, is especially good. The materials should be plain, or with a small, unobtrusive design. Clothing should be ample enough to encourage rather than prevent a slight perspiration, thus facilitating the elimination of waste.

The weight of the clothing should come from the shoulders. This is important in order to prevent any downward pressure upon the internal organs, as well as to allow for much deep breathing. It is possible by having a one-piece union suit, a brassiere for attachment of hose supporters, a combination corset cover and petticoat, and a one-piece dress.

All the clothing should be comfortably loose, especially any neckbands, sleeves, gloves, which may well be a size larger, as there is a slight swelling during this time. No round garters should be worn, as these[Pg 65] impede the circulation in the legs and increase the possibility of varicose veins. The ankles should be well protected, because the blood vessels here are very near the surface and easily chilled, and as the blood returns from the legs to the trunk and internal organs, internal congestion might result from chilling of the lower extremities. Shoes should have low heels to prevent falling and rubber heels to minimize jars.

The corset is a moot question. The woman who has not been accustomed to wearing one is most fortunate now, for she has been developing and training the muscles of the back and trunk, which should be strong and flexible, equal to the special demands made upon them during the last four months and at the birth. If corsets have been the custom, it would be most advisable to discard them three or six months before motherhood is begun, and to give a systematic course of training to these muscles. Some physicians require their patients to discard corsets during this time. Their only possible value is to support the back and the bust, not as support for the abdomen. They may be harmful by crowding the internal organs, pressing any organs out of place, interfering with the fullest deep breathing and internal circulation, keeping the trunk muscles flabby and weak, compressing the breasts; and thereby causing more discomfort to the mother, depriving the baby of sufficient oxygen, making the birth longer and more difficult, and hindering nursing ability. A brassiere or comfortably fitted muslin waist is an adequate bust supporter; or a knitted breast binder is procurable which should be applied loosely enough to cause no compression, which hinders the development of the nursing glands. After the fourth month, the baby rises from the pelvis to the abdomen and the waist increases in size. Ordinary corsets then become especially dangerous. If for any reason a corset is[Pg 66] then worn, it should be a special maternity style, such as the Ferris maternity waist. During the last month or two, it is advisable to discard even this corset, and if any support is necessary, to wear an abdominal supporting band, a knitted, shaped band being especially comfortable.

Food. The careful regulation of the diet and food-taking has vastly much to do with the comfort of the mother and the sturdiness of the baby. All the nourishment that the baby receives is derived from the substances that the mother takes in food and drink, which are digested in her system and conveyed from her circulation to his. It is a mistaken idea that the mother is “eating for two” and needs to increase the quantity. No increase in her normal requirement for protein or fat is considered either needed or desirable during the entire nine months, or any increase in carbohydrates until the last three months. The system cannot use the excess, which thereby only makes a greater tax upon the organs of elimination or clogs the system with poisons and overcrowds the abdominal organs. Abundance of mineral, especially lime, phosphorus, iron, and soda is essential. During the last three months there is an increase of about one fifth in the energy requirements, which is best met by an increase in the carbohydrates not to exceed this proportion. The following table gives the average dietetic needs of women:

For example, for a woman weighing 125 pounds:

[Pg 67]

There is only a fraction of an ounce daily increase in the weight of the baby. A baby weighing 6½ to 7½ pounds at birth is more natural and easier for the mother than a heavy, fat baby, which is produced by overeating, overdrinking, and insufficient exercise.

The toxin-free diet, the quantity at one meal, and the time of meals are matters for careful consideration. During this period there is an increased production of waste, poisonous substances, and gases; at the same time there is often an increased tendency toward constipation. Auto-intoxication consequently results, causing much discomfort from nausea, headaches, dizziness, melancholia, nervousness, irritability. Special care should therefore be taken to select a diet (1)chiefly free from purins, (2)and from stimulants, (3)higher in base-forming than acid-forming elements, (4)with high mineral content, especially lime, and (5)laxative. This is done by omitting, or using very sparingly, meats, coffee, tea, pastry, fried foods, irritating condiments, vinegar; and by including milk, buttermilk made with the Bulgarian tablets, cheese, eggs, nuts, whole-wheat bread, bran bread, green vegetables, salads, fresh and dried fruits, fruit juices, butter, olive oil. Any food that is difficult of digestion, or that produces fermentation or gas, should be omitted.[3]

Enough water should be taken to carry off waste[Pg 68] products but not to unduly increase the body fluids or cause flabbiness of tissues. With the diet recommended, less water drinking will be necessary than otherwise, six glasses a day probably being quite ample. This should be taken at intervals, not more than a small glass at one time, and not less than half an hour from meal times; fruit juices or milk may be taken instead of plain water.

Alcohol, even in dilute quantities, is highly injurious to the delicate nerve cells of the body, and should be avoided, particularly during this and the nursing period. Patent medicines usually contain alcohol.

With a well regulated diet, there is less probability of cravings for unusual or abnormal foods; such cravings may be pampered if for wholesome foods; if absurd or abnormal, they should be ignored.

During the last four months, and especially the last two, it is better to take the food in five meals than in three meals. There is less room in the trunk for the stomach to expand in the movements of digestion, and it may easily crowd uncomfortably upon the heart. The heaviest meal should be taken in the middle of the day, and a light supper two or three hours before bedtime, for adequate digestion and comfortable sleep. During the last month, the daily diet may well include one or two pints of milk in some form, because of its ease in digestion.

Bathing. A daily bath is especially important during this period, because there is so much waste and poison to be eliminated. If the pores of the skin are not kept clean and open, the kidneys (the work of which is now much increased) will be overtaxed, or some of the poison will remain in the system, causing headaches, nausea, and other discomforts. Very cold or very hot baths are equally to be avoided. The latter may cause a miscarriage, especially during the first three months. A woman who is accustomed to a daily cold bath[Pg 69] may continue this as long as there is a good reaction. Surf bathing is inadvisable because of the low temperature and the muscular strain; bathing in quiet waters is quite safe. The daily bath should be warm enough for cleansing (90°-98° F.), followed by a cool sponge or spray for tonic. A salt bath (one quart of sea or coarse salt dissolved in a tub of water) is a good tonic. Two baths daily are permissible, not remaining in the water more than ten minutes. A vigorous rub with bath mitts, a Turkish towel, or coarse damp salt, is a further aid to skin elimination. Vaginal douches should never be used except on the advice of the physician. For sleeplessness, nervousness, congestion of blood in the head, the neutral (96° F.) sitz bath combined with a hot foot bath will promote the necessary equalizing of the circulation.

Exercise. Exercise now has two important purposes: the elimination of waste, and the strengthening of back and abdominal muscles. The precautions are avoidance of fatigue and of sudden or severe strain upon the abdominal muscles that might produce a miscarriage. During the first three months, the placental attachment is relatively insecure and therefore more easily detached. The certainty of motherhood cannot be established until the third or fourth month, although some presumptive symptoms are manifested earlier. The woman who has left motherhood to chance, and who therefore is not preparing for necessary care during these earlier months, is the more liable to a miscarriage through disregard of due precautions.

The ideal for this period would be complete outdoor living, with two miles of walking each day and plenty of light exercise that could be dropped at the approach of fatigue. Such a gypsy-like experience is often removed from usual living conditions. With a little planning, it could often be approached, however. The[Pg 70] investment in such a vacation would yield far richer returns to the baby than an expensive layette, to say nothing of the increased comfort, ease, and happiness of the mother. The extreme antithesis of this ideal would be continuous indoor life with no work to occupy muscles and mind.

The individual mother must plan her environment and her work as nearly as possible to the ideal. Living in the country with good roads has the advantage of outdoors. An outdoor sleeping porch is much to be desired. For indoor sleeping or working, the room should be thoroughly ventilated with a constant current of fresh outdoor air, with the temperature not above 68° F. for working, and from 32° to 60° F. for sleeping. Extra clothing may be worn rather than to keep the windows closed.

A habit of deep breathing of outdoor air for about ten minutes on rising, at bedtime, and at several stated times during the day, will be wonderfully beneficial. The mother is now breathing for two, and the baby needs much oxygen.

Light household work is beneficial. Long standing, lifting, or pulling heavy weights, scrubbing on hands and knees, running up and downstairs, much stooping, working long over a hot stove, the use of a sewing-machine treadle or a washboard, are harmful. If the responsibility of the household work rests upon the mother, she must use her ingenuity to reduce it to its lowest terms of muscular energy.[4]

Walking is the best athletic exercise, two miles a day being desirable. It should be taken in easy stages, stopping to rest when tired, or a part of this distance taken at different times during the day. Golf, tennis, basketball, skating, horseback riding, bicycle riding, swimming, rowing, dancing, surf bathing, long rides[Pg 71] over rough roads, involve the risk of overstrain, and should be omitted.

Special Exercises. Clothing should always be very loose, especially around the waist, and the room should be well ventilated, for these exercises.

Breathing Exercises. These should be taken out of doors if possible; otherwise, at an open window. Breathing should be from the diaphragm. Repeat each exercise three to six times, or until fatigue begins.

1. Standing, hands on lowest margin of ribs, thumbs toward back, fingers few inches apart. Blow the breath out slowly, bending body forward at hips and pressing in gently with the hands to force out the air. Return slowly to upright position, breathing in through the nose gently to utmost capacity. Hold breath ten seconds and repeat exercise.

2. Stand erect. Take a deep breath, rising on balls of feet, extending arms out at side, shoulders high, hands clenched and describing small circles, as though boring. Hold ten seconds, then gently drop arms, blowing out the breath as long as possible.

3. Lying on the back, hold one nostril closed and breathe in slowly and deeply through the other. Hold the breath five or ten seconds, close the second nostril, and breathe out through the first. Repeat, breathing in through the first and holding the second closed; hold the breath, close the first, and breathe out through the second. This is a soothing exercise.

Trunk Exercises. Any one not accustomed to these exercises should consult the physician before beginning them during this period. All exercises should be done slowly, with no jerking movements.

For overcoming constipation, improving the tone, elasticity, and strength of the abdominal muscles.

1. Lie flat on the back, arms at the sides. Raise the right arm slowly, keeping it parallel with the body, describing a half circle until it rests on the bed or floor,[Pg 72] above the head. Repeat with the left arm. Bring each arm slowly back to position. (Figure 2.)

2. Same position. Raise the right foot, keeping the toes pointed forward, bending the knee until it touches the abdomen. Repeat with the left foot. May be repeated ten times or until fatigued. (Figure 1.)

3. Same position. Bend knees; draw the abdominal wall in and out slowly by muscular effort, without the assistance of deep breathing.

4. Same position. Lift the trunk from the floor, resting the weight on shoulders and hips.

5. Sit or stand, hands on hips. Twist the body slowly to the right and slowly return to position. Repeat, twisting to the left.

6. Walk up and down stairs moderately with a springing step, holding the body erect, shoulders straight, chest expanded, mouth closed, weight on balls of feet.

These simplest and easiest exercises may be continued throughout this period or may be commenced at any time.

The following exercises are more strenuous and should be used cautiously during the first three and last two months by those not accustomed to exercise. The physician should be consulted before using them during this time. They are profitably begun six months beforehand and are valuable for ordinary conditions of life.

7. Lie on the back, arms at sides. Raise both arms together, as in Exercise 1. Bring arms back slowly to sides.

8. Same position. Raise the right foot, toes pointed forward, knee straight till leg is at right angles with trunk; hold position ten seconds and lower foot slowly. Repeat with left foot. Raise both feet together. (Figure 2.)

9. Lying flat on back, hands on chest or clasped[Pg 73] behind head, feet held down under a chiffonier or by an attendant, come to sitting position without assistance of hands or elbows. (Figure 4.)

10. Lie on the back, grasp the rounds of the headboard and gently pull the body toward the head of the bed. Push with the feet against the footboard, or other non-resisting surface.

The knee-chest position is a most valuable exercise. It relieves the abdominal pressure, and therefore any swelling in the legs from such pressure, or any prolapsis of internal organs, bearing-down feelings, backache, disturbed pelvic circulation. It may be taken a few minutes at a time, several times a day. Sleeplessness will often be relieved by taking this position for a few minutes and then lying down. Kneel on the floor or other unyielding surface. Lay the side of the face down on this surface, with the shoulder of that side as near the knees as possible, keeping the upper leg from knee to hip at right angles with the floor. Weight may be supported on forearms placed at right angles to the body.

A good posture should always be maintained when sitting or standing; especially avoid letting the chest sink in. Whenever possible in sitting, especially after meals, elevate the feet, thus preventing varicose veins and swelling in the legs.

Sleep. Much sleep is needed. From eight to ten hours’ sleep at night is essential, and a nap or rest in the afternoon, about an hour after the midday meal. By following the régime previously given, undisturbed sleep is likely to be the rule. The mother should sleep alone, and preferably in a room by herself. A little pillow under the small of the back is very comfortable, and during the last four months, an additional pillow under the shoulders.

Teeth, Hair, Eyes. The teeth should have been examined and put in good condition before the beginning[Pg 74] of this period. During the entire time they should be brushed carefully after every meal, and the mouth rinsed with an alkaline wash, such as milk of magnesia or soda bicarbonate. The scalp should be massaged every day during the last two months and the two succeeding months, to prevent the hair falling out. The eyes should be examined three months after the birth.

Prenatal Influences. Life begins when the germ cells unite, and from that time the mother is the guardian of a living, though immature child. By the end of the third month the form and features are complete, though in miniature, the weight is about four ounces and the length about three inches. The study of development before birth is called embryology. So far as scientific research has been able to discover, there are no nerve cells connecting the nervous system of the mother with that of the child. Notwithstanding superstitions and folklore to the contrary, it is scientifically known that she cannot give her child a Greek nose by looking at classic pictures, an ape face through seeing some disagreeable sight, or musical genius by attending concerts. Anatomical form and mental traits are matters of heredity, as previously stated, and these factors are settled forever when the germ cells unite. The sex is also determined at that time, apparently depending upon the sex-determining factors in the germ cells. Hundreds of theories (such as the diet or the condition of the parents) have been suggested for influencing the sex of the child, but none of these is as yet proven true, and certainly no such influence can have any effect after the germ cells have united. “Birthmarks,” such as red or blue spots, are probably due to some interference with the blood supply during development.

The mother is influencing the child during the entire nine months, through the blood supply. If she indulges in fear, anger, melancholy (dark emotions that develop [Pg 75]poison in the blood), if she over-eats, or takes alcohol, if she neglects deep breathing, daily bathing, elimination, exercise, she is impoverishing and poisoning the blood supply, and the quality of her child’s bodily and mental characteristics will suffer. If she lives a wholesome life, following a régime that continuously eliminates poisons and gives abundant nourishment and oxygen, with the cultivation of peace, cheer, courage, joy (emotions that promote good circulation and a wholesome blood stream), she is providing good nourishment and enhancing the quality of her child’s life.

It is for the comfort of the mother and for the welfare and beauty of the child that the mother should be sacredly reserved for her work during this and the nursing period.

A normal woman whose physical life through her childhood and adolescence has been well regulated should have an easy experience. A certain amount of discomfort and mental depression is to be accepted as a matter of course, but the greater care now given to physical hygiene would naturally increase health and vitality. Concerts, plays, lectures, and social gatherings (except where these would involve crowds and ill-ventilated, overheated rooms), reading, music, play, should all be part of her life during this time. The joy of anticipation gives the singing heart and makes this a time of beatitude, of weaving of dreams such as no other experience in life can give.

The preparation of the nursery and the baby clothes is part of the joyous experience. This may well begin early, that it may proceed leisurely, without sense of haste, and with its full measure of satisfaction. Simplicity, cleanliness, economy in care, daintiness, are the keynotes.

The Nursery. Room. It is desirable that the baby should have a room alone. If this is not possible, his[Pg 76] room should be equipped for the nursery, and only the mother or nurse should sleep in the same room. Sunny exposure is essential. Second floor is preferable, for dryness, and freedom from cats and dogs. A covered, sunny veranda for outdoor sleeping is most desirable. The room should be ventilated from two sides, and preferably with open fireplace.

Floor. Washable, either painted, oiled or waxed, never carpeted. Small size washable rugs.

Walls. Washable, either painted or covered with Sanitas, at least to wainscot four feet high. Soft, plain, neutral tone; buff, warm gray or medium green.

Curtains. Both light and dark shades; sheer, washable curtains, plain or figured scrim; no heavy window draperies or portières.

Heating. Preferably hot-water heater, with open fireplace for occasions. Steam and hot-air systems lack a sufficient amount of moisture, and are subject to sudden changes in temperature. Gas or kerosene stoves consume the oxygen and should not be used in the nursery. Coal stoves should be carefully watched to avoid poisonous gases from imperfect combustion, or sudden changes in temperature. Large open basins of fresh water should be kept in the room in winter, to supply humidity.

Lighting. A dim, shaded light for night use, lit only when needed. Nursery should be dark at night; daylight soft but not darkened, during first two weeks; ordinary lighting thereafter during waking hours, softened but not dark during daytime sleep.

Chiffonier for clothes and toilet equipment

Low chair or rocker without arms

Basket or bassinet for first four or six months, with stand; high bassinet stands are now procurable

[Pg 77]

Iron or brass crib, high sides, plain round tubing without ornamentation, narrow spaces between bars, one side to be lowered

High folding screen with detachable, washable covering for wings; a firm-standing clotheshorse four feet high answers also for a clothes rack; covering of muslin, cheesecloth, or china silk, attached with tapes when needed

Nursery table for dressing, with plain, round legs and a six-inch ledge securely screwed on; edges and corners of ledge preferably rounded. An ordinary kitchen table with drawer answers very well. A carpenter can make and attach the ledge.

One or two small low tables, with rounded legs, for bathtub and bath accessories

Folding tables economize space. Firm, round tables can be used later for the child’s dining and play.

For bassinet: Four-fold cotton blanket or table felting as mattress; or 6-inch pad filled with clean silk floss, hair, straw, or chaff

3 absorbent pads, quilted or of table felting

4 to 6 sheets, cotton for summer, soft outing flannel (all cotton) for winter

1 or 2 knitted afghans, or blankets of eiderdown or three-quarter wool

For crib: Hair or silk floss mattress; for economy, clean straw may be used.

2 absorbent pads

4 to 6 sheets, cotton or outing flannel

1 or 2 knitted spreads, or eiderdown quilts or three-quarter wool blankets

1 or 2 piqué or dimity counterpanes

Papricloth nursery blankets, or light-weight rubber sheeting, to protect mattresses

2 pads of hair or straw ½ inch thick, 9 × 12 inches

3 to 6 cotton slips for pads

6 to 12 square or triangular pads, 12-inch size, quilted, stockinet, or table felting

1 rubber lap protector, detachable piqué or flannel slips

[Pg 78]

1 yard dark green sateen for bassinet canopy

2-3 yards cheesecloth, dimity, or china silk for one end and side of crib

50 yards cheesecloth, six to ten cents a yard, for diapers, face cloths

3 sizes of safety pins with safety fasteners

Nursery scales, common beam type, not spring type commonly sold for nursery, which are difficult to read and unreliable

Bathtub, enamel or tin most practicable. Rubber is soft and adaptable, but soon outgrown, and baby cannot kick or splash so well. After five or six months, the baby may be bathed in the large bathtub.

Room thermometer, Fahrenheit

Bath thermometer, Fahrenheit; red or blue indicator easier to read than mercury

1 or 2 small white enamel hand basins, one of these kept exclusively for diapering

1 largest size white enamel or agate bucket with cover, for diapers

1 2-quart pitcher

1 4-quart pitcher

1 3-ounce package lysol

1 pound boracic acid (powder)

1 pound powdered borax

Small hand scrub brush

Small hot-water bottle or thermophore

Smallest size china or enamel cuspidor

Nurse’s apron with bib

Bath apron of knitted goods, stockinet, or heavy Turkish toweling

Light-weight detachable rubber sheeting apron to wear under bath and nursery aprons

6 wash cloths, 8-inch square, of soft old table linen, stockinet, knitted, or four-fold cheesecloth

2 largest size soft Turkish bath towels

2 medium, soft linen towels

2 soft face towels, of old table linen or toweling

Package tissue paper napkins

[Pg 79]

Wooden box with hinged cover, or enamel tray, for bath accessories, as follows:

Baby Carriage. High; not less than 14 inches wide, and 28 inches long, inside measurements; wood body preferable to reed or rattan (latter should be kept free from dust by frequent cleaning); detachable, washable covering to upholstery; good springs, brake, rubber tires; porous hood with lining dark green, brown, or gray to protect eyes (never white), ventilated by holes near top or by side curtains; ample drop for feet when baby is sitting up; reversible body or handles desirable.

Baby Pen. The nursery table or crib will answer until the sitting stage, at five or six months, and the crib until the creeping or climbing stage, at seven or[Pg 80] nine months. A pen four to six feet square gives room for tumbling and creeping. It should have a wood bottom, preferably of slats loosely joined (for flexibility). Raised six inches above the floor, to escape drafts; sides made of slats or plain round rods 4 inches apart, 2½ feet high; edges rounded; clean detached quilt or table felting over floor. Sides may be hinged to fold away. A large packing box, sides padded, raised on 6-inch blocks, may be used for economy. The light-weight pens, resting on the floor, usually found in the shops, are drafty and inadvisable.

Harmful Equipment. The following have no place in a baby welfare nursery:

All unsanitary germ holders, such as sponge, powder puff, basket trimmings, open or porous toilet basket, pacifier, veil.

Rubber or other waterproof diapers, because they are unavoidably heating and irritating; feathers, because too heating; linen sheets, which are cold and chilling.

Pinning bands or swaddling clothes, which prevent the activity so essential for growth.

Cradles or rocking bassinets, which are injurious to the nerves.

Baby-walkers, because they keep the baby too long on his feet and legs when he needs the intermittent rest of lying down while learning to walk; they retard his confidence in walking alone, and are a cause of dangerous falls.

Low go-carts and sulkies, which keep the baby in the low strata of dust and germ-laden air, and which are frequently badly proportioned for good posture.

Soothing syrups, patent medicines, paregoric, whiskey, brandy; they are all poisonous.

Patent artificial foods; they are expensive and an inefficient makeshift.

[Pg 81]

Clothing List for First Six Months.

[Pg 82]

Knitted binders are more elastic than flannel.

Cotton bird’s-eye, or cheap outing flannel diapering is warmer and more absorbent than linen or canton flannel; stockinet is best.

Cotton material for slips, and lace or embroidery for trimmings, should be very soft.

Viyella flannel, which is half wool and non-shrinking, is most satisfactory; loosely woven flannel, half wool, with silk or cotton, is soft, shrinks little, and is warmer than heavy, close weaves.

Outing or Shaker flannel is all cotton; the soft nap is highly inflammable.

Crêpe, crepon, and woolens, should be shrunk before making.

Knitted shawls, jackets, and quilts are warmer and lighter than woven fabrics; avoid colors unless guaranteed non-fading.

For the knitted (ready-made) shirts, some authorities prefer all cotton, others part wool. All wool is never advisable, as the baby’s skin is very sensitive, and furthermore, all wool shrinks badly. For most babies, under average conditions, one-quarter wool, three-quarters cotton or silk is advised. In very warm weather, all cotton is better. In very cold climates, half or three-quarters wool may be advisable. Silk has no special advantage over cotton. Babies with very delicate skin, eczema, or any rash should never have wool next the skin. Some manufacturers now make part wool knitted underwear, having only the cotton thread next the skin, wool outside.

The binder is worn only two or three weeks, as a protector to the navel until it is healed. It should be fastened comfortably, not tight. With delicate babies or those out of doors in cold weather, a band with shoulder straps may be worn as a substitute during the first year, although this is unnecessary with a double-breasted shirt. The Vanta binders and shirts (double-breasted), [Pg 83]fastening with twistless tape instead of buttons, are especially satisfactory.

Making. Preparation of the baby clothes should be a joy and not a worry or burden. Let them be simple, moderate in quantity.

The kimono or raglan sleeve gowns, wrappers, and coats are much easier to put on and off than the set-in sleeve. By liberal measure under the shoulders, the sleeve will not pull out; a gathering string at the cuff for little babies will keep the hand from slipping out.

All seams should be flat.

Seams on woolen garments should be felled or edges featherstitched flat. Armhole and neck of flannel garments should be covered with soft seam-binding or turned back ¼ inch and raw edge stitched down or featherstitched; never turn under, as this makes a ridge. At hem of flannel petticoat, raw edge need not be turned in but may be featherstitched flat.

Sleeves may be turned back in a 2-inch hem for first months.

Edge of dress sleeves and neck may be finished with a ⅛-inch hem with featherstitching, or a narrow Armenian or val lace, or soft batiste embroidery, whipped on; or twistless tape or wash ribbon ¼ to ½ inch wide, may be run through facing or beading at neck and one or two inches from edge of sleeve.

Fine gathers or tucks may be made in the front and back of slips to form a yoke; these may be taken out later as the baby grows.

Beading, or buttonholed eyelets two inches apart, for wash ribbon sash, may be made in dresses, thus forming a yoke; leave garment loose two inches each side of under-arm seam.

Maximum length allowable for dresses and petticoats, 27 inches; minimum, 22 inches; hems, 1 to 3 inches.

Neckbands, 9½ inches at birth to 10 inches at 6 months.

[Pg 84]

Sleeve bands should be 8 to 12 inches long.

Average length of infant, neck to soles, at birth, is 16 inches; at 6 months, 24 inches.

Set-in sleeves, small cuffs, small neckband, tiny buttons, make dressing difficult. Gathering string of twistless tape or ribbon, with beading, at sleeves and neck, are recommended, or ample neckbands.

Kohinoor snappers are preferable to buttons, using care in laundering to prevent bending. If sewed on to linen tape, which can be used as a facing for material, there is less strain on goods.

Short Clothes. Clothes are usually shortened at four months in summer or six months in winter, keeping about the same models.

Rompers are convenient after creeping begins. The English use diaper drawers knitted of soft wool.

Leather moccasins, made after the Indian model, with seams outside, are the best footgear until the walking stage, at twelve to fifteen months.

[Pg 85]

The baby is a unity of body, mind, and soul, and these cannot be separated in his actual life. During every minute of his care, in every detail, his whole nature is being influenced and his character shaped. It is only for convenience of discussion that the physical régime is separated from the rest of his care.

The régime here outlined is for normal, well babies, for their first year or two. Delicate, feeble, or sickly infants must receive special care, under the physician’s directions, in their feeding, bathing, clothing, and outdoor living.

There are only a few fundamental principles, but these are to be practiced with conscientious thoroughness by every one who has anything to do with the child. It is the little details in the routine of his daily life that produce vigor or weakness. Errors in his care now easily cost his life; or apparently[Pg 86] they may not harm him now but will be paid for in suffering, deformities, or weakness in childhood or adulthood. The woman who has this responsibility needs special preparation in self-sacrifice, self-control, gentleness, regularity, thoroughness, and accuracy in little details. She should be in good health, free from any contagious disease.

Fundamental Principles.

1. Regularity, particularly in feeding, sleep, stools

2. Cleanliness of baby, food, clothing, utensils, toys, nursery

3. Fresh air and sunshine, Nature’s great disinfectants and vitalizers

4. Gradual, moderate changes in temperatures, clothing, food, régime

5. Quiet, because the brain and nervous system are yet incomplete in their development, and are very sensitive; the maximum of sleep, with little stimulation while awake. The brain grows as much during the first year as during all the rest of life.

6. Gentleness in handling, to prevent any curvature or misshaping of the soft bones, or shocks to the nerves

7. Moderate warmth, which avoids either chilling or coddling

8. Freedom of movement, for only thus can body and mind normally develop

9. Training in self-control, which can begin the first day and needs daily attention

10. Mothering, cuddling, fondling, regularly every day, before feeding, at bath or dressing times, an hour previous to bedtime

11. Holding and Lifting. The whole length of the spine and the weight of the head must be well supported until the baby is strong enough, at six or seven months of age, to support these himself. In lifting a young baby, the left hand and arm are slipped under the head, neck, and upper back, the right hand under the lower back. He may be carried in one arm by supporting the head in the crook of the elbow and supporting[Pg 87] the entire length of the back with the forearm, wrist, and hand. If held in an upright position at this early age, the wobbly head should always be supported. Never lift a baby or little child by his arms.

Daily Régime. The following schedule is in general typical for the first year. It will vary somewhat with the age of the baby, the climate and season. In varying from this schedule, note that the following factors are important and to be observed strictly:

1. Regularity in feeding

2. Interval of one hour after a feeding before bath

3. Interval of one hour between feeding and fruit juice

4. Interval of twenty to thirty minutes between feeding or water and urinating; this interval should be observed for the individual child, that the habit of control (and the saving of wet diapers) may be established as early as possible

5. Regular time for stools; by beginning the week after birth this can be early established, and much unnecessary work saved

6. Regular time for the bath, scheduled for mid-morning or for evening, according to which time is found to agree best with the baby

7. Regular times for play, kicking, cuddling

8. Regular time for weighing, that conditions may be the same

9. Note that in cool weather the baby should not be put outdoors until one hour after the bath; and that an oil rub may be given instead of the cool sponge at night

A daily schedule card is of assistance in maintaining regularity, noting new developments or unusual conditions. It is advisable to record it at least once a week, on the day for the weekly weighing.

[Pg 88]

Typical Schedule

Conditions. Season: June Age of Baby: Four Months

Clothing. The designs previously suggested for the baby clothes (page 83) are adapted to ease in dressing,[Pg 89] laundering, making, and to freedom of movement. With these, the baby need be turned only once in dressing, or not at all, if the dress is fastened in front. Use only flat, protected safety pins, no common, straight, or ridged pins. With tapes and snappers, pins may be eliminated.

It is much easier and more comfortable to dress and change a baby on the nursery table than on a low bed or the lap.

The clothes should be put on and off over the feet, not over the head.

The clothing should be changed completely at the morning bath and at night. The day outfit is the same as the night during the first three months. Later the day slip is worn, as the baby is awake longer. The nightgown may be of Viyella flannel, the petticoat then being unnecessary, except with the temperature below 40°-50° F.

Overdressing, like overfeeding, is a common and serious mistake. If the baby’s skin is moist to the touch, he is overwarmly dressed and thereby made highly susceptible to “colds” and pneumonia. If his feet are cold, skin “goose-fleshed”, and lips blue, he needs more clothing. With a room temperature of 68°-70° F., duly humidified, a baby four months or over usually needs only a diaper, cotton or quarter-wool double-breasted shirt, flannel petticoat and cotton slip. The binder is needed only until the navel heals,—about three weeks. It should be loosely applied, fastened by tapes rather than by pins or sewing. If applied tightly or worn longer it hinders the development of the trunk muscles, interferes with digestion and breathing, and, contrary to superstition, will not prevent but may cause rupture. For babies under four months or with a room temperature below 68° F. a wrapper, sweater, or sack should be added. The cotton petticoat is only for ornamental purposes with fine slips.

[Pg 90]

On warm summer days (over 72° F.) he may dispense with the petticoat. In very hot weather, also, substitute a cotton, half-sleeve vest for the long-sleeved shirt, or after three months dispense with all but the diaper while awake, adding a cotton slip during naps, and a cotton shirt at night.

For outdoors, he should not be bundled until the minute before he departs. A thin cap of cotton, linen, or silk may be worn in warm weather (or none at all after three months) and a double one for winter, not thick enough to cause perspiration. For the first twelve months a kimono-sleeved coat, with drawstrings at shoulder and wrist, will provide protection, with the blankets, for cold weather. The nightgown pattern may be used to make a sleeping bag of eiderdown, broadcloth, or flannel. This allows much more freedom than the usual type of sleeping bag, and is better ventilated. The hood should be of lighter fabric, knitted or of flannel, broadcloth, cashmere; eiderdown or angora is overheating.

Stockings and booties ordinarily are not needed during the first year except when the baby is kicking and creeping about with a temperature below 68° F., or for appearance when he is taken out in arms. See that the feet are warm, but not hot or moist. Stockings are always coming off or getting wet from the diaper; they keep the feet perspiring, making them tender and increasing the possibility of colds. When worn, they should be of cotton, or in very cold weather, one quarter or one half wool; all wool are overheating and shrink badly. When the baby begins standing or creeping, the leather Indian moccasins may be used. Other baby shoes on the market have many faults,—tightness across toes and instep, seams turned inside, non-porous patent leather; slippery, stiff, or rough soles; they produce only discomfort at the time and are productive of callouses, corns, bunions, and misshaped[Pg 91] feet. At twelve or fifteen months a heavier-soled Indian moccasin may be worn or sandals with flexible, corrugated soles, roomy at the toes, shaped like the foot, right and left, soft, porous (not patent) leather, perfectly smooth inside, using gaiters or leggings with these for out-of-doors in damp or cold weather.

Diapering. Reduce the number of wet and soiled diapers by training.

Begin training at one week of age.

Hold a small (warmed) cuspidor firmly in the lap.

Hold the baby above this, the legs extended in the hands, back resting against the mother’s chest.

Do this at regular time for stool, early morning or late afternoon.

The use of a suppository for a few days will assist; use a little roll of soft, clean paper dipped in liquid vaseline.

Note on daily record the interval between feeding or drinking, and urinating (20 to 30 minutes).

Hold the baby for urinating at these regular times when awake and before beginning the bath.

In a few months he will learn to control the bladder as well as the bowels for these times, when awake.

At eight or ten months the baby may be supported on the toilet seat, by using the baby’s detachable toilet chair now manufactured. A nursery chair for this purpose is not advised. They are usually wrongly proportioned and constructed; and the child is usually left alone to sit for half an hour or more, thereby inducing local irritation, deferred action, prolapsis of the rectum through straining, or bad habits. The mother or nurse should always stay with the child, and the least possible time should be permitted.

Change the diaper as soon as the baby wakes or immediately, if it becomes wet while he is awake. (The urine is salty, sometimes acid, and always irritating.)

[Pg 92]

Before removing diaper, have at hand everything needed, viz.:

Lay the baby on the nursery table, on a Turkish towel.

If pins are used, put into blanket at right hand, removed from baby’s reach.

Remove the diaper and drop it into bucket.

Wash baby clean and pat dry, especially in creases.

Use powder very sparingly or not at all.

Use albolene or zinc ointment for chafed places.

Put on dry diaper.

Leave baby in safe position while putting away utensils.

Never use a diaper a second time without washing; the acid and salty urine deposit will cause chafing.

Avoid pulling tight about the waist; the pelvic bones are now only cartilage, easily misshaped; if pelvis is narrowed in girls, childbirth will be made more difficult for them.

Avoid tightness in front, especially for boys, as this will produce irritation.

Avoid much thickness between the legs; it will cause bow legs.

Never use rubber or other waterproof diapers; they are overheating and may cause bad habits.

A small pad of cotton batting folded into sterilized cheesecloth, or a double fold of Turkish toweling or stockinet placed in the diaper will absorb moisture and avoid the extra thickness of a heavy diaper; this pad may be burned if soiled.

[Pg 93]

A quilted or stockinet pad placed between the diaper and petticoat will prevent drenching of clothes while asleep.

If diaper is fastened to shirt, make sure of ample length; avoid any pull on shirt or diaper.

Throw water from basin into toilet or slop bucket, not into lavatory.

Wash out cloth, disposing of water in same way; or put cloth into diaper bucket.

If diaper is soiled, flush off in toilet before putting to soak.

Wash hands thoroughly in the special basin, with soap and water, after changing diaper.

If marked congestion of genitals, or a discharge appears, take special care to disinfect hands and burn cloths and diapers. Report the condition at once to the physician; these symptoms may indicate a serious disease.

Never let a child use a public toilet without placing paper or cloth over the seat; children’s detachable seats may be purchased that can be carried in traveling.

Laundering. Baby clothes should be washed with a mild white soap, such as Ivory, and thoroughly rinsed. Diapers require special care. They should be thoroughly boiled and rinsed. Laundry soap, soda, or bluing should not be used, but Ivory soap, with borax or ammonia if necessary. Dry in sun if possible. Ironing is not necessary.

Boiling, outdoor sunshine, and pressing with a hot iron, are all sterilizing processes.

Starch is never to be used in baby clothes, which should always be soft and non-irritating.

For woolens, use warm water; add soap in solution, not rubbing on clothes; add one teaspoonful of borax or ammonia per gallon of water, if very soiled. Squeeze, or wash with vacuum washer; do not rub, but use hand brush on very soiled places. Squeeze[Pg 94] or press without twisting. Rinse through two waters, same temperature as the first. A teaspoonful of glycerine per gallon of water, added to the last rinsing water, preserves softness.

Dry at once by moderate heat; avoid freezing or extreme heat. Stretch into shape, and lay on frames or towels to dry, turning once or twice. If pressing is desired, use a moderately hot iron. Cheesecloth between iron and fabric preserves softness.

Bathing.

In warm weather an additional sponge bath at night (same as lower temperature of morning) is advisable.

In hot weather give two or three sponge baths 70° to 90° F., according to age, in addition.

In cold weather, an oil rub at night may be given instead of sponge[7] bath.

Temperature for bath is always to be regulated by bath thermometer. Changes to be gradual, by 1° F., from day to day.

Until sixth or eighth month, tub bath 98° to 100° F., followed by cool. Then reduce 1° a fortnight, to 90° F.

After second week, a dash of cool water (90° F.) applied by hand to back (begin at lower end), chest and buttocks. At two months lower by 2° F. and apply with wash cloth; lower 2° F. each month to 80° F., so long as baby reacts well—skin rosy and warm, not blue lips, goose flesh, cold feet.

[Pg 95]

Cool water may be added slowly while baby is in tub, but not hot water.

Giving the Bath. Before beginning to undress the baby, have everything ready, and just before undressing the baby, wash the hands thoroughly.

Costume: wash dress, sleeves to elbow, bib apron, bath apron.

Room: no drafts; temperature about 70° F. (65°-72°).

Equipment: Clean tub or basin filled with bath water; enamel, tin, or rubber tub may be used; after six months, large tub may be used. Heavy bath towel may be placed in bottom of tub.

Prepare tray with toilet articles and rolled gauze.[8]

Bath thermometer; supply of hot and cold water.

Fresh wash cloths for face and body, kept only for baby.

Soft face towel; two large bath towels spread on nursery table.

Laid out in order for dressing; dry, warm clothes, petticoat placed inside of dress; wrapper or shawl.

Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for undressing, exercises, bathing, dressing.

Allow five to ten minutes for rubbing and exercise.

Allow two to ten minutes for clearing away after bath.

Undress the baby on the nursery table; have a large, warm, Turkish towel under him; leave the diaper on, unpinned, until put into tub.

Rubbing. ½ minute to 2 minutes. Use only the hand until 9-12 months.

Hands warmed; anoint with cold cream or cocoa butter, if rough.

Give 2 to 6 long strokes, each arm and leg, beginning at extremity and rubbing towards heart;

[Pg 96]

4 to 6 long stokes down back;

4 to 6 long stokes across chest;

4 to 6 long strokes on abdomen, gently, beginning at lower right, and ending at lower left;

2 to 4 strokes on ribs, from back to front.

Exercises. 3 to 10 minutes. (Begin at one month, see page 112.) Fill tub to depth covering abdomen of baby; note temperature with thermometer.

Wrap the towel around the baby and put on cuspidor to urinate. Keep towel around the baby until ready for the tub. Ears, eyes, and head are washed before going in the tub; also the buttocks, if soiled, using the diaper basin and cloth, not the bath water.

Ears. Use sterilized cheesecloth or old soft muslin squares, little or no soap.

Use warm water from tub.

Wash carefully in all creases and behind the ears; let no dirt remain.

Apply albolene or liquid vaseline for scurf.

Never use a pointed instrument; “never put anything smaller than your elbow in the ear.”

Put soiled gauze in tissue paper receptacle.

Nose. Clean each nostril with a fresh cheesecloth square rolled to a point.

Dip the gauze in the liquid vaseline or albolene, and then push gauze gently into the nostril and twist around, until nostril is clean.

Never dip the gauze a second time into the oil; put used gauze into tissue paper receptacle.

If the nose accumulates dirt or mucus during the day, repeat.

Eyes. Use a fresh square of sterilized cheesecloth for each eye.

Wet the gauze in the weak boric solution (2 per cent.), and squeeze a drop into the corner of the eye.

Wash eyelids gently, toward outer corner, and carefully remove dirt or secretion.

[Pg 97]

Never put gauze in solution a second time; put gauze into tissue paper receptacle.

If eyelids are sticky or with slight secretion, anoint with vaseline, avoiding eyes.

Repeat boric wash at night, or at hourly intervals, if eyelids are inflamed.

Report severe redness or discharge to physician immediately.

Head. Use face cloth, soap, water from tub.

Soap wet cloth and rub over head, avoiding pressure over fontanel or getting soapy water in eyes.

If head has scurf, anoint at night with vaseline, olive oil, or fresh lard, and put on a thin muslin cap.

Never use a comb or harsh rubbing.

Body Bath. Note temperature of water and modify with supply at hand to exact degree. Place the baby in the tub, supporting the head and upper back with left hand. Baby may be lowered in the towel, if afraid.

If giving only sponge bath, hold head face upward over basin to rinse, and wash and dry each part of body separately.

Rinse the head several times very thoroughly with cloth.

Wash the body gently; use a little soap two or three times a week.

Wash under arms, in creases of neck, thighs, fingers, and toes; turn baby over and wash the back.

After six months, baby may splash or attempt swimming for one to four minutes.

Lift baby on to bath apron and give cool sponge very quickly.

Lay baby on table and wrap in dry Turkish towel.

Wipe face and ears with soft face towel; pat body dry with towel. Dry the head thoroughly.

Do not rub with towel before ten months.

Dry carefully under arms, in creases of neck, thighs, knees, fingers, and toes.

[Pg 98]

Remove wet towel.

In warm weather, after two months, allow an air bath one to three minutes, patting or gently rubbing skin with the hand.

Avoid the use of powder, except in hot weather, in creases, for fat babies; powder clogs the pores.

Put zinc ointment or albolene on chafed places.

If there is any bulging of the umbilicus, put two strips of surgeon’s plaster across, to hold in place and prevent rupture.

During first four to six weeks, gently draw back foreskin in boys and cleanse with boric acid; wash genitals of girls with boric solution; apply vaseline. Later, general bathing is usually sufficient, and special attention is not desirable.

Dress with dry, warm clothes; brush hair; put on wrapper or shawl.

Cleaning Room. Empty tub, scrub, dry thoroughly, put away.

Put toilet articles carefully away from dust.

Remove soiled clothes.

Wrap soiled gauze in paper receiver and burn.

Leave room in order; lower temperature to 68°-70° F.

Avoid. Washing the mouth; the saliva keeps it naturally clean; the delicate membrane is easily injured.

Getting soapy water in eyes.

Removing wax from ears with instruments; soft wax is needed; hard wax may be softened with a few drops of olive oil or liquid vaseline.

Special washing of genitals after six weeks unless hard secretion develops, which should be softened and removed with olive oil or liquid vaseline. The usual daily bath and washing when diapering will cleanse sufficiently; further attention may lead to irritation or to bad habits. Unusual redness or secretion or[Pg 99] adhesions should be immediately reported to the physician. Circumcision may be needed. Never let the child touch these parts.

Opening of doors, or other sources of draft, during bath.

Bathroom too warm—above 72° F.

Sudden change to cool temperature after bath; or taking outdoors in less than an hour after bath, in cold weather.

Public bathtub, as in hotel; infection is possible.

At any time putting the fingers into the baby’s mouth unless necessary, and then only after thorough washing.

Care of Nursery. Watch the temperature, humidity, and ventilation; keep the room well sunned.

Air the room and bedding thoroughly with a strong air current from ten to thirty minutes twice a day, while baby is out of the room.

Keep clothing, towels, bedding, and furniture orderly and clean.

Drying of clothing and bedding, or cooking, should not be done here.

When baby is creeping or walking, take special care that pins, needles, scissors, matches, and other small objects are not on floor or in reach.

Clean daily while baby is out of room; dust is the baby’s worst enemy.

Dust-raisers, such as corn or whisk brooms, feather or dry cloth dusters, are not to be used.

Carved woodwork or furniture, bric-a-brac or other dust catchers are out of place in the nursery.

Use a vacuum cleaner, dustless mop, oiled or damp dusting cloths; for toys, use a clean damp cloth.

Wipe floor, window-sills, furniture and toys, and vacuum-clean rugs.

Weekly Cleaning. Vacuum-clean rugs, floor, moldings, ledges, and walls.

Hang rugs out of doors from one to three hours.

[Pg 100]

Wash or wax floor; wash window-sills, doors, picture frames.

Hang fresh window curtains, screen curtains, crib draperies.

Wash bassinet canopy; brush bassinet thoroughly outdoors.

Clean carriage frame with vacuum, brush, and damp cloth.

Feeding. The kinds of food, quantity, intervals, and times of feeding are important.

The only natural and adequate food is mother’s milk. No thoroughly satisfying substitute has ever been found, or is likely to be. Mother’s milk has the following advantages:

1. It is germicidal—it contains no harmful bacteria, and it has elements which destroy disease germs in the baby. The babies that are nursed have a special protection against such diseases as influenza, whooping-cough, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria.

2. It is always clean, and therefore greatly reduces the possibility of diarrhea. Only one breast-fed baby dies to ten bottle-fed babies.

3. It does not sour.

4. It requires no time for preparation or care of bottles.

5. It is always ready.

6. It is balanced in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, for the baby’s needs, and the proportion of these elements changes with his development.

7. It is in fine, soft curds, adapted to the baby’s stomach and digestion.

8. It contains vitamines, the living, organic principles essential to growth, and found only in fresh or slightly cooked foods.

9. It has growth-producing properties found in no substitute. In a study made not long since of 100,000 French soldiers, it was found that the group of those[Pg 101] who in their infancy had been nursed for six months averaged heavier and taller than those nursed only three months; the group nursed nine months likewise exceeded in height and stature those nursed only six months. Similar phenomena have been noted by many observers.

10. It produces better teeth, less subject to decay, both first and second set.

11. Nursing her baby promotes the return of pelvic organs to their normal condition, and thus promotes the mother’s comfort, shapeliness and health.

12. It fosters her love for her baby, and the baby’s love for her.

Patent baby foods are usually either some form of dried or condensed milk, or a dextrinized cereal. The constituents having been subjected to a high temperature, the vitamines have been destroyed; there are frequent cases of scurvy among babies so fed. These preparations usually contain a high percentage of starch or sugar, with an insufficiency of proteins, fats, and minerals; this produces plump babies that look flourishing in pictures, but that are lacking in solid muscles, bone and nerve tissue, and are subject to rickets, With little resistance for pneumonia or other germ diseases. Patent baby foods, condensed or powdered milk, are the last makeshift.

If artificial feeding becomes necessary, clean cow’s milk is the best substitute. Cow’s milk is made for the calf, whose stomach and digestion are much coarser, and development much more rapid, than the baby’s. As produced, it contains too high a percentage of protein and lime, too low a percentage of sugar and phosphorus, and the curd is too large and coarse for the baby’s digestion. It is difficult to produce perfectly clean, and to keep perfectly sweet until feeding. It must be modified carefully, according to the age and condition of the baby.

[Pg 102]

The formula is a technical matter for the medical or dietetic specialist to work out and prescribe in each individual case, and to change as the individual baby requires; it is no more a subject for experiment by a novice than is a case of fever. The formula prescribed must be prepared with scrupulous cleanliness and exactness.

As about ninety mothers in every hundred are fitted and able, with wise prenatal and postnatal hygiene, to nurse their babies, the subject of artificial feeding merits relatively less attention.

Ability to nurse is affected by conditions long before motherhood begins. An active, out-of-door life, with freedom from nervous strain or worry, and with clothing that does not compress or overheat the breasts, is important from childhood. Alcoholism in the mother’s father, or Cæsarean birth of the child, usually inhibit nursing.

The ability is increased by a moderate, nutritious diet,[9] including cereals, milk, water (not exceeding an additional quart of liquid daily beyond the mother’s normal need); by quiet mind, outdoor living, moderate exercise; by regularity in nursing, and the complete emptying of a breast at a nursing. It is decreased by a contrary régime, by fatigue, nervousness, or by interrupting or discontinuing the effort to nurse.

Fats are increased by more nutritious diet; proteins, by diet and decreasing the intervals between nursings. Fat in the diet does not affect the proportion in the milk. Indoor life, with overfeeding and insufficient exercise, will unduly increase the proportion of protein and cause colic. A too hearty diet, especially if high in sugars and starches, will unduly increase the fat. Irregular nursing, nervousness, not completely emptying the breast, decreasing the liquids in the diet, will decrease the supply.

[Pg 103]

Every drop of the mother’s milk is of great value to the baby. If the quantity or quality is not sufficient, nursings should not be stopped, but one or more supplemented with modified milk, prescribed by the physician or dietitian, to furnish the balance. Contagious disease, except tuberculosis, is not necessarily a contraindication to nursing. Unless the milk disagrees with the baby, nursing need not be suspended during menstruation; otherwise, modified milk may be used temporarily, and the milk regularly withdrawn. Weaning should be done slowly, substituting one feeding for a nursing, and discontinuing other nursings at intervals of two or three days. In this way the baby is gradually accustomed to other food, and the mother’s milk gradually disappears. Reducing the diet and omitting liquids for a few days will stop the flow of milk.

While the mother is in bed no more food is needed than under ordinary circumstances, as the food requirement is low during rest and the quantity needed by the baby is very small (page 118). An excess of food is likely to produce indigestion and constipation, and actually interfere with nursing. Foods easily digested, laxative, rich in minerals (especially lime and iron) should be selected through the nursing period. The diet list as for children six to eight years of age is a desirable one to follow.[10] No patent nostrums should ever be experimented with; they are worthless when not harmful. Beer and all forms of alcohol are particularly to be avoided; they do not increase the amount of fluid more than would an equal quantity of water or milk; any increase they produce is of fluid, not of nutriment; the alcohol enters the baby’s system unchanged, and may injure his sensitive nerve cells. Doctor D. D. Bezzola, of Switzerland, who has made extensive studies of the effects of alcohol upon infancy,[Pg 104] concludes: “The time may come when we shall see that every drop of alcohol taken by the parent means a drop of stupidity for the child.”[11] Malt liquors are apt to disturb the mother’s digestion and cause her to put on superfluous fat.

Constipation in the mother will produce constipation in the baby, and laxatives or drugs taken by the mother are likely to affect the baby. Anger, worry, excitement produce poisons that render the milk indigestible, even poisonous; if these are indulged in, the baby should be given only plain or barley water, and the milk withdrawn and thrown away for one or two nursings.

Before a nursing the mother should wash her hands thoroughly with soap and hot water, and then wash the nipples with a saturated boric solution. The feeding should be done in a quiet room where there is no noise or conversation to disturb the baby, and the mother should be composed and relaxed. After the feeding, give the baby a swallow of water to rinse out the mouth. Wash the nipple again with the boric solution and dry thoroughly with a clean towel. A triple fold of clean, sterilized gauze, or surgeon’s lint, should be pinned to the undervest, covering each nipple, thus protecting both the nipple and the clothing; this should be changed every day. Cleanliness will prevent thrush in the baby’s mouth, and local soreness and discomfort for the mother.

The quantity normal at a feeding will depend upon the baby’s age, and consequently the size of his stomach and the amount needed for his growth and maintenance. (See page 118.) The quantity taken at one feeding may be ascertained by weighing the baby just before and just after a feeding.

Until recently, two-hour intervals for feeding were[Pg 105] prescribed for babies at one or two months, with two night feedings. Extensive studies in France and Germany (where the raising of babies for replenishing the army has made infant hygiene a subject of State investigation) have proven that babies usually thrive better on longer intervals, allowing time for the stomach to rest. Some continental specialists advise four-hour intervals from the beginning, and with some babies this is quite satisfactory. The Table on page 118 presents the more usual schedule now recommended. It provides for a three-hour schedule at the start, changing to four hours at five months, with no feeding after 10 P.M. The 10 P.M. feeding can usually be dropped with advantage at about nine months. To drop a feeding, substitute water for a few nights if the baby wakes or cries.

Regularity is of the greatest importance in the feeding. Clock schedule should be observed from the first day and maintained thereafter. The digestive system is much like a machine, pouring out its digestive fluids at regular habitual intervals, and doing good work so long as this regularity is respected and observed in the feeding. Feeding the baby whenever he cries produces indigestion, colic, irritability, self-indulgence.

Ten to fifteen minutes is the usual duration of a feeding. The first milk is thinner, the latter part of the nursing richer. Generally one breast is taken at a feeding, the other breast at the succeeding feeding; if the quantity in one is insufficient, both may be used at one feeding. Neither the mother nor the baby should go to sleep during the nursing. If the baby dawdles, the food may be taken away until the next time. He should stop a minute at the end of each five minutes, to rest and breathe. If he regurgitates or vomits up after nursing, he is being fed too much, or the intervals are too short.

When the baby has finished, he should be handled[Pg 106] very gently for the succeeding hour. His condition is not unlike that of an uncorked bottle. He should lie or sit quietly without jolting or rocking, much less tumbling or other vigorous manipulations. Lay, him on his right side if he is inclined to eructation; on the left side in diarrhea or intestinal trouble, to open the rectal valves and allow gas to escape.

Between feedings, the baby should be given pure water, 65° to 70° F., at regular intervals, several times a day; or during the night if he cries. It can be given the first month from a sterilized medicine dropper, then from a spoon; the use of a cup may begin at five or six months.

If the water is not perfectly pure, it should be boiled twenty minutes; to remove sediment, strain through several thicknesses of sterilized cheesecloth.

Strained orange juice or prune juice, without sugar, at first diluted one half with water, may be given daily at six months, or earlier if the baby is constipated. Begin with one teaspoonful and gradually increase to four tablespoonfuls at six months. It should be given an hour before feeding time.

At six months a scraped, clean chicken or chop bone (after being cooked) may be given once or twice a day, a quarter hour before feeding, to exercise the jaws (being very careful that it is not dropped on the floor). At ten months this may be replaced once a day by a hard crust to be sucked after feeding, watching that the baby does not break off any pieces, or removing these from his mouth.

No other food should ordinarily be given until nine months, when weaning may usually begin by substituting for one nursing a feeding of milk and strained cereal, given with a spoon or from a cup. The formula should be prescribed by the physician or dietitian. Whether a baby should be completely weaned at nine months or at twelve will depend upon the condition of[Pg 107] the baby, quality of the mother’s milk, and the season. The baby and the milk should be examined, and the physician’s or dietitian’s advice followed. Starch is not normally digested under nine months; solid food or lumps may cause convulsions.

Stools. There should be at least one normal movement every day; some babies have two or three.

Begin the second week to establish regularity.

A movement is most likely to follow a feeding in early morning and the afternoon.

Normal stools are yellow, soft, and smooth.

If gray or brown, with mucus, blood, or undigested food, report to the physician.

If green or with foul odor, report immediately and substitute barley water for feedings. Spinach will cause green stools, or they may turn green an hour after removal; this is normal.

Keep the bowels in good condition by giving plenty of water, fruit juice, and abdominal exercises; avoid enemas, suppositories, and laxative drugs, all of which are detrimental.

Sleep. During his first year this should be the baby’s chief occupation. Any period of rapid growth involves much work on the part of all internal organs, and a low power of resistance. In this twelve months, the weight trebles, and the length increases about one half; the brain increases its weight nearly three times, and has by far more work in learning new adjustments than in any similar period later in life.

The amount of sleep required at different stages is shown in the table on page 118.

The baby should always have his own bed, and if possible, his own room. He should preferably sleep outdoors except (1) in rain or falling snow, (2) damp, fogging weather, (3) with snow melting, (4) dusty, windy weather, (5) temperature below 40° F. or above 90°. The night air is as healthful as that of the day[Pg 108] with these same provisions. A sleeping porch is an investment that will pay high dividends all through his life.

In dry, still weather, 68° to 95° F., the baby may be taken outdoors two or three days after his arrival; otherwise he must gradually be accustomed to the cooler outer air by being taken into a room with windows open on one side (wrapping him up judiciously), reducing the temperature every few days, until at one month he is breathing a temperature of 65° F., at two months of 55° F., and at three months, he can breathe it nearly at freezing (32° F.). Abrupt changes should be carefully avoided. Pure cold air is invigorating; stale air is poisonous; air too dry injures the mucous membrane of the nose and throat; air too moist is oppressive; all of these develop colds and pneumonia.

When the baby is indoors, there should be a constant, quiet current of fresh air, except during dressing and bathing. The air should be regulated, not by guess, but by a reliable thermometer (tested at the baby’s head), and the equally important hygrometer for humidity, when there is not a constant intake of fresh, outside air.

The room temperature should not exceed 70° F. the first three months, and 68° F. later, when the baby is dressed. It may advantageously thereafter be 65°-68° ordinarily. When the baby is sleeping, or playing with wraps on, it is of vital value to have it lower, graduating it from 40° to 60° according to circumstances. Cold air is vitalizing; warm air is devitalizing. An open fireplace, with one window lowered from the top, or a six-inch window board for very cold or windy weather, will provide reasonable ventilation.

A baby has more room and sleeps more comfortably in his basket or crib than in a carriage. When awake, he needs more space to roll, kick, creep, walk. In the[Pg 109] open country, he is much better off on the veranda or in the nursery with windows open, lying in his basket or pen, than rolled up in a carriage. Babies unfortunately housed in city apartments or crowded tenements must sometimes be confined in a carriage for the sake of getting to the open air. In a sunny, open-aired room or by an open window is better for a baby than down in a dusty street. The air at higher levels has less dust and fewer germs. The roof of an apartment house, if there is protection from chimney gas, hot sun, and high winds, is preferable to the street. He should never be put on the ground without the protection of a waterproof and blanket or rug to prevent chilling.

Making and Care of Bed. Lay in the mattress—preferably a washable folded quilt, laid smooth, or a floss, hair, or straw-filled mattress.

Cover mattress with papricloth nursery blanket or light-weight rubber sheeting, laid smooth.

Over this, lay the large quilted pad or felting.

Lay on the lower sheet, tucking it under the mattress.

Lay a small quilted pad under the baby’s hips, or use a large size pad for older, tossing babies.

Lay a flat quilted or hair pad (which may be covered with a cotton or linen slip) or a folded diaper or soft folded towel for the head and face; a pillow is inadvisable.

Put on the top sheet and the coverlet, folding the sheet back six inches over the top of the coverlet for protection, and tucking in at sides (not tight) and at foot.

For cold weather, especially outdoors, put in first a woolen blanket. Lay several newspapers between this and the mattress, and when the baby is in, fasten this over the coverlet like a sleeping bag; for cold weather a knit or woolen sleeping bag is desirable.

[Pg 110]

When the baby is out of his bed, it should be taken apart, both morning and afternoon, shaken, thoroughly aired, and sunned.

In cold weather, the bed should be warmed before putting the baby in, and flannelette may well be used instead of muslin sheets.

Change sheets and pads whenever they are wet.

The crib bed is cared for in the same way. Padded side protectors should not be used, as they prevent good ventilation. The light-weight, washable side curtains may be used, but these on only one side and end; they should be removed and washed every week. The screen will furnish ample protection from drafts.

The bed should always be placed where it has a quiet current of fresh air but not a draft, strong wind, or hot sun. The basket should rest firmly on its stand, or a large table, or dry surface, never on the floor. Protection should be provided against flies, mosquitoes, cats, dogs, falling objects; and after eight months, against the baby’s climbing and falling out.

“Putting the baby to sleep” should consist in laying the baby in his stationary bed,—warm, dry, comfortable, protected,—to go to sleep by himself. Rocking disturbs the circulation in the brain, produces only light sleep, and is bad for the nervous system. Babies often cry at first, when laid in bed, merely to be taken up, rocked, or played with. To humor them in this way is to cultivate in them self-indulgence, irritable temper, and tyranny. If let alone they may cry themselves to sleep for a few nights, but this will do them no physical harm; they will have learned their lesson, and the family will be spared further trouble.

The baby should not always be laid on his back, but may be laid on one side, or on his stomach, turning his head to one side and putting a flat pad under his chest. The latter position is not only a restful change, but[Pg 111] also promotes digestion and encourages development of the muscles at the base of the head and in the upper back.

Disturbed sleep may be caused by bad air, overclothing, rough clothing, cold feet, indigestion, thirst, need of circumcision, a habit of rocking. It is not necessary to keep the house in silence while the baby is sleeping. Sudden and boisterous noise should be avoided, but the baby outdoors or in his own room learns to sleep undisturbed by ordinary conversation, music, household activities.

The baby should be gently wakened, if asleep at feeding or bath time. After a few weeks, his system will be so trained that he will naturally waken at these times.

The regular waking of the baby should be anticipated, and the mother or nurse should be there at the time to take him up, change the diaper, and make him comfortable before he begins to cry. Waking time should be a smiling time.

Play and Exercise. The first play is simple, muscular play of limbs.

After the first month, arrange clothing and covers so there is great freedom for kicking, twisting, rolling, stretching, pulling.

After two months, baby will not sleep so much and will be more active with hands, arms, legs.

He should have a pen or yard, raised six inches above the floor; or a board may be made to fit over mattress of crib. Pen or board should have woolen blanket and quilted pad over it; let baby kick and roll freely. The floor is bad because of drafts and dust. A large dry-goods box, raised, is better than the floor.

Do not prop a baby up in a sitting position until he is strong enough to hold himself up five minutes without support; then allow sitting position for only ten minutes at a time, not on the table or bed with the[Pg 112] feet extended in front, but in a carriage or chair, legs bent at knee.

After two months place objects for him to grasp toward, upward, and forward.

As soon as the baby learns to smile, this becomes a little game. At six or eight months, he begins to play with vocal sounds, at peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. Boisterous play, tossing, tumbling, tickling, are too severe for the delicate nerves; his laughing at this is a symptom rather of nervousness than of joy. The baby is not a plaything for his elders. The hour before bedtime is a good time for quiet mothering.

Motor development during the first year normally approximates the following plan.

Eyes begin to focus at about six weeks; coördination not well developed until three months or later; real tears, from the lachrymal glands, begin at about three months; knows mother or nurse by sight at about three months. Voluntary smiling begins at about five weeks, laughing at five or six months. Ability to sit alone develops at from six to eight months, to stand alone at twelve to fourteen, and to walk alone at fourteen to eighteen months.

Exercises. Special exercise may begin at three or four weeks of age. Begin with one exercise, and three-minute periods. Each fortnight time may be increased two minutes up to twenty-minute limit. Add new exercises gradually, at two-week intervals.

All exercises should be given slowly, rhythmically, two hours after a feeding, when baby is in happy mood; before bathing in mid-morning, or in mid-afternoon, is a good time. Do not permit fatigue or test endurance.

Always do the exercises in the same order, thus cultivating motor memory.

Lay the child on the padded nursery table; have clothing loose, or preferably without clothing; diaper unfastened; no drafts; temperature at 70° to 72° F.

[Pg 113]

Arm movements. For development of chest, upper back, upper arms.

1. Take hold of each hand; extend arms straight on table, at right angles to body, saying “down”, 4 times; bring hands together in front of body as in clapping, saying “up”, 4 times. (Figures 1, 2.)

2. At “down”, bring arms down to sides, parallel with body; at “up” stretch arms upward to table above the head (if baby objects, each arm may be done separately) 4 times. Keep his elbows straight in both exercises. (Figure 4.)

Leg movements. For trunk and leg muscles; overcoming constipation.

1. Grasp foot, bend knee to body; do alternately with right and left, each 4 times; then both together 4 times. (Figure 3.)

2. Grasp leg, keep knee straight, bring leg to right angles with body; take each leg alternately, 4 times; then together, 4 times. Avoid sidewise movement. (Figures 5, 6.)

When the child is able to lift his head, he may be allowed to pull himself up as far as he can, holding the nurse’s hands. Grasp his hands firmly so he will not suddenly lose his hold and fall back; do not pull him, but let him develop strength to pull himself to a sitting position. (Figures 7, 8.)

At first let him immediately lower himself to lying position, gradually sitting up one minute, and slowly increasing by one minute.

Many babies at about eleven months go on all fours, bear-fashion. At this stage the wheelbarrow exercise can begin, grasping the baby’s feet and lifting them up while he supports himself on his hands and arms. This is strengthening for arms, chest, back, and trunk. At this age the substituting of rompers for dresses permits more freedom of action and minimizes accidents from tumbling.

[Pg 114]

Crying. Every baby does some crying, and every cry has some meaning. The wise mother will find the cause and will, if necessary, remove it. She will never use pacifiers, sugar, soothing syrups, loud noise, trotting, bouncing, tossing, irregular feeding, all of which are injurious to the baby’s sensitive nerves.

A pernicious habit of self-indulgence and tyranny is cultivated if the baby learns that he can get his desires by crying. If indulged, even at a few weeks of age, he develops temper, self-indulgence, and disrespect for authority. If no attention is paid to such crying, or desires cried for are denied, he soon learns self-control, self-reliance, respect for law and authority.

Infant Mortality.[12] Chief causes presented in the order of their frequency.[Pg 115]

Frequent among preventable illnesses of infancy are colds, constipation, colic, rickets, scurvy, marasmus.

[Pg 117]

To state the underlying causes of infant mortality and defects is at the same time to emphasize their preventability and to indicate the method of prevention. The pathos is less in the high rate of death and illness than in their needlessness,—if only young women and young men were provided with even a meager preparation for this responsibility! The following are representative judgments expressed repeatedly by physicians everywhere.

“The problem of infant mortality is not one of sanitation alone or housing or indeed of poverty as such, but is mainly a question of motherhood.”

—Doctor G. Newman (English).

“The parents in their homes are largely responsible for the high infant mortality.”

—Doctor Ira S. Wile (American).

It is advisable to have the baby examined by the physician once a week during the first three months and at least once a month thereafter during the first year. If the daily régime is followed carefully, with judgment, the baby will probably gain normally in weight, be rosy and happy, free from any illness. The first year is the critical year, the time for every precaution both to prevent defects and promote vigor.

[Pg 118]

Table of Feeding, Sleep, and Weight[14]

[Pg 119]

The Foundations of Efficiency. It is the business of the home to develop in children such vitality that they will enjoy exuberant health in childhood, acquire habits of good hygiene, lay the foundation for endurance, beauty, and longevity in manhood and womanhood, and bequeath vigor of constitution to their children. The slogan is “Prevention—Vitality—Efficiency.”

For efficiency the organs must be approximately perfect, and their functioning sure and strong.

[Pg 120]

The ultimate physical sources of power are:

That is, there must be ample intake of food and oxygen, thorough removal of waste, quick distribution of fuel, oxygen, and waste, economical working of the organism. The whole body must be organically sound, and all its functions must go on efficiently and vigorously.

Developing Vitality to Resist Disease. Disease may be due to:

a. Some defect of structure in an organ as the heart, spinal column, eye, tooth

b. Ineffective functioning of an organ or system, as in constipation, slow circulation, shallow breathing

c. Low resistance to disease germs or poisons, as in the contracting of influenza, diarrhea, pneumonia, whooping cough

1. Good nutrition. This involves sound digestion and assimilation. It can be assured only through:

a. Wholesome foods, adapted to the age in quantity and preparation

b. Sound teeth

c. Regularity in feeding

d. Right conditions in feeding

Eating slowly
Chewing well
Avoiding severe exercise within an hour after feeding
Eating not less than 1 to 3 hours before bedtime
Eating in a cheerful frame of mind
Food at approximately body temperature

[Pg 121]

2. Thorough elimination of waste.

a. Through the lungs by oxidization. Deep and adequate breathing accomplishes the two ends of eliminating some of the poisonous waste (as carbon dioxide from the lungs) and bringing quantities of oxygen to the internal cells for burning up of waste. Active physical exercise and the habit of deep breathing are both necessary.

b. Through kidneys and intestines. These are Nature’s plumbing system for removing poisonous waste. Regularity in these functions should become a habit in early childhood. There should be a bowel movement once or twice a day. Abundance of laxative foods in the diet, water between meals, outdoor life and activity, are natural means of regulating these functions.

3. Regulation of bodily heat. Colds and chills pave the way for vital disorders. They are not always symptoms of an infection. They are often due to poor training of the nerves in the skin to respond quickly to changes of temperature. The training of these nerves can come only as that of any other nerves—through their exercise. Indoor and sedentary life does not supply sufficient exercise for them; for this exercise there is required:

a. A low slightly variable temperature, 65°-68° F. indoor

b. Perceptible air current

c. Air baths, sun baths, and cold-water baths administered with judgment

4. Good circulation of blood. The blood is the only avenue by which nourishment can be brought to the cells or their poisonous waste removed. So far as it can be directly controlled, circulation may be quickened by abundance of exercise, cool temperature, wise distribution of porous clothing. The child should be taught how to quickly warm hands or feet by special[Pg 122] exercise, rolling or shaking of hands, stretching the arms and forcefully opening and shutting the hands, slowly rising and sinking on the feet, running, alternately stretching the toes and heels, rubbing the feet.

5. Protection of nose, throat, and chest. Nature has provided the nose with a delicate mucous lining that constantly secretes a fluid which has the power to destroy germs that may enter with the air. If this moist mucous lining becomes dry, it cannot function. It will not become dry unless the indoor air is too dry, as is the case in artificially heated rooms unless additional moisture is supplied by open dishes of water and by constant intake of outer air. The throat likewise suffers in a dry atmosphere.

Bundling the throat and chest keeps the skin moist and makes it more susceptible to congestion; they should be made resistant to congestion by deep breathing and daily cold sponging. Adenoids and enlarged tonsils are abnormal growths of lymphatic tissue in the nose and throat that make breathing difficult and inefficient, and that become breeding places for germs. The infection that they harbor leads frequently to colds, earache, deafness, tonsillitis, diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever. They obstruct the breathing and reduce the supply of oxygen, spoil the shape of the face, reduce the ability to think, and by their discomfort produce irritability and nervousness. They greatly interfere with the vitality. Adenoids should therefore be removed, and tonsils treated, their removal being a last resort when they are diseased.

6. Maintaining high count and efficiency of red blood corpuscles and of leucocytes in the blood. The red blood corpuscles carry oxygen. Evident symptoms of their inefficiency are paleness, low vitality, inertia. The leucocytes are the special blood cells that attack disease germs which have made their way past the sentinels in the nose, throat, and stomach. The number[Pg 123] and efficiency of these bodyguards is increased by outdoor exercise, cold-water baths, air baths, sun baths, by adding more mineral food to the diet.

Additional means of preventing development of germ diseases are: (a) protection from contagion; (b) injecting of antitoxins. The greatest preventive, however, is internal resistance, since disease germs are usually in the atmosphere and are entering the system every day through the nose and mouth.

7. Storing of nervous energy. This is possible only through abundant sleep, regularity of regimen, temperance, moderation, self-control, avoidance of stimulants, narcotics, or dissipation. Nature has intended that childhood shall be a period of accumulating and conserving nervous reserve.

The effect of any regimen or any exception to a principle of good hygiene must be measured not simply by its immediate results but even more by its remote consequences. Nature is patient, long suffering, and will endure much abuse without great protest, but Nature is also an accurate bookkeeper and remorseless creditor; every debt must at some time be paid on demand,—it may be five, ten, forty years later, or in the lives of the succeeding generation. Nature makes no allowance for ignorance of her laws. Parental love cannot atone for lack of knowledge or experience. The death-rate from tuberculosis rises considerably among girls in their twenties. To what extent is this due to general poor hygiene, indoor life, lack of exercise, in childhood? During the last quarter century there has been a marked increase in the death-rate during middle age from kidney disorders, cancer, heart disease, insanity. It may well be asked to what extent these are due to habits of irregularity, overfeeding, wrong feeding, self-indulgence, nervousness, acquired in childhood.

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Sleep. Quantity. All the sleep a child can get is so much of fortification against the inevitable stress of later years, as well as conducive to his immediate vitality, comfort, and good nature. Children vary individually; often, however, the nervous child who needs most sleep is least willing to take it. Children should sleep as much as they want to and should approximate the following amounts as a minimum.

Conditions. 1. Bed alone. No one can sleep as comfortably or restfully with another person as alone. With little children, moral as well as physiological possibilities are to be considered.

2. Room alone, if possible, especially for children under six, that they may not be disturbed.

3. Outdoors if possible, on a sleeping porch, with[Pg 127] bedding protected from dampness, and provision made for first warming the bed at night in cold weather.

4. Room cool and with current of outside air, if sleeping indoors. Temperature not above 60° F. and may be as low as 50° F. to advantage for normal children over six months, or 32° F. without harm, with ample bedding and warm night clothes. Warm wrapper or shawl should be provided to wrap around the child when taken out of bed.

5. Children beyond infancy (1½ years) should have their supper an hour before bedtime until eight or nine years of age, and thereafter two hours before bedtime. Children should be taken up for the toilet at a regular hour, either nine or ten o’clock, until six or eight years of age, to prevent bed-wetting or disturbed sleep.

6. Every condition should be provided for complete relaxation and sound sleep, not light semi-sleep. Among these conditions, besides the foregoing, are:

Lights extinguished in sleeping room;

Stationary bed that does not rock;

Story-telling before child is undressed, not after he is in bed, that the mind may not be filled with vivid images, or brain congested, when trying to sleep.

Evening stories should be quiet, restful, happy, without gruesome, melodramatic, exciting, or sad atmosphere.

Chanting, humming, rhythmic singing, is relaxing, and five or ten minutes of this after child is in bed may be advantageous, especially with nervous or unruly children.

Massaging down the back, in long slow strokes, Will relieve the congestion of the brain.

Give the child one toy to occupy his hands; prohibit more than one, to prevent mental activity.

Bedtime should not be a time of punishment, recalling of misdeeds, scolding; leave that until the[Pg 128] child is most vital, in mid-morning or afternoon. Bedtime should be a quiet, happy time.

A thought impressed upon the child as he is falling to sleep, or directly after, especially if it is repeated for some days or weeks, is absorbed by the subconscious mind and has profound influence upon motives and action. The suggestion may be given aloud to the conscious mind while the child is still awake, or repeated softly or thought intensively, after the conscious mind is dulled by sleepiness.

The child should learn, from early babyhood, to go to sleep by himself, without a light, with the door closed. This is a most important training in self-reliance.

If these conditions are observed, sleep should be restful and undisturbed. Possible disturbing conditions may include constipation, indigestion, intestinal worms, nervousness. The matter should be reported to the physician. Bed-wetting may be overcome by taking the child up during the night, by giving no liquid after four o’clock, by promise of rewards, by mental suggestion. Circumcision may be needed. Punishment is worse than useless.

The Afternoon Nap. The same general conditions should be provided. The room or sleeping porch should be darkened, and ample ventilation and light covering provided. The outer clothing, shoes, stockings should be removed, and nightgown put on over the underwear; or the child may be completely undressed as at night. If the child is disinclined to sleep at nap time, use the spinal sponging with warm water, the spinal massage, and undress completely as at night. Even if the child does not sleep, he will receive the much-needed relaxation, and the resting of spine and heart, the work of which is greatly reduced while lying down.

Waking. The waking time should always be anticipated,[Pg 129] and some one should be at hand to take the child at once to the toilet, to speak to him and reassure him. This is important both for physical and moral reasons. Waking should be a happy time.

Clothing. Clothing should be comfortable to body and mind; it should provide freedom of action and thought, cultivate modesty, simplicity, democracy, daintiness, avoiding self-consciousness or vanity.

Too much clothing keeps the skin moist, and is a cause of colds.

Distribute clothing judiciously; avoid overclothing trunk and chest, underclothing legs.

Underclothing. Use light-weight underwear and give additional warmth by extra wraps as needed. Adapt clothing to the actual weather conditions, not to traditions of seasons. Avoid sudden changes, as from heavy play suit to thin suit.

Underclothing may be all cotton or part wool.

Porous clothing is warm, holding a protecting layer of air; thick woven clothing is cold, preventing the evaporation of moisture from the skin. For hot weather use sleeveless or half-sleeve gauze vests.

Use side elastics to support the stockings, never the round garters. Select carefully the waist for attaching supporters; the “Ideal” waist is excellent.

Protect the ankles and legs with stockings or leggings in cold or changeable weather.

Keep the throat open, except in very cold weather, and then protect lightly.

Shoes and stockings should keep the feet warm and comfortable, not perspiring, cold, restricted.

Night clothes. A complete change should be made at night. After three years a shirt is not needed at night, except in very cold weather. When diapers are no longer needed, the nightdrawers may be worn, using those with feet for cold weather. For outdoor sleeping in cool weather a sleeping-bag of eiderdown is desirable,[Pg 130] and a light hood. A flannel or eiderdown bathrobe and slippers should be provided for emergency and morning use.

Care. Begin to teach the child at one year to put his shoes neatly together; by two years to lay his clothes neatly when taken off, and to hang up wraps; by three years to fold; by four years to take care of all clothing as removed and keep his chiffonier in order. Provide low hooks and small, low, easy-working bureau drawers within reach of the child.

Keep soiled clothing in a ventilated receptacle, out of the sleeping room or kitchen.

Keep hats and wraps well brushed; shoes brushed and cleaned; after five years, children should care for shoes.

Readymade clothing should be washed before wearing. Much readymade clothing, whether cheap or expensive, is made in sweatshops and crowded tenements.

Children’s play clothes should be of such durable material and simple design that play may not be hampered through fear of soiling or injuring garments.

Avoid:

Ample size is especially important with growing children, and easily overlooked or neglected as they outgrow their clothes. Rubber in legs of readymade rompers is always too tight, and is better removed.