this spring-time of your life, and how careful should you be to use it, so that you may not lament it hereafter.' SLEEP. 147. Do you approve of a child sleeping on a FEATHER bed? A feather bed enervates his body, causes rickets, if he be so predisposed, and makes him crooked. A horse-hair mattress, or a tick stuffed with oat-chaff,† or flights, as it is sometimes called, is the best for a child to lie on. The pillow should be made of horsehair. A feather pillow often causes the head to be bathed in perspiration, thus enervating the child, and making him liable to cold. If he be at all rickety, if he be weak in the neck, if he be inclined to stoop, or if he be at all crooked, let him by all means lie without a pillow. 148. Do you recommend a child to be put to sleep in the middle of the day? Let him be put on his mattress awake at twelve o'clock, and let him sleep for an hour or two before dinner, and he will rise refreshed and strengthened for the remainder of the day. I said, let him be put down awake. He may cry for the first few times, but, * 'Daily Duty.' London: T. Nelson and Sons. + The oat-chaff or flights may be procured of any farmer, and makes an excellent bed. It is the chaff of the first winnowing, and requires renewing every year. If oat-chaff cannot readily be procured, a straw mattress may be substituted; but after all, there is nothing equal to a horse-hair mattress. by perseverance, he will fall to sleep without any difficulty. The practice of sleeping before dinner should be continued until he be two years old, and if he can be prevailed upon, even longer. For, if he do not have sleep in the middle of the day, he will be cross all the afternoon and evening; and when he does go to bed, he will, probably, be too tired to sleep, or, his nerves being exhausted by the long wakefulness, he will fall into a troubled broken slumber, and not into that sweet soft gentle repose so characteristic of healthy happy childhood. 149. At what hour should a child be put to bed in the evening? At six o'clock in the winter, and seven in the summer. Regularity should be observed, as it is very conducive to health. It is a reprehensible practice to keep a child up until nine or ten o'clock at night. If such be done, he will become old before his time, and the seeds of disease will be sown. As soon as he can run, let him be encouraged to race about the hall, or a large room, for a quarter of an hour before he goes to bed; which will be the best means of warming his feet, preventing chilblains, and making him sleep soundly. 150. Do you advise a bed-room to be darkened at night? Certainly. A child sleeps sounder and sweeter in a dark than in a light room. There is nothing better, for the purpose of darkening a bed-room, than green calico blinds. Remember, then, a well-ventilated, but a darkened chamber at night. The cot or crib should face the window, and not be between the window and the door, on account of draughts. 151. What is the best position for a child to lie on, his back or on his side? His side. He should be accustomed to change about; on the right side, one night; on the left another; and, occasionally, for a change, he may lie on his back. By adopting this plan, you will not only improve his figure, but his health also. 152. Should a child be washed and dressed AS SOON AS HE AWAKES in the morning? He should, if he awake in anything like reasonable time; for if he doze after he be once awake, such slumber does him more harm than good. He should be up every morning as soon as it is light. If he be taught to rise early, it will make him an early · riser for life; and will tend greatly to prolong his existence. The moment the child leaves his bed, turn back, to the fullest extent, the bed-clothes; in order that they may be thoroughly ventilated and sweetened. The bed-clothes should be exposed to the air for at least an hour before the bed is made. As soon as the child leaves his bed-room, throw open the windows, be it winter or summer. 153. Should a child lie alone? He should after he is weaned. He will rest more comfortably, and his sleep will be more refreshing. SECOND DENTITION. 154. When does a child begin to cut his second set of teeth? Generally at seven years old. The first set is sometimes cut with a great deal of difficulty, and produces various diseases; the second or permanent teeth come easily, and are unaccompanied by any disorder. The following is the process:-One after another of the first set gradually loosen, and either drop out, or are pulled out with little pain or trouble; under which the second or permanent teeth make their appearance, and fill up the vacant spaces. The fang of the tooth that has dropped out is nearly all absorbed or eaten away, leaving little more than the crown. The first set consists of twenty; the second (including the wise-teeth, which are not generally cut till after the age of twenty-one) consists of thirtytwo. I would recommend you to pay particular attention to the teeth of your children ; as besides their being ornamental, their regularity and soundness are of great importance to the present, as well as the future, health of your offspring. If there be any deviation in the appearance of the second set, lose no time in consulting an experienced dentist. DISEASE, ETC. 155. Do you think it important that I should be made acquainted with the symptoms of SERIOUS diseases of children? Certainly. I am not advocating the doctrine of a mother treating serious disease; far from it, it is not her province; but I do insist upon the necessity of her knowing the symptoms of disease. My belief is, that if mothers were better informed on such subjects many children's lives might be saved, much suffering averted, and much sorrow spared. The fact is, the knowledge of the symptoms of disease is to a mother almost a sealed book. If mothers were better acquainted with such subjects, how much more useful would they be in a sick-room, how much more readily would they enter into the plans and views of the Medical man. By their knowledge of the symptoms, they would nip disease in the bud, by having his advice in time. It is really lamentable to contemplate the amount of ignorance that still exists among mothers in all that appertains to the diseases of children; although, fortunately, they are beginning to see and feel the importance of gaining instruction on such subjects; but the light is only dawning. A talented writer of the present day makes the following remarks, which somewhat bear on the subject in question. He observes: "In spite of the knowledge and clear views possessed by the Profession on all that concerns the management of children, no fact is more palpable than that the most grievous ignorance and incompetency prevail respecting it among the public. We want some means of making popular the knowledge which is now almost restricted to Medical men, or, at most, to the well-educated classes.' *Medical Times and Gazette.' |