The Care and Feeding of Children | Page 4

How should a nursery be heated?
Best by an open fire; next to this by a Franklin stove. The ordinary
hot-air furnace of cities has many objections, but it is not so bad as
steam heat from a radiator in the room. A gas stove is even worse than

this, and should never be used, except, perhaps, for a few minutes
during the morning bath.
At what temperature should a nursery be kept during the day?
Best, 66° to 68° F., measured by a thermometer hanging three feet from
the floor. Never should the temperature be allowed to go above 70° F.
At what temperature during the night?
During the first two or three months, not below 65° F. After three
months the temperature may go as low as 55° F. After the first year it
may be 50° or even 45° F.
At what age may the window be left open at night?
Usually after the third month, except when the outside temperature is
below freezing point.
How often should the nursery be aired?
At least twice a day--in the morning after the child's bath, and again in
the evening before the child is put to bed for the night. This should be
done thoroughly, and the child should be removed meanwhile to
another apartment. It is well to air the nursery whenever the child is out
of the room.
What symptoms are seen in a child who is kept in too hot a room?
It becomes pale, loses appetite, shows symptoms of indigestion,
occasionally vomits, stops gaining in weight, perspires very much, and
takes cold easily because of this and also because of the great
difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures. Its condition
may be such as to lead one to suspect very serious illness.
AIRING
_How early may airing indoors he commenced and how long may it be
continued?_

Airing in the room may be begun, even in cold weather, when the child
is one month old, at first for only fifteen minutes at a time. This period
may be gradually lengthened by ten or fifteen minutes each day until it
is four or five hours. This airing may be continued in almost all kinds
of weather.
_Is there not great danger of a young baby's taking cold when aired in
this manner?_
Not if the period is at first short and the baby accustomed to it
gradually. Instead of rendering the child liable to take cold, it is the best
means of preventing colds.
How should such an airing be given?
The child should be dressed with bonnet and light coat as if for the
street and placed in its crib or carriage which should stand a few feet
from the window All the windows are then thrown wide open, but the
doors closed to prevent draughts. Screens are unnecessary.
At what age may a child go out of doors?
In summer, when one week old; in spring and fall, usually at about one
month; in winter, when about three months old, on pleasant days, being
kept in, the sun and out of the wind.
What are the best hours for airing out of doors?
In summer and early autumn a child may be out almost any time
between seven in the morning and sunset; in winter and early spring, a
young child only between 10 or 11 A.M. and 3 P.M., although this
depends somewhat upon the climate. In New York and along the
Atlantic coast the early mornings are apt to be damp and the afternoons
raw and cloudy.
On what kind of days should a baby not go out?
In sharp winds, when the ground is covered with melting snow, and

when it is extremely cold. A child under four months old should not
usually go out if the thermometer is below freezing point; nor one
under eight months old if it is below 20° F.
_What are the most important things to be attended to when the child is
out in its carriage?_
To see that the wind never blows in its face, that its feet are properly
covered and warm, and that the sun is never allowed to shine directly
into its eyes when the child is either asleep or awake.
Of what advantage to the child is going out?
Fresh air is required to renew and purify the blood, and this is just as
necessary for health and growth as proper food.
What are the effects produced in infants by fresh air?
The appetite is improved, the digestion is better, the cheeks become red,
and all signs of health are seen.
_Is there any advantage in having a child take its airing during the first
five or six months in the nurse's arms?_
None whatever. A child can be made much more