AS a general rule, mothers have not that care of infants which nature requires. In the first place, as soon as the little stranger makes its appearance, every precaution should be taken; it should be wrapped in warm clothes, with particular care not to have it laid in a cold place. Then a basin of warm water and good Castile soap should be ready, and great care should be taken as to the tightness of its bands. The infant, you must remember, comes from a warm berth, and particular pains should be taken to keep it warm, especially when asleep.

I verily believe, that two-thirds of the children that die before attaining the age of two years, die through ignorance of mothers and nurses. In the first place, as soon as it comes into the world, it is laid under the bed or table, with little or no care as to its exposure to the cold; next a little rag is used, with some fine scented soap, and it is dressed in a cold, gaudy apparel—its comfort not considered—only the show of fine clothes. You have not the least idea how much this little creature suffers, and you are laying up trouble for yourself; I believe a child that has no pain, never cries. What is the next thing that is done? “Why, I must give it purgatives; the child must have a dose; we must deprive the poor thing of its senses, in order that it may rest;” then they dose it with narcotics, and if, by chance, it lives to be a month old, they take off its belly-band. Then comes feeding; a bowl of strong bread and milk is prepared—and though the nurse or mother has sufficient breast milk for it, they imagine the child craves food, and the poor little creature is, as I may say, crammed to death.

Why does the child cry? Perhaps, my dear friend, the cause is your own fault—over dosing in the first place; be cautious, as soon as the little one makes its entrance into this world. Do as I directed before, then take a piece of fresh butter the size of a bird’s egg, mix it up with loaf-sugar, put a little piece at a time into the new-born infant’s mouth, and it will suck it down; this will cleanse its mouth and alimentary canal, and open all obstructions in the intestines. Let the child have the breast as soon as possible; the first milk will purge the infant sufficiently, without having recourse to cathartics; by giving purgatives to an infant, it does more harm than good. A child ought to be put at the breast as soon as possible—it is a great error to keep the child from it for several hours; and suppose the mother to be weak, it will not injure her health in the least, as it is natural; but it is unnatural to give the child strong bread and milk—give it a little catnip tea, if it is absolutely necessary.

I have seen a mother, who imagined her child was hungry, and she would have a cup of bread and milk on the stove all day, and every few minutes she would give the child a teaspoonful; if the little creature pushed it out with its tongue, she would push it back with her finger. This is cruel; we may call this mother over fond. A child should never have any kind of food until six, or even nine months old, if the mother has milk of her own; I never gave mine any until they were to be weaned—in fact, I never allowed my eldest son to have a mouthful of any food, except the breast, until he was one year old; that day I commenced weaning him, and gave him no drink through the night, except cold water; I never gave my other children any drink but cold water, after they were weaned. Feeding children at night is a foolish habit.

Let them wear their belly-band at least until you put short clothes on them; then have a waist to their petticoats, with shoulder straps, buttoned behind the waist, made from their arms to the hips; this supports the bowels; keep the same on your girls for years; it would, if practicable, be well for them to wear it all their lives, and we would not then see so many young females afflicted with tumors and cancers in the ovaries, nor the falling of the womb. I think babes’ dresses ought not to be too long, as it draws too heavily; the weak form cannot support it as easily as you imagine. Let me beg of you to study their comfort and health. I love to see a child well dressed, as well as any one—but I see too many that suffer from the law of fashion rather than comfort, that I pity them. Keep the feet warm with socks, and the head cool, but not to extremes.

Great care should be taken in regard to bathing children; always bathe them regularly every morning—but let the water be warm; cold water will do more harm than good. In the heat of summer let it be tepid—it will strengthen a child; but when cold water seizes the little creature, it generally produces too much fear to be beneficial.

When you intend to wean your infant, it would be well to choose the shortest days, as the child will sleep more. A good substitute for mother’s milk is arrow-root, boiled in half milk and water. Avoid strong food; the least sugar you give the better. If medicine is required, use Turkey rhubarb; always buy the root, and prepare it yourself—do not get it pulverized; cut it, and steep it as much as necessary; add a few caraway seeds to it, when you steep it. This medicine will not injure the child, in case you give too much, as would any other cathartic, but it is strengthening to the bowels.

If the child has a sore mouth, get some pulverized wild turnip and cranesbill bark; take two teaspoonsful of loaf sugar, and as much of the barks as you can hold on a ten cent piece; mix well, and put a little, two or three times a day, into its mouth; give a little saffron tea and a little rhubarb.

If the child is chafed in the neck, or elsewhere, take pulverized cranesbill bark, and put it into a muslin bag; when you wash the child, dust this in all the parts affected; do it as often as you think necessary.

If it has sores, wash with Castile soap, and get some pulverized bloodroot, and mix it with two-thirds water and one-third cider, and wash it; this alone will cure all sores. A good medicine for children, in the spring, is composed of the following: take half an ounce of the best sulphur, quarter of an ounce each of cream tartar, pulverized yellow dock root, tanzy, elecampane root, pulverized rhubarb root, one ounce black alder bark, a teaspoonful of mandrake root, and a tablespoonful caraway seed; mix these with molasses, and let them stand twenty-four hours, stirring it two or three times during the day. Give according to age—a child two months old, a piece the size of a bean; a child three years old, half a teaspoonful in the morning, before dinner, and at bed-time; you can begin with small doses, and increase as you think best.

The best way to cleanse the blood of an infant, when at the breast, is for the mother to take the proper medicines and purify her own blood; it will do the child more good, and renew the milk. If your child is full of humors, you may be sure they will increase; but do not wean it on that account—purify your blood by taking the cleansing syrups mentioned in this book; and, in case you do not understand how to mix them, send to me for them, mentioning the age of the child, and how the humor makes its appearance.

The seven years’ itch is very prevalent at the present day, among all classes of society, from the highest to the lowest; it is fashionably termed salt rheum, or a species of it. Children are more or less troubled with the preaff, a species of ringworm; use no ointments, externally, until the inside is well guarded, or you throw it on the lungs, or in the joints, and make it a fool or a cripple for life. So be wise and prudent. Do not comb or scrape a baby’s head, if it has dandruff; wet it with a little sweet or olive oil at night, the next morning wash it carefully with Castile soap, and continue until all is removed. Keep the infant’s ears well cleaned; always use a soft brush for the hair.

Kind reader—I have endeavored to instruct you how to secure good health for your children; allow your aged friend to say a few words for the soul—which never dies, but returns to its Creator, God. Have you ever considered this important truth? If so—happy soul! angels rejoice to see a mother leading her babes to Jesus! As soon as they can lisp, teach them to pronounce the name of Jesus, and to ask him to bless them and you. Bow with them at the Throne of Grace, morning and evening; be simple and short, in your requests to your Heavenly Father, that it may be a pleasure, rather than a task, to them.

Has death visited your abode, or fortune frowned upon you—go to Bethlehem; there you will find the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of your Savior—poor, outcast, and dejected, seeking a shelter, to bring forth the God-man! Then follow her to the Cross; here, a sword pierces her own soul, to behold her only-beloved Son expire on the cross for ungrateful man. But she had grace from on high; and we, too, can have the same ark. Remember, this is not our abiding place; Mary rejoiced, because she knew this, and her soul was filled with love—no murmuring or complaint escaped her lips—all was submission to the will of God! Let us all follow her example; and join our dear babes in Heaven, as the mother of our God and Savior did.