THE JAPANESE BABY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 136, 9 June 1906, Page 15

THE JAPANESE BABY.

The Japanese baby is declared to be the healthiest of children, and escapes, nearly all the diseases of European childhood. The little one is bathed ! every morning in cold water, and cir- | culation is stimulated by intelligent and vigorous friction. The new-born infant is clothed in long, loose garments, liko it's mother's, simply and lightly tightened about the waist. Nothing then impedes the movenie'ntg of the child, and the porous material of its clothes allows free passage to the air. /It is a grave fault of European mothers that they too often dress their babies 1 by injudicionsly -wrapping them in woollen, which clogs the pores, and prej irents the egress of the acids, which find their outlet through the skin. Woollen clothes when worn next to the skin, should be cE*anged every day, nnd a mixture of merino and silk is preferable to even the best quality of flannei, which is liable to shrink, and become tight and injurious. Tho Japani ese baby does not have its face covered, as is the habit in this country, but is free to breathe the fresh air. The recent fashion of leaving an infant's feet bare is all very well during the warm summer, but it is cruel and dangerous in winter. Tho feet must be Kept warm (this cannot be too strongly emphasised), and the upper part of the body 'should be effectively "protected against possible chill, without the child Being loaded with a weight of clothes, both unnecessary and unhealthy. Modern nursery hygiene is not understood by every one, and although most mothers know that they must keep their babies warm, and let them have plenty of air, they very often do that in a way that fails to be beneficial.