FRETFUL BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1191, 26 September 1874, Page 21

FRETFUL BABIES.

A writer says ; Babies always cry without any apparent reason ; but a mother i can usually discover a reason if she stops to think about it. And it is worth stopping to think about, no matter if the housework or sewing be delayed a while consequence. Perhaps it has eaten something which disagrees with its stomach ; perhaps it is thirsty, for little babies are often thirsty, and will drink a teaspoonful of cold water with the greatest eagerness, and be quiet and satisfied after it. Perhaps its- little sock is tied too tightly, as my baby's was- the other day. 1 found a deep red mark round her little ankle, which' at once explained her fretfulness. More likely than anything else, the flannel band round its bowels — if, happily, one is there — or its skirt- , band is pinned" too tightly. I know a baby who has pried a great deal since his birth. I &iink the chief cause of it is because he has f always'been dressed too tightly. The mother said to me one afternoon, when the child was so cross she hardly know what to do :—: — " I've a great mind to undreSs him and put 6ri his night-gown ; he is always good then." So she did, and he commenced <to be good at once. Mothers should search for all possible causes when their babies get fretful. They should not be too ready to attribute their crying to nervous temperament or to . hunger, for it iB more likely to be caused 'by the prick of a pin, or an over-fed stomach, than either. 0 ' '