OUR BABIES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13163, 23 January 1936, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

'By Hygeia. Published under the auspices of the lioyal Xc\v Zealand Society j<-r the Health oi Women and Children Plnnket • Society). • It is wiser to put up a fence at j ■the top of a precipice than to main- : tain an ambulance at the bottom. 55 | IIJ E HOIdDAYS. ( LOT RING WRAPS, ETC. Railway carriages are draughty places, and yet are hard to ventilate and apt to be stuffy. A good deal oi ingenuity and tact arc necessary to m ike the b<*st oi conditions. Tt is risky to let children get overheated. Try to adjust tlieir clothes | to suit the time of day and the j tempoi ature, and to take them out | for a nm on the platform if pos,'ible whenever there is a suffieiently < long stop. i <dl<-- to say, a plentiful sup- j ply of napkins for the ha by is necessary. A mackintosh bag is the* ideal | way to keep wet napkins win n trav- | f iling, but li this is not procurable j It is a good plan to make tight j parcels o thorn in several thick-, ness \s of old newspaper. You will j find a bundle of old newspapers will j come in handy in mor< ways than ! one. A light rug and cushion are most 1 necessary for the comfort of the j small ehi’d. and wi h these and a ( -.pare sc: r the matter of a daytime ; sleep is simplified. SHEEP. • ‘▼,'s fC!-;n'iportant to ensure some j sleep for the little ones if /fiver- ! ? iguo and fntliil'u s arc ±n bo , .•<;i d< d. This may b< very difficult; li the: train is crowded, but some- i J/

times a bed may be improvised by placing a wide board between a seat . : d the one immediately in frbnt :»t it. Pushed up against it and the outer wall of' the carriage, and with a cushion and rug upon it. this makes a comfortable enough bed for the toddler—one which is perfectly safe if the board is well wedged and a suitcase is propped upon the outer side to prevent a tumble. TH E {'SHFi b DR E SSBASKET. The drcssbasket is invaluable when travelling with a young baby, making as it does a comfortable lied .and a receptacle for all the ha by s clothes. We have travelled with babies by train and boat—health v normal babies and tiny weaklings—and have found that they need not he moved at all, except at feeding times, but will sleep and lie awake quite contentedly, rather enjoying the constant movement. The result is the minimum of fatigue for moth cm* and baby—very different from the utter exhaustion of both when the baby has been nursed all day. restless and irritable, because of the complete reversal of his ordinary routine. Tiny babies may bo ‘'packed’’ in the dressbaskot before starting. The improvised cradle cab) easily be carried for short distances by one person, and the bn by is kept unitoonly warm and protected from the wind and draughts. Next to the dres.sbasket, probably ul piece ol 1 1 the canvas carryall, which conveniently accommodates all the knobby end awkward last articles. TOYS AND PLAYTHINGS. A few* simple toys and picture inks. a i lizzie perhaps, and ; bio k and pencil form part of the necessarv paraphernalia : 1 n ost child steel '■ • ' : i • chin; t 1 -.; r? i, i ' 'w win. !mvs.

CONVEX lEXCES. r Fho better equipment of the Indies' compartment on some ot the through expresses helps to lighten the difficulties oi travelling for the mother with children, providing as it does more privacy and larger, 1 otter-kept lavatory and -wash-basin arrangements. However, it is never safe* to allow children to use any lavatory in the ordinary way when travelling. An excellent plan is to make a circular pad of several thicknesses of paper to completely cover the ordinary seat, marking the top side fd the pad. This will make things safe. • Eolded in halt and itself wrapped in paper, it will pack away quite easily. Otherwise an ordinary tittle enamel chamber may ho taken. Some pieces of old linen (damp and dry) will come’ in most handy, and save hankies and towels. SEA TRIPS. A sea. trip (unless the mother is a lad sailor; does not present nearly s (> many difficulties as a long train journey, especially if it is a night passage, as so many of our inter-island passages are. Children are comparatively rarely seasick, and then is room for them to spread out and lie down comfortably. TRAIN SICXKESS. Verv occa sionallv children are habitually train and ;ir sick, when the only thing to do is to give very light food before starting and to manage some means of allowing the, child to lie clown. Fn ronrlnsir.ii, one might remark that the. mother who lugs trained her children in obedience, regularity. and good lv. l>.its gehoraily will. ... ravelling time comes round. The long clay will pass without unbearable exhaustion on anybodv's pari —- narrnts, children, or fellow-travcl-lara