MOTHERS' COLUMN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 30, 25 July 1891, Page 206

MOTHERS' COLUMN.

EXERCISE FOR BABIES. Dear Editor.—Thank you tor the nice hints given in this column, which lam sure will be much appreciated. lam very pleased to contribute my mite. It is on ‘ Exercise for Babies.’ INDOOR EXERCISE.—Perhaps some of you will wonder what I can mean by indoor exercise for an infant. You will observe when your baby is lying on your knee disencumbered from swaddling clothes how he stretches himself and moves his little limbs. Well, that is exercise, and the first muscular exercise that he is able to perform. Encourage this every time you undress him, and allow him to lie on your knee quite free from clothing for a short time before a good fire. It is very strengthening to his muscles, and, on the whole, very good for him. Vi hen he is a few weeks old you may lay him on the bed for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, seeing that his arms and legs are perfectly fiee and disencumbered ; and when a tew months old, nothing will be more beneficial for him than to lay him on his back on the Hoor, on the carpet, or on a soft counterpane, where he can kick and sprawl to his heart’s content. There he will learn to crawl, and finally walk. I know several mothers who have made it a point to lay their babies on their back for a considerable time every day, and their children are perfect models for straight figures and good health. But, while speaking about your baby learning to walk, let me advise you not to attempt to teach him to walk. When he is able he will try himself, and then there will be no danger of his walking too soon, and thus giving himself bandy legs. OUTDOOR EXERCISE.—Indeed, a child cannot have too much of the open air, if the weather is fine. The whole of his waking time he may, with safety, be put out, if he is well wrapped up and protected, except in the very early morning or late at night. Mothers who are sensible enough, and not too lazy to give their babies plenty of outdoor exercise, know that their infants suffer much less from teething, and are less liable to convulsions, than those children who are kept much indoors. One cannot fail to observe the difference between the healthy, rosy child, who is much outside, and the pale, delicate-looking child who is always in the house. But now about the means for giving this exercise. Many people object to and condemn carriages for babies, but they are only those who do not know what it means to carry a heavy baby in the open-air for an hour or two. I think perambulatois a great advantage both to mother and child. In the first place, it saves the mother the labour of carrying the baby, which is certainly a great saving, and, besides, she can take two children out at the same time in one of these double-seated carriages. I consider it better for the baby, too. In cold weather a child can be much better wrapped up and protected from the cold and wind than it could be if the mother had to carry it. Of course, in many cases, perambulators are misused by young, thoughtless girls, and children are often seen sitting exposed to the glaring sun or the cold wind, and roughly pushed over stones, etc. But where these things are attended to, they are decidedly an advantage; and I would advise every mother to get one, and give her child as much outdoor exercise and fresh air as possible. If your baby is restless, beware of administering soothing syrups, etc., which will only give a forced, unnatural sleep ; but do not fear to administer plenty of fresh air, which will cause a natuial and refreshing sleep. The open air will make your baby sleep, give him an appetite, help to keep his bowels in order, and brace his nervous system, thus helping him to cut his teeth easily, and in a great measure preventing teething convulsions. It thus becomes to every mother a necessity and an imperative duty. By a Mother.