OUR BABIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 17, 26 April 1911, Page 59

OUR BABIES.

(By

HYGEIA.)

Published under the auspices ef the Society for the Health of Women and Children.

"It i« ureter to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance al the bottom.”

THE following article, which I derive from a recent English journal, will, I am sure, cause many parents to reflect over an important aspect' of the upbringing of girls, which has come to occupy a very secondary place in the present day—namely, the duties of home life, and the development in' girls of a womanly devotion to children, together with a practical knowledge of how to care for them. When large families were the rule some contact with babies, and some share in their rearing, fell to the lot of most girls, but nowadays, owing to small families and all-engrossing lessons and school life, the interest, sympathies, Inclinations, and energies of the rising generation are mainly procured outside the home. To stem this tendency is beginning to be the aim of the-' most enlightened school mistress of the day, and I am glad to see that in the English school referred to below the girls have to go to bed at half-past 8 instead of being allowed to work late at night, as they so often do in their own homes, especially when engaged in com peting for scholarships, etc. Nothing ip more essential for proper nutrition and development of budding womanhood than long hours for sleep and freedom from educational stress. . At the new model higher school for girls, which has been recently established at Hastings (Hawke’s Bay), 1 am glad tri find that the gills go to bed. at 8 o’clock, and the rule is to take a swim and have a good walk before breakfast. Besides this special, provision is made in the. direction of traim ing practically all the pupils in cooking, housekeeping, etc-., while strenuous nyn tal competition in any direction is discountenanced. in connection "with the School of Do inestic" Economies just established at Otago .University, each intending graduate willif;be, rcipiired to spend three inonthp a'S-fr/rihrse at the Kar 'ane Baby Hospital, thus placing the" p ipjls in a hospital-nursery Instead of impoi ting the nuixe and baby into the school, as in the case now to be described. ■_ . • Learning to Manage a Baby. How the girls at a Scarborough school leq'rn from a real baby how a baby should be cared for/ The .‘‘Nursery •Cp'urse” is attracting attention far arid near, and the enterprising example of the principals of “High Cliff” is likely to be widely followed before very long. - - Babies are in fashion! And no woman is enritleferto consider herself in the least up-to-date unless she understands the care and upbringing of babies just as ■well as, arid even better than, she knows how to .manage'her pet dogs and cats. Many wom/1 who were brought up in ignorance of the .right way to care for babiesjare.now.attending lectures on nursery management. They also join ehild-

study societies, while all go-ahead schools whose principals know how to move with the times, are including a “nursery course” in their curriculum. No Makeshifts. Some of these schools have invested in life-sized celluloid or china dolls for the girls to experiment on, but dressing and undressing, or washing an unresisting doll is a very different thing from performing the toilet of a healthy, struggling baby; while preparing food for a model that cannot eat is nothing Like as interesting as getting a meal ready for a baby shouting its encouragements. The principals of the High Cliff School, Scarborough—Miss Field Hall and Miss Ford—have recently determined to countenance makeshifts no more, and haye installed a real live baby in a model nursery attached to the school.

The baby’s name is Margery, and she is the fourth child of a mother by no means overburdened with this world’s goods. 1 daresay, althougn Ido not know, that at the bottom cf her heart Margery’s mother felt a wee bit nervous at the idea of allowing her seven-week-old daughter to enter the model nurseries at the High Cliff School.

The baby was small and delicate, and perhaps her mother feared that the wellmeant, but untrained, attention of so many young ladies would do her more harm than good. If she had these fears, she kept them to herself, and she soon found that there was not the slightest need for anxiety, for the model nurseries are in charge of a fully- qualified Queen Charlotte’s nurse, who allows no experiments to be made, but insists that every minute of- the baby’s life shall Ire lived strictly according to scientific rules.

A Healthy, Contented Baby. The result is that after three months in the nurseries Margery is a fine, healthy contented baby, accepting her large share of adoration with joyful gurgles and smiles. The girls say that she talks, and that they can understand her but nurse smijas. Her very own mother comes every week to see the baby, and is delighted •with her progress. Nurse explains to her just what the girls have done with Margery during the week, and gives the mother many a useful hint as to how she will be able to keep her in ' perfect health when she finally returns to her own home.

For many years physiology, hygiene, and theoretical nursery management have been ineluded in the curriculum of the High Cliff School, for the principals believe in turning out, not only accomplished young women, able to take their plate in society, but true women capable of making real homes for their husbands and children.

They have always wanted to combine practical teaching with theoretical teaching, ibqt until a little while ago they did not see their way clear to establish a model nursery with a real baby in residence.

When they knew they would be able to make the dream a reality, they broached the idea to the girls, who were delighted with it, though some of them were a little frightened at the prospect before them. For writing a paper on testing the’ temperature of the baby’s bath, and the proper way to prepare a bottle, is not at all the same thing as really doing these things for a small person with strong views of her own as to what she likes and dislikes.

However, Margery arrived, and, with the Queen Charlotte’s nurse in attendance; was installed in a charming cottage quite close to.the school. Delightful Quarters.

- The rooms set apart for the day and night nursery face south, and are full of air<and light; t , •

The ' paint isl all white, and the walls are washable, aaid.a. pretty. restful green in tone, and the girls are- trying to induce Margery to take an interest in the pictures on the walls-r-simply framed copies of world-famous child ; studies.

However, I must confess that so far her appreciation of art is of the slightest! *1 he floor is covered with a green cork carpet, and the furniture is quite simple and strong. Regular Habits.

B.iby Margery is a lucky little mortal, for she lives a well-arranged and carefully regulated life, and is the adored idol of tile whole school. When bedtime ‘comes the girls love to cluster round and watch her being undressed and tubbed. At such times they receive instruction as to how hot the bith should be, and how to handle baby, ari l how her clothes should be adjusted. The girls learn how to prepare baby’s food, how much to give, an I who-. They are also taught how to keep In r bitties, etc., scrupulously clean. Marge v is weighed with careful regularity every week, and her adoring “mothers" are taught to tell iiow she is thriving, ami how miiMi she should gain in weight week by week.

In the affair of the .comforter nurse was very firm ;■ her pupils' thought her almost hard-hearted.

Needless to say, the seven-weeks old baby, coming from its cotfaga home, was accustomed to that wicked invention the comforter. Margery always ligd ba I it, and was determined always' t-> have it.

Nurse was equally determined Unit she should never have it again. Hence many tears! Tn those early struggles with the baby the girls learnt a mast valua /■ lesson —to refuse to give in to a li>t!e child when it badly wants spinet’.ting that is not good for it.

Making Baby's Clothes. One branch of nursery training the girls receive is in the cutting out and making of baby’s clothes, ami every garment Margery wears their bauds have made. , .

The materials are good, ,and the clothes very soft and pretty, but here again the-girls ate not -allowed to forget the inevitable washtub.

l Nothing concerning the.care nil training of little children is omitted from the course.

They learn how to play with little ones; how. to.talk to them ami tell them tales,lor teach them nursery rhymes. ■They know by the toile, of a cry whether a baby is in pain or hungry and cross; and they van tell by many a sign

Ridden from untrained eye if the child is thriving as it should. They are taught what food to give and how to cook it.

Girls of 16 join the theoretical classes, but M.iss Field Hall and Miss Ford have decided that iio one under 17 is eligible for the practical nursery class. Nurse says that the quickness with which the girls have picked up the proper way to handle the baby and attend to her wants is wonderful.

At first they were shy and strange, and a little awkward. Many of them are •‘only” children, and had never held a baby in their arms before. They aproaehed Margery with fear and trembling. Now that is all changed, and they perform their services for her skilfully and gladly. No Colds Allowed.

No one with the suspicion of a cold is allowed near the baby, and it is fortunate that the healthy life the girls lead and the fine air of Scarborough, render coids rare, for the girl who is shut out of the paradise of the nursery is a disconsolate being.

So popular has the model nursery, with its resident baby, become, that the principals have been induced to allow a. limited number of outside students to take up a course, and live for the time at the nursery cottage.

They are girls who have completed their ordinary education, and are now specialising in all branches of domestic economy, cookery, laundry work, nursery management, and what Miss Field Hall graphically calls “home craft.” More babies are to be added to the model nursery soon, for the experiment 4s already a great success, and the principals want to keep at least two babies In residence —one very young and tho other 10 or 12 months old. Bed at Eight-thirty.

It will surprise some young people who are allowed to stay up to “all hours” to hear that the High Cliff School even pupils of 17 have to go to bed at 8.30! No wonder they look well. Windows are open day and night, and the girls are encouraged to take a great deal of outdoor exercise. They ride, play hockey and tennis, are fine swimmers and oarswomen.