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Title: The mothercraft manual

Author: Mary L. Read

Release date: May 31, 2023 [eBook #70887]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Little, Brown, and Company, 1916

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
MOTHERCRAFT MANUAL ***

THE MOTHERCRAFT MANUAL

Training in Mothercraft, at the School of Mothercraft, New York
City. Frontispiece.

THE
MOTHERCRAFT
MANUAL

BY

MARY L. READ, B.S.

ILLUSTRATED

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1921
Copyright, 1916,
By Little, Brown, and Company.

All rights reserved

INSCRIBED TO
MY MOTHER AND FATHER

INTRODUCTION
“Seventy-five per cent. of the women of America are married, and most
of these have children.” It is not conceivable that women entering into any
other vocation of life would think of undertaking it without deliberate
preparation. Motherhood is so precious and wonderful that we fear to think
of it in terms of definite preparedness. We like to think that it comes natural
to be good mothers and that to study in preparation for it or to analyze it
might produce more harm than good.
Let me use my own case as an illustration of how ill-prepared even
earnest women are for motherhood. I was married twenty-nine years ago. I
wanted children with all my heart. My first baby came sixteen months after
I was married. I bought all the literature I could find on my new occupation,
kindergarten books beginning with Froebel and ending with Susan Blow
and her contemporaries; I studied Spencer’s Education, William James’
chapters on habit and attention, and read biographies of great people. My
first ambition was to be a good mother, and I was eager to learn all I could
about it. My college studies for five years were Greek, Latin, and higher
mathematics, with an occasional semester of botany, evidences of
Christianity, physics, etc. I do not remember hearing a reference to
motherhood during my college experience.
I have had six children, four of whom are living. Had I had the
knowledge I now have, or know how to get, it seems that the little seven-
months-old boy could have been saved. I was called a scientific mother, my
babies were fed regularly, put to bed regularly, and were dressed as sensibly
as babies are now, but at that time we did not have the knowledge about the
physical care of babies which we now have. What I object to is the amount
of time I had to give when my children were little to learn things which I
ought to have known before motherhood came to me, so that I could have
been free to give myself to them. I knew “education through play” only as a
figure of speech. Last summer I took a year-old baby to camp. I had the
care of her three consecutive months, and was responsible for her six
months. I yielded to the impulse to play with her, and in gratifying this

instinct I used all the store of knowledge which experience had brought to
me. It was evident that she was learning things every day, and that progress
was astonishingly rapid. Most of the things I taught her were taught by the
use of signs and objects. I asked her if she wanted to come to me by holding
out my hands to her. She understood, and soon asked me to take her by
holding out her hands to me. I asked her where her eyes were, her mouth,
nose, ears, by touching each in turn. She understood and touched each in
turn. It was interesting to note when it was no longer necessary to use the
sign, when she understood spoken language without the aid of gesture.
The phrase that “education begins at the cradle” took on a new
significance. I felt that I was a teacher as well as a mother and the
importance of my part in the education of this baby opened up amazingly. It
was play, but it was also education. Those minutes with her when no one
was near, when we were all in all to each other, were precious beyond
words. Through this love-relation there was intense joy in both learning and
teaching. The reason the mother’s part in education is incomparable to any
other is because of this love-relation.
We are told that during the first five years of life more is learned than
during all the rest of life. The teachers during these years are primarily the
mothers. The mother-teacher relation goes on after school days begin, but
gradually is regarded less important, and the teacher’s part grows. Mother is
forgotten as a teacher. She loses confidence in herself and forgets that no
one can take her place.
It does not seem to me that any woman could have more earnestly
desired and striven to be a good mother. I studied and worked as hard as I
could, but it was not possible for me to secure the training that girls can get
to-day. It now seems to me that it is about as rational for a woman to learn
by experience with her own children to be a good mother, as it would be for
a doctor to get his education merely by practising on his patients.
Motherhood offers no less opportunities for success than do the professions
of law or medicine. The preparation for it is just as definite and is more
important. It has remained for Mary L. Read, with splendid devotion and
university training, to put these matters together and to organize and
conduct a “School for Mothercraft.”

The time is coming when women will no more go into physical and
spiritual motherhood unprepared, trusting to “mother instinct”, than they
will go into law or medicine, trusting to their sense of right and of sympathy
with the sick to guide them.
CHARLOTTE V. GULICK.

PREFACE
Certain definite ideals have been constantly in mind in the preparation of
the present volume, among these the following:
To write a handbook that is so definite, concrete, and clear that the least
experienced person of average intelligence will find it practical.
To bring directly to those who have opportunity to use it,—the home-
makers, present and prospective,—some of the wealth of present knowledge
in biology, dietetics, hygiene, domestic efficiency, child psychology,
education, that is stored in the laboratories, research reports, medical
records, technical journals, and educational classics, translating these from
the obscure tongue of technical language into the clearer speech of daily
life.
To furnish a guide to more technical or detailed consideration of each
subject.
To present fundamental principles and facts rather than mere rule of
thumb procedure, so that the reader may act intelligently and make
intelligent variations.
Not to compromise on half-way procedure that merely prevents disaster,
but to make clear the means to greatest personal efficiency and social
power.
To keep a progressive yet reserved attitude between conservative and
radical theories.
To bring the spirit of sympathy and humanness, of love and child-nature
and poetry into the teaching of home-making.
To lighten the burden and enlighten the minds and hearts of earnest
young people so that with joy and satisfaction they may essay and find the
home and family life that their hearts desire.
Froebel outlined, nearly a century ago, a thorough, practical training
course for young women, preparatory to home-making or to vocational

work as teachers or mothers’ assistants. At Pestalozzi-Froebel House in
Berlin, half a century ago, under the administration of Frau Shrader and
Miss Annette Schepel, such a course was organized. Echoes of it to-day are
found in the German secondary schools and special schools for girls. The
same idea spread to England a quarter of a century ago, and there to-day a
score of special schools, and some girls’ high schools, provide such a
training.
In America, the School of Mothercraft was opened in New York City in
December, 1911, to work out experimentally a training course for educated
young women.[1] Here has been developed a comprehensive, human,
practical course including domestic science and art, and the care and
training of babies and little children. The students work in a home
atmosphere, under home conditions, using the household for their practice
work, caring for the resident babies and children, educating and training
them in the course of the day’s régime, and receiving their own training in
personality and technique as well as in theory. Extension classes have been
maintained for young mothers, brides, and engaged young women.
It is work with young women and the children in the School of
Mothercraft that has made possible the preparation of the present volume.
No book can take the place of the living teacher. No amount of
discussion of theory can be a substitute for experience. Yet experience,
without sound principles, is also of minor value. Any book presupposes a
modicum of common sense and rational judgment in its readers.
In a volume of such limited compass only a few significant principles can
be presented, and some of the important elementary facts and technique that
more technical books may overlook. The present volume aims only to be an
introduction to the many phases of home-making, child care, and child
training, to furnish something of vision for these responsibilities, and a
guide for further study.
No book can be a substitute for the personal advice of the physician, the
hygienist, the psychologist, and the teacher. The reader of any book on
applied science may easily make the mistake of interpreting statements out
of proportion to their significance, or of misunderstanding directions so that
they even become misleading. Only discussion with the living teacher will
discover and correct such errors.

The reader must be open-minded to new discoveries, new theories, new
methods. At the present time, as never before, extensive researches are
being made in biology, hygiene, dietetics, child psychology, and pedagogy.
Important discoveries as revolutionary as the discovery of the circulation of
the blood, radio-activity, the cellular basis of life, may be made at any
future time.
In the present volume no attempt has been made to present controversial
points of view, but a consistently constructive régime and programme has
been given. The novice in any art must first learn to work constructively
and rather dogmatically, until he has learned to apply one set of principles
efficiently. Then he may begin to modify details according to some rational
principle, instead of by mere whim, and to compare his method with other
possibilities. The basis and the special authorities for the régime here
presented will be found in the final chapter on bibliography.

July, 1916. MARY L. READ.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] The word “mothercraft” was coined by the author to express the
comprehensive scope of the training. The word has since come into use in
England in a narrower sense, including merely infant care. It is hoped that in
America the use of the word may be retained in its larger significance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author begs to acknowledge indebtedness and gratitude to many who
have participated in the making of the book.
To the Messrs. Macmillan Co., Ginn Company, F. A. Stokes Co., and D.
Appleton & Co., for permission to quote from their publications; to the
American Medical Association Press and Dr. Roland G. Freeman for use of
the graphs on growth; to Mr. William S. Bailey and The Nurse Studio for
many of the photographs taken specially for this work.
Especially the author begs to tender sincere thanks for many criticisms,
suggestions, and reviewing of manuscript to Dr. David Starr Jordan, Dr.
William F. Snow, Professors Rudolph M. Binder, Willystine Goodsell,
Robert M. Yerkes, and Mr. Paul Popenoe, on the sections dealing with the
home and the family; to Dr. Josephine H. Kenyon for sections on maternity
and infancy, Drs. Henry I. Bowditch, William Shannon, and William H.
Burnham, for sections on hygiene and growth; to physicians and nurses at
Battle Creek Sanitarium for assistance in the sections on nursing and
nutrition; to Dr. William H. Park for revising data on communicable
diseases, and to Professors Henry C. Sherman and Mary S. Rose for
suggestions and for unpublished data on nutrition. Mrs. Anna Martin
Crocker and Miss Sunnyve Carlsen have kindly given literary assistance.
Helpful suggestions on the reading list have been furnished by science
teachers of Horace Mann, Ethical Culture, Francis Parker, and the
University of Chicago Elementary Schools. Miss Helen O. Rider and Miss
Mary Scott Allen have rendered invaluable aid in criticism and clerical
details. To the many others who have furnished technical data or read
portions of the manuscript, the author here expresses thanks. Finally, the
author would gratefully acknowledge the unfailing patience and kindly
encouragement of the publishers. For such errors as may be found the
author alone is responsible. Criticisms or suggestions from readers, which
may improve the helpfulness or accuracy of the Manual, will be gratefully
received.

MARY L. READ.
July, 1916.

CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction vii
Preface xi
CHAPTER
I Mothercraft: Its Meaning, Scope, and Spirit 1
II Establishing the Home 10
III Finding the Means for Mothercraft 20
IV Founding a Family 29
V Growth and Development 41
VI Preparing for the Baby 62
VII Care of the Baby 85
VIII The Physical Care of Young Children 119
IX The Feeding of Children 155
X The Education of the Little Child 196
XI Studying the Individual Child 223
XII A Curriculum for Babyhood and Early Childhood 246
XIII Play 264
XIV Games 275
XV The Toy Age 285
XVI Story-telling 299
XVII Science and History 309
XVIII Handwork 317
XIX Music and Art 329
XX Home Nursing and First Aid in the Nursery 337
Appendix 365
Bibliography 381
Index 425

LIST OF PLATES

Training in Mothercraft, at the School of Mothercraft, New
York City Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Approved Baby Clothing and Bassinet 62
Approved Crib, Scales, Nursery Table. Holding the Baby,
Supporting Head and Back 74
Approved Baby Carriage and Shoes 76
Drugs and Unsanitary Appliances. Unhygienic Equipment and
Unsatisfactory Scales 80
For the Layette 82
Exercises for the Baby 114
Good and Bad Postures 142
Exercises for Trunk, Chest and Back 144
Some Especially Dangerous Foods for Children under Six.
Poisons for Little Children 164
Wholesome Sweets at Suitable Ages. Laxative Foods 174
Day’s Menu for Child Two to Four Years. Day’s Menu for
Child Four to Six Years 182
Learning Self-reliance and Regularity. At the School of
Mothercraft Summer Camp 212
Unhygienic, Inartistic, Anti-social Toys. Hygienic, Durable,
Constructive, Social Toys 290
Handwork that Utilizes Fundamental Muscles. In the School of
Mothercraft Child Garden 320
Height and Weight Charts 370

THE MOTHERCRAFT MANUAL

CHAPTER I
MOTHERCRAFT: ITS MEANING, SCOPE, AND SPIRIT
“To know a child is to love it, and the more we know it, the better we love it.
“To know, love, and serve childhood is the most satisfying, soul-filling of all human activities.
“It rests on the oldest and strongest and sanest of all instincts.
“It gives to our lives a rounded-out completeness as does no other service.
“No other object is so worthy of service and sacrifice; and the fullness of the measure in which this
is rendered is the very best test of a nation and race and a civilization.”
—G. Stanley Hall.

Mothercraft is the skilful, practical doing of all that is involved in the
nourishing and training of children, in a sympathetic, happy, religious spirit.
It is not merely the care of the little baby; that is a very small, though
significant, part. Its practice is not dependent upon physical parenthood, but
is part of the responsibility of every woman who has to do with children as
teacher, nurse, friend, or household associate. It is no more an instinct than
is gardening or building. It is not merely being with children. Its requisite is
vital working knowledge of the fundamental principles of biology, hygiene,
economics, psychology, education, arts. It is mothering—that oldest,
steadiest, most satisfactory vocation to women always and everywhere—
made intelligent and efficient and joyous.
Mothercraft cannot be learned simply from books any more than can
music, agriculture, carpentry, dentistry. The most important factor in the
learning of mothercraft is the daily intelligent association with the children
in their natural environment of home. A hospital with sick children is a
place to learn its pathological phases.
No one of intelligence will dispute the theory that the most important
period in the child’s life is the first seven years. It is in these years that the
foundation of his physical life is settled (or unsettled); that the lifelong
habits are formed; that the prejudices and the bases of his spiritual and
social life are laid. The “gates of gifts”—his potentialities—are closed at
birth, possibly when his parents are chosen. Whether one is an advocate of

heredity or of environment as the most influential factor in the life of the
individual, none will now gainsay that both the heredity and the
environment of every individual can be controlled, and that each of these
factors may be made vastly more efficient through the high ideals, the
intelligence, and the foresight of parents present and potential.
In these days of radical change in the activities and education of women,
mothercraft has not kept pace with the other vocations open to women. In a
society where marriage is no longer an economic, domestic, or conventional
necessity, there has developed a tacit assumption that youth would not
marry, and therefore special preparation for home-making (and especially
for child care) would be presumptuous and a waste of time. The school has
left this part of a girl’s training for the home to give, and in a large
proportion of homes there has not been the time or the intelligence or the
foresight to give it. Girls have gone from elementary school directly into
industry, or to high school and college, or to finishing school and society.
Educators and vocational guides have frequently overlooked it in
educational and vocational conferences, exhibits, and guidebooks.
And yet to-day in America, the care and training of young children is
chiefly in the hands of women. Seventy-five per cent. of women in America
are married, and presumably most of them have the responsibility of
children in their own homes.
There are ten million children under six years of age whose care and
training is naturally in the entire control of their homes. There are fourteen
million children between five and fifteen years of age who, on the average,
spend thirty hours a week, for forty weeks a year, in school, while all the
rest of their life—about seventy per cent. of their waking hours, as well as
all their sleeping hours—is in the control of their mothers and fathers.
Nursing, within fifty years, has become a profession, and to-day it is
almost impossible for a woman to find employment as a nurse unless she
has had a special training for three years. Yet nursing has only to do with
sick folk, usually in a hospital, which is still a far cry from the daily care,
hygiene, and training of the normal child in a home. For an equal period,
teachers of young children have been expected to take a special normal
course of two to four years. Yet this training has had little to do, until
recently in some quarters, with hygiene, biology, or the psychology of the

child, but has concerned itself chiefly with subjects in the curriculum and
with masses of children in an artificial grouping and environment, foreign
to their native interests and inimical to their physical needs.
Only within the last twenty-five years has medicine developed pediatrics
—the special study of children’s treatment. Child-hygiene is still later as an
exact science. Child-study, as an exact science, dates back to Froebel and
the early nineteenth century, and is still a new field.
The mother in her home, herself with slight special preparation, busy
with her children, could scarcely have been expected to keep pace with
these developments and to teach them to her daughters, even had she the
foresight. The higher institutions of learning, naturally among the most
conservative forces of society, have not yet begun to perceive the
significance of such a subject as mothercraft in the curriculum, although the
beginnings of some phases are being made. The secondary and elementary
schools, bound by the fetish of college requirements, are only beginning to
show here and there indications of efforts to prepare for living instead of
simply for college.
And the young woman—still immature, inexperienced, and therefore not
appreciative of life’s values and impending responsibilities—has had
neither the guidance of school and home, nor the educational opportunity,
nor the personal foresight to prepare adequately for this vocation.
What is the consequence? A generation of women, the majority of whom
are notoriously (and sometimes shamelessly) ignorant and unskilled in the
most vital and significant human responsibilities. In millions of homes
women are wasting their time and energy, losing the joy of their
motherhood (and too often their little ones), perplexed, harassed, over-
burdened, because they are bungling, stumbling blindly, groping at their
vocation. And those they love most dearly are paying the penalty, in less
happy homes, less efficient lives. Hundreds of thousands of self-supporting
young women every year are going into industrial or commercial work or
school teaching, not because they prefer it, but because opportunities for
acquiring the requisite skill are at hand, and conditions of work have been
standardized. Hundreds of thousands of mothers with young children are
seeking in vain for assistants of desirable personality and efficient training.
For such workers there has been no adequate opportunity for training and

no standardizing of working conditions. In all this, America is far behind
both Germany and England.
What does mothercraft require in its practitioners? First, personality: love
of children and sympathy with child-nature, responsibility, patience,
thoroughness in the minute details day in and day out, self-control, good
judgment, adaptability, the play spirit. Fundamental also are open-
mindedness, spiritual vision, and the poise that results from a well-regulated
physical régime and a firm apprehension of eternal verities.
Then knowledge: a sound foundation in the fundamental principles and
vital facts of applied biology, psychology, sociology, ethics, economics,
natural sciences, play, arts, as they relate to the home, the family, and
childhood. Equally important is the scientific mind that knows how to
approach new problems and receive new principles.
Then technique: the actual doing and practice of mothercraft. Knowledge
is of no value until it is translated into efficient action. There must be little
children to care for, tend, play with, educate.
What of fathercraft? Every child has two parents, equal in responsibility
for his heredity and likewise for his rearing. Fathers could hardly be
expected ordinarily to be versed in the intricacies of clothing, feeding, and
bathing the baby. But why should not every man understand the principles
of hygiene and foods as a matter of his general knowledge quite as much as
for coöperation with the mother in the children’s régime? Why should he
not with equal zest make a study of growth and development during
childhood? Even more, why should he not be intimately acquainted with
child psychology and the fundamental principles of child training and
education, that he may understand his own children and coöperate
sympathetically in their upbringing? Is there any valid reason why he
should not be equally acquainted with the sociology of the home, the
meaning and principles of eugenics, the psychology of harmony in home
life?
There is no profession open to either men or women that offers such
opportunities for personal culture, individual expression, technical skill,
scientific research, social contribution and welfare, as mothercraft. Perhaps
the very comprehensiveness of it and its humanness have presented a

problem so complex that it has baffled the educators and delayed its
admission to academic dignity.
Through the channels of child welfare, eugenics, and pediatrics, a keener
sense of responsibility toward the child unborn is developing. Through the
increasing knowledge of heredity, child psychology, and education, a
clearer vision is appearing to young men and young women of what they
themselves might have been, and of what they may yet create and develop
by combining wisdom with their great love. Philanthropists are realizing the
futility of simply relieving immediate suffering, crime, inefficiency, for
generation after generation. They are looking to the elimination of the
causes: ignorance of the rudiments of living, poor heredity, neglect in
childhood, unsanitary, ugly, unspiritual living conditions. “There is no
wealth but life,” we are realizing with Ruskin. Statesmen and legislators are
beginning to see that the stability of society and the State demand that the
organizing of homes, the founding of families, the spending of family
incomes, shall not be intrusted to novices and unskilled workers. As
indications of this, we have the recently established Children’s Bureau, and
the Smith-Lever Bill with its appropriation for education that includes
home-making.
In America, clubs, reading courses, and special correspondence for
parents have been developed in the last quarter century by the International
Congress of Mothers, Parent-Teachers’ Association, Home and School
League, American Institute of Child Life. This is good and is helping many
parents in meeting their perplexities, but as a national means of vocational
training, its psychology and pedagogy is shortsighted and inefficient.
What banker would trust his ledgers to a youth just out of school, whose
only special preparation for bookkeeping was a current reading course in
business methods? What woman would permit a man to experiment on her
garden if he was just beginning a correspondence course in agriculture?
What business man wants to intrust his correspondence to a stenographer
just out of a business course, even after months of such vocational training?
All this is recognized as inefficient, wasteful, expensive in business; how
much more so is it in the home, where precious human lives are the factors
to be dealt with.

Slowly, but certainly, there is coming a new ideal in education. Children
and young people are to be prepared for living. They are to know how to
develop physical vitality and mental ability and spiritual power. They are to
be prepared in spirit and intelligence, in skill and in science, in personality
and technique for the responsibilities that most of them will assume, for the
greatest responsibility any of them can assume—home-making and family
rearing.
Both the school and the home are responsible for the preparation of these
future parents. They must apply to this vocational problem all their
knowledge of psychology and pedagogy. Right habits of regularity,
responsibility, self-control, must be carefully trained in those babyhood and
early childhood stages; the manual phases of household work are to be
taught in the manual stage before the teens; boys and girls are to be imbued
with a wholesome, responsible spirit toward motherhood and fatherhood
and the home which they are taught to look forward to as the goal for
themselves; girls in their teens are to have companionship and experience
with little children, learning the essential details and the significant guiding
principles of their high calling in a practical, human, motherly way, under
wise and sympathetic teachers. Girls, and boys likewise, will be encouraged
to foresee the significance and values and responsibility of home and
family, and to conduct themselves worthily of such a mission.
Secondary and elementary schools are beginning to give school credit for
assistance at home. Domestic science and art are now taught in hundreds of
schools. Their field as yet is narrowly restricted to the mechanics of the
household, usually taught in an academic way. This, however, is an entering
wedge for more practical, comprehensive, and human phases of home-
making education whenever school administrators, teachers, and parents
shall see that vision. The day seems not distant when colleges generally will
give credit for all home-making branches, as a few do now for some phases.
We may even yet see universities granting M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in
mothercraft and fathercraft, as well as in philology, astronomy, history, or
other more consequential branches of learning. College alumnæ themselves
are making earnest appeals to their Alma Maters to prepare their students
for home-making responsibilities. It is not unthinkable that the colleges,
before many decades, might even include the preparatory work in these
subjects among their entrance requirements, as they now do algebra and

Latin. In that day “applied science” will be esteemed more worthy than
“pure science”, and ability to utilize more honorable than ability to
memorize. By the next century, a mothercraft course may become as
conventional a part of the curriculum of a finishing school as French or
vocal training or æsthetic dancing; and its rudiments as requisite as a
certificate of age for working papers; and preparedness in fathercraft as
stringent a requirement for a marriage license as a medical certificate. Why
not?

CHAPTER II
ESTABLISHING THE HOME

The Purpose of the Home. The cause, historically, and the reason,
socially, for the home is the child and the family. Home is the great training
school of life for parents as well as for children. It is not merely a place to
eat and sleep; any boarding-house can provide that. The ideal home is a
community of congenial spirits, a place of inspiration, comfort, rest of spirit
as well as of body. Here dwell together two who have chosen each other as
comrades in the complex problem of living, to share their fare, their mirth,
their troubles, to give cheer in distress, encouragement in struggle, ambition
for achievement, sympathy in trial and happiness, friendly criticism to
refine; and to coöperate in their mutual desire, responsibility, joys, and trials
of rearing a family.
As young men and women face squarely the possibilities in a home, as
they perceive the causes of discord in family life, and study the basis of
family stability and happiness, as they take the time before marriage to
compare sincerely their ideals, tastes, standards, expectations, they will
minimize the possibilities of later discord—even tragedy. If they cannot
agree sincerely and heartily on economic, social, physiological, and
psychological adjustments before the wedding ceremony, when each has the
altruism of romance and the spur of the game, how can they expect to adjust
themselves amicably afterwards, in the severe test of everyday needs and
situations?
Marriage is the concern of the individual, because his happiness and his
activity are involved. It is also the concern of the State, because property
rights, social harmony, and future citizenship are involved. A brief study of
the historical and social development of the home and family relations will
give a surer basis for the rational discussion of this problem than would a
theoretical discussion based merely on prejudices of individualism or
altruism.

Evolution of Marriage. In the human species, infancy is prolonged over
several years. From this mutual care by the mother and the father in
primitive society, there evolved the mutual love for the little child and later
for each other; and with this the permanent relationship which alone could
produce the organization of the family. The beginnings of morality likewise
developed from this sense of a community interest which called for a
subordination of selfish desires.
For ages mankind has experimented with different forms of family
relation and home organization, trying to discover which serve best to foster
the child, conserve the State, and satisfy the men and women who form the
family. Under different social and economic conditions, polygamy and
polyandry (more than one wife or husband), promiscuity (several temporal
husbands or wives) and monogamy (one husband or wife) have been tried.
Polygamy, in primitive society, developed where women were in excess,
or their labor increased family income, or where a man’s fortune enabled
him to support more than one wife and her children. The polygamous nature
of man was accepted by Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Mohammedan
religions, and its practice permitted by their statutes. The Jewish nation
early evolved from polygamy to monogamy, and incorporated the latter into
its religion and customs. Anglo-Saxon ideals were of monogamy. The
teachings of Christ emphasized monogamy. The early Christian teachers
even carried this, as other ideals, to its farthest extreme, and preached the
ideal of celibacy. It remained for Mormonism to sanctify polygamy and
make it a duty. But polygamy, which was flatly opposed by the general
sentiment of the United States, was short-lived in the territory of the
Mormon Church. The local feeling on this issue at present may be
summarized in the following sentiment, expressed by a distinguished
citizen of Utah:
“Our citizenship must be world citizenship. It is a matter of common
knowledge and comment that that citizen is most valuable to his town who
can see the town’s needs in relation to those of his county; that he is of most
value to his county who sees that county as a constituent part of the state
and consents to nothing for his county that would hurt the state; that a
state’s most valuable and serviceable citizen is the man who has the power
in his thinking, reasoning, and acting to rise above sectionalism and act as a

citizen of the nation. This is the test to which our citizenship must submit—
the standard up to which it must measure.”
In primitive, as well as in civilized societies, the beginning of a new
home is customarily celebrated with civil and religious ceremonies;
customs and laws provide for the relative rights of the husband and wife to
their persons, their children, their property, and the returns from their labor.
Infidelity (particularly of the wife), common-law marriages (living as
husband and wife without legal marriage), promiscuous relations, divorce,
have generally been branded as anti-social and reprehensible, expressions
of lack of self-control, altruism, and foresight.
Mankind is finding through the experience of the ages that monogamy
best conserves child life, the home, the State, and individual happiness. It
has found that irresponsible parenthood, shallowness of marital or parental
affection, promiscuous relations, all endanger the life and welfare of the
child. It has learned that marriage customs and laws requiring considerable
formality and therefore deliberation of the contracting parties, reduced the
proportion of hasty, unsatisfactory, and temporary unions with their
uncertain responsibility for the children, and their quarrels over property.
Many factors have contributed to the establishment of the really
monogamous family and home as the social ideal and the increasing social
practice. The lengthening period of infancy, with the consequent longer
period of mutual coöperation of parents in nurture and training; realization
of the Christ spirit of love for others, of respect for the value and
individuality of every human life; the consequent refinement of the
emotional life and social feeling, and the sublimating of sex instincts to the
development of a richer personality, to mental creative work and to social
service; the democratization of education and social status; freedom in
choice of a marriage partner—all have contributed a part.
Freedom of choice has been far less prevalent than capture, purchase, or
family contract, in marriages of the past. It is wearisome to even try to
imagine the procession of brides, since those early days of the cavemen,
who had no choice in the matter of their husbands. For what countless
millions of brides was the marriage arranged by barter between their fathers
and their future household lords, sometimes the father requiring a purchase
price, sometimes the bridegroom demanding a dowry. What millions of
girls have been selected while mere children as the future wives and slaves

of their husbands and the family drudges of the household. How many
millions of brides and bridegrooms have never been consulted as to their
personal feelings or desires, but have been married because the elders of
their families decreed it. Under all such conditions, if husband and wife
developed affection for each other, that was so much of advantage to them
from the combination; otherwise they must adapt themselves as best they
could to the daily round of life in their common dwelling and throughout
their family responsibilities.
Trial marriages have been an experiment in many societies. They are
based upon suspicion and expectation of termination, instead of upon that
whole-hearted confidence and expectation of endurance which is the basis
of a permanent relation. Psychologically, therefore, their basis is false and
weak. They presented a crude method of testing mutual adaptation and
affection, which to-day may be gained by visiting a few weeks in each
other’s families, by thorough preliminary discussion of problems of
adjustment, and by consultation with a competent physician, biologist, and
sociologist or a mature and thoughtful counsellor.
Thus has marriage evolved by stages from biological matings, based on
physical attraction; to the business contract, based on economic relations; to
the social contract, based on social advantage to the family, clan, or State;
and finally to a spiritual relationship, based on mutual social and
intellectual interests and ties. Romantic love as a general experience in
marriage has developed only during the past few hundred years. No one of
these phases—the biological, economic, social, or spiritual—can be ignored
in marriage to-day without disaster, as divorce records and daily
observation show so clearly. To ignore the higher relationships and base
marriage simply on the biological or material is to revert back to a lower
stage in human development. A marriage based simply on physical
attraction soon loses its glamour, and is as a house built upon the sands. The
enduring ties are those of spiritual comradeship. It is this spiritual-
biological love, evolving with the personality and soul of man, that has
inspired the great wealth of spiritual creations in poetry, music, drama, and
painting.
The American young woman of to-day, especially of the middle classes,
is economically, socially, and religiously free to choose from among her
suitors the one she finds most congenial and whom she really loves.

Legislators are providing in many States for the woman’s equal rights in
marriage to her person, property, and children. Churches, associations, and
parents are awakening to their responsibility in providing natural and
wholesome social opportunities for young men and women to become
acquainted. If a woman does not find her ideal in the community where she
lives, she is socially free to migrate to any part of the country, enter any one
of a thousand occupations, and seek until she finds a suitable helpmeet. In
this country, in contrast to Europe, there is an excess of some two million
men in the population. She will find a large proportion of young men of her
social class and education, whose standards and habits of life are as fine as
Sir Galahad’s, who have the economic ability to make a comfortable living,
and who are ready to coöperate intelligently and whole-heartedly in home-
making. The young man of to-day will find an increasing proportion of
young women who combine physical charm, social gifts, intellectual
comradeship, home-making instincts, and preparation.
Why Homes Are Broken. In a country where divorce is easily obtained
by either husband or wife, for serious cause, the proportion of divorces is an
index (1) to the percentage of dissatisfied couples (which will always be
considerably higher than the percentage of divorces); and (2) to the
intelligence and forethought with which young people enter marriage. The
census of 1910 estimated one marriage in twelve ending in divorce, and
counted as direct parties about one half of one per cent. of the population,
something over three hundred thousand men and women, with children
involved in about sixty per cent. of these families. The causes stated in the
court records would, of course, be only those allowed in the laws as the
legal grounds for granting a divorce. These, in the order of their frequency,
were (1) desertion by the husband, (2) cruelty of the husband, (3) desertion
by the wife, (4) non-support by the husband, (5) cruelty of the wife, (6)
adultery. The most frequent real causes, as found by social investigation, are
lack of self-control, lack of mutual ideals in regard to sex relations,
ignorance of sex hygiene, use of alcohol, irresponsibility, economic
extravagance, disagreement regarding the family income, hasty marriage
after brief acquaintance. Among the other causes productive of discord are
selfishness, insincerity, false pride, nagging, poor housekeeping, the
husband’s lack of economic ability; marked differences in age, education,
social status, religion; abnormal craving for social excitement; unnatural,
crowded, unattractive homes.

How Homes Are Made Steadfast and a Benediction. The fundamental
requisite of family happiness is love; not merely sex attraction, which may
be wholly selfish, but love that is service, happier to give than to receive,
willing to share. In some respects similarity between husband and wife is
important in their social and intellectual tastes, moral standards, religious
faith, refinement, love of children, rate of ability to progress, degree of
seriousness or frivolousness, ardor and expression of affection. These make
for congenial daily living. In some respects complementary qualities are
desired. If one is impatient, the other may well possess a degree of patience
and sense of humor to meet this; if one is extravagant, the other should be
thrifty; if one is radical, the other may well be conservative, although
marked extremes would always clash. The degree of positiveness in the one
should approximate that in the other; if equal, neither is willing to yield; if
very unequal, one domineers the other. These complementary traits make
for balance of family life. The qualities that each should possess would
include responsibility, self-control, sincerity, kindliness; freedom from
drugs, conscientious abstinence from alcohol and from vicious habits; a
degree of maturity and experience equal to the responsibilities of home-
making (usually not under twenty years for women and twenty-one for
men), love of home life and of children; good health, freedom from any
serious germ disease, a family history free from criminal tendencies,
alcoholism, mental defects, tuberculosis. A gambler, spendthrift, flirt,
vacillating or superficial man or woman, or one who is “sowing wild oats”
has not the qualifications for establishing a home. The man should be able
to earn a comfortable living, and the woman to administer the household
efficiently and smoothly. Every woman should have some means of making
her livelihood at the time she marries; it will greatly increase her husband’s
respect for her and be a source of confidence to herself. She usually cannot
do better, from the economic aspect, than to become thoroughly skilled in
phases of home-making.
How the family income should be divided, what share the wife shall have
for household use and for her personal use, is so diplomatic and acute a
problem that it should be as sincerely and frankly discussed as all these
other phases.
Whether the wife should undertake work besides managing the home-
making is a moot question. Certainly her first responsibility is to make a

home not only comfortable but inspiring. She needs to have such
opportunity for relaxation, meditation, reading, personal development, that
however weary and tense her husband may return in the evening, she can
give rest, good cheer, and refreshment of spirit, because of her reserve of
vitality, and can send him each morning to his work with the courage and
good spirits stimulated by her blitheness. She needs, also, to be storing
reserve strength for her children.
The location of the house greatly affects the family life. Ideally, it should
be a separate dwelling, with a porch for outdoor social life, a garden where
all members of the family have room to work and play, with rooms enough
for individual privacy; and it should be owned, not rented.
The minimum income on which two people may advisably marry will
depend largely upon their degree of adaptability, patience, and sense of
humor. Acquaintance before marriage may safely be not less than a year and
preferably two, not only for thorough and sincere acquaintance, but for the
possibility of the reaction and even repulsion that is so likely to follow a
violent case of love on short acquaintance. If love is too ardent, it needs this
discipline of patience and restraint. If it is deep enough to last through the
rest of time, it will stand the test of waiting.
Having established their home, husband and wife may well cultivate their
love wisely, seeing that it does not starve from lack of service in little
thoughtfulnesses; that it is not surfeited by too much of sweetness or selfish
expression; that it is protected by residence separate from relatives, friends,
strangers; that both have individual social life and friends and pursuits so
that they do not become wearisome to each other; that they busy themselves
in some mutual objective interest—social welfare, club, lodge work or a
reading course. The few minutes spent together each day in gaining
inspiration, either in religious worship, or reading from some great book, or
singing noble songs, will do much to keep the family life harmonious and to
reduce the petty frictions. It is well to agree on the first day—and carry
through the agreement—that if misunderstanding or the least suspicion
arises, it shall be frankly and thoroughly faced, discussed, and eliminated,
remembering that it is “the little rift within the lute” that silences the music.
Then, as the poet sings:

“Through the long years liker must they grow,

The man be more of woman, she of man;
He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world,
She, mental breadth, nor fail in childward care,
Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind;
Until at last she set herself to man
Like perfect music unto noble words.”

CHAPTER III
FINDING THE MEANS FOR MOTHERCRAFT

“Efficient housekeeping is the beginning of good citizenship.”
—Professor Martha van Rensselaer.

The Budget. Many young people hesitate to marry on a modest income,
either through confessed inability to manage a small budget, or an
unwillingness to begin humbly and live simply. Many mothers are sorely
perplexed over the problem of finding time and energy from their
household work for the education of and play with their children. Parents
are perplexed over how to provide for and educate more than one or two
children in what they consider a fitting manner.
Efficiency Methods. The whole complexity may be reduced to definite
problems of philosophy, scientific efficiency, physics, and mathematics.
The first step is to appreciate the relative value of life and of things, of
genuine simplicity and vulgar show; of educating the children to share, to
carry responsibility, to be self-reliant, or to be selfish, dependent, luxury-
loving.
Second, all the labor-saving machinery in the world will but slightly
reduce the output of time and energy in the household work unless the
worker will apply her mind to the problem, adapt herself to new ways of
performing a piece of work, and be willing to think.
Third, the individual problem must be studied. Have a regular monthly
session to analyze seriously, with pencil and paper, the household situation,
and to question every process of work and every expenditure. Can the
household régime be made simpler yet socially efficient? Where is there
waste of energy, time, materials, income? How can the accumulation of dirt
and dust be reduced? How can dishwashing and laundry work be reduced?
How can time spent in cooking be decreased? How could any work be done
in a less tiring position? Where could there be a reduction in the number of
steps, trips, arm movements, duplications of work, arranging which requires

later disarrangement? Where could pipes, drains, hose lines, faucets,
pulleys, speaking tubes, signals, or other simple mechanical devices reduce
time and labor? What work could be done by a part-time helper at an hourly
or daily rate? What is the difference in cost between food cooked at home
or purchased already cooked? What has been the loss from food wasted,
spoiled, thrown away, improperly cooked? Could any foods be purchased
directly from the producer, with a saving of cost? Are the dealers sending
honest measures and correct bills? How could a reduction be made in the
cost of fuel or of lighting?
Domestic engineers, housekeeping experiment stations, household
efficiency laboratories already exist, but they are so new that the terms are
not yet quite familiar. It may prove a great saving of time and energy to
consult one of the new domestic engineers, whose business it is to analyze a
kitchen or a house or a family budget, plan its rearrangement for economy
of time, energy, and money, recommend labor-saving machinery, or
organize a system of routine.
Fourth, begin at once to put efficiency principles into practice in the
household work. Do not dawdle or potter over work. Analyze the work of
the household into units, for example, preparation of breakfast, laying and
clearing the dining table, care of a bedroom, washing the dishes. Specify the
maximum amount of time each unit is worth, then see how this can be
reduced, using the fewest arm motions and least walking.
Saving Time and Energy. Learn to plan and organize work. Have a
monthly, weekly, and daily schedule of work. It will often be necessary to
vary this, but a well-planned schedule will nevertheless reduce the time
otherwise wasted in unnecessary duplication and without definite purpose.
“A stitch in time saves nine.” This applies to sanitation, plumbing, cleaning,
gardening, colds, and sore throats, as well as to socks and frocks.
Study how to eliminate useless motions. Make exact studies, using a
watch and a record pad. Observe how many trips were made in laying the
table, and the length of time required. Discover ways of reducing this by
half, through use of a tray, more convenient arrangement of supplies, fewer
dishes, simpler service. Make similar studies with other processes, such as
cleaning a room, or preparing a meal.

In an ordinary household, preparation of breakfast for a family of five
persons should not require more than half an hour; lunch from twenty
minutes to an hour; dinner from half an hour to two hours. The daily care of
a bedroom should be completed in ten to twenty minutes. Washing of
dishes, clearing of dining room and kitchen, should be finished in from
twenty to sixty minutes after a meal. The weekly washing for such a family
should be completed in four to six hours, and likewise the ironing. Five
hours a week is enough to spend in baking, and only two should be
necessary if bread is not made.
Make out the menus for a whole week, revising daily as necessary. This
will assure better-balanced menus, more variety, economy of time and
money in marketing, and will prevent the worry of unpreparedness. In
marketing, purchase a two or four months’ supply of such staples as can be
bought and stored advantageously. Have a regular day weekly to inspect
supplies and order staples. Have two or three regular days a week for
purchasing fresh vegetables, fruits, meats.
The general architectural plan of a house, finish of walls and floors,
construction of windows, doors, wainscoting, corners, mopboards, can
make hours of difference in the week’s labor. Even when the general
architecture cannot be altered, the floors may be improved. Carpeted or
waxed floors are the most difficult to care for, while those painted or oiled
are easiest. Useless bric-a-brac, carved and ornate furniture, all are dust and
germ holders, and consume an extravagant amount of time for their care.
For every unnecessary and useless piece of furniture, drapery, or utensil, the
housekeeper must pay a tax of time and strength in handling. The Japanese
have learned the beauty of simplicity in house furnishing.
Rearrange the plan of the kitchen until supplies, utensils, stove, water,
sink are so placed that there are fewest steps and motions, and it is as
convenient as an apartment house kitchenette. Tables, sinks, and ironing
boards adjusted to the height of the worker will economize energy. A low
stool to stand upon will reduce the height of work tables; a detached
wooden frame or block on top of a low kitchen table or sink will often give
the desired height without stooping. A cushioned stool or chair to sit upon
while doing stationary work, or a soft rug under feet while standing, all add
to comfort.

Electricity is the housekeeper’s man-of-all-work. It can heat, light, cook,
supply the energy for the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, wringer,
dishwasher. In some communities it is now furnished at a sufficiently low
rate for such general use, and other communities can have the same low
rates whenever the housekeepers organize and demand it.
Simple cooking is more digestible, nourishing, economical of labor, and,
to a natural appetite, more appetizing. The most valuable part of potatoes
and apples is next the skin, the removal of which before cooking is wasteful
of time and materials. A coal stove is an enormous consumer of time and
energy. An alcohol stove furnishes the cleanest method of cooking, quite
practicable, with a fireless cooker and steam cooker, for a small family.
Next in convenience, and more economical, are the gas or oil vapor stoves.
A good fireless cooker vastly reduces the time required in the kitchen, and
cuts the fuel bill in half.
In serving meals, labor is saved by using a tray, or better still a wheeled
tray with several shelves, which may be drawn up to the table to hold the
additional courses and the soiled dishes as removed. A special tray that will
fit the cupboard shelf, to hold the constant accessories, will save handling.
Dishwashing is an ever-recurring, three-times-a-day problem. There are
several fairly good dishwashing machines now on the market, both electric
and hand-power. If dishes must be washed in the old-fashioned way,
engineering efficiency can be put into it. After washing, scald the china in a
wire basket such as business offices use for holding letters, and leave to dry
without wiping, then place directly on trays to take to the table instead of
placing on shelves only to take down again. In times of stress or of picnic
spirit, papier-mâché or wooden dishes will save time.
For cleaning have a vacuum cleaner, carpet sweeper, hair floor brush,
dustless mop, dustless dusters or cheesecloth dampened with kerosene, wax
oil or furniture polish. It takes an hour or two after sweeping for dust to
settle; this interval should be allowed before dusting furniture.
If good laundries, guiltless of injurious chemicals and extravagant rates,
are not available in the locality, a coöperative laundry providing these
features may be organized and conducted by the women of the community,
as in many places in Wisconsin. If laundry work must be done at home, an
equipment of a good washing machine or even a hand vacuum washer, a

wringer, stationary tubs, hose lines, running hot and cold water, with sewer
connection for waste, greatly reduce the time and energy cost. A cold
mangle or one heated by gas or charcoal costs but a few dollars and reduces
by about seventy-five per cent. the labor of ironing flat work. Gas or
electric irons are inexpensive and energy saving. Necessary laundry work
may be greatly minimized by providing silk or cotton crepon for underwear
and dresses, seersucker for children’s rompers, dresses, and aprons, with
doilies or paper napkins in place of tablecloth, at least for breakfast and
lunch, and paper towels for kitchen and bathroom.
The physical and mental condition of the worker is a very considerable
factor in time and energy cost. Work attempted when one is fatigued,
nervous, or tense consumes vastly more energy and time. Learn to relax at
intervals; especially lie down for a few minutes about midday. “Never stand
when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down.” If becoming nervous or
tense, relax completely, and take long, slow, deep breaths of fresh air. Stand
with the weight on the balls of the feet, head erect and chest expanded.
Keep the house air in winter at efficiency point: between 65° F. and 68° F.
in temperature, and sufficiently humid by well-filled water pans in furnace
pipe or by large open dishes of water in room, and with a constant intake of
fresh outside air.
Making the Most of the Family Income. Analyze the family income
and spend it on paper many times before spending it over the counter. Train
the family to spend less than is planned, rather than more Ordinarily, for
incomes up to three thousand dollars, the following is considered by
economists a wise distribution, in a family with three children:

Rent 20%
Food 25%
Operating expenses (heat, light, repairs, labor, supplies) 15%
Clothing 20%
Education, recreation, health, saving 15-20%

Personal ordering and selection of supplies, paying cash and keeping
accounts, will furnish the greatest values for expenditures. Accurate scales
and measures in the kitchen, with occasional tests of supplies sent, will

check errors or dishonesty of marketmen. Cost of supplies may be reduced
by keeping posted on market prices; buying in wholesale quantities where
possible, in coöperation with other housekeepers; buying directly from the
producer wherever possible; knowing the reliable grades and brands of
package goods. A knowledge of the values of common foods and their
comparative cost for equivalent food value is indispensable for efficiency. A
reasonable allowance is two dollars to two dollars and a half a week for
food supplies for each person. An ample quantity (eighteen hundred to two
thousand calories a day) of nourishing food of limited variety can be
purchased for one dollar a week. Luxuries should be had on a four dollar
weekly allowance per person
The following table can be expanded by any housekeeper. For other food
stuffs: Note calories per pound. (Given in Government Bulletin Number 28
or Rose’s Laboratory Manual in Dietetics) To find the number of calories
for one cent, divide calories per pound by cost per pound. Fruits and green
vegetables, although furnishing few calories for one cent, are needed each
day, for their vitamines, acids, and minerals.

Comparative Caloric Food Values and Cost
Calories Calories
Food per Cost per for
Pound Pound One Cent
Oatmeal 1803 4 cents 451
Corn meal 1613 4 ” 400
Dried peas 1612 8 ” 201
White bread 1174 6 ” 196
Potatoes 378 2 ” 189
Milk, per qt 675 9 ” 75
Rice 660 10 ” 66
Flank steak 1084 18 ” 60
Shredded wheat 1600 33 ” 48
Salmon 922 20 ” 46
Sirloin 957 28 ” 34
Eggs (28 cents a doz ) 672 21 ” 32
Flounder 128 7 ” 20
Chicken 289 25 ” 12

Locating the Home. Life in the open country, town, or suburb reduces
the cost of living, as compared with the city, (a) by reducing the stimulation
and excitement of daily life, and their energy cost; (b) reducing the
temptations to extravagant and frivolous expenditure of money; (c)
furnishing better air and more outdoor living, thus increasing the quality of
life besides decreasing expenditures for illness; (d) providing a porch and
yard where children may play in sight of mother at work, and where the
family may find social life; (e) providing space for garden and poultry,
whose care is healthful exercise, and whose products may reduce the
expenditure for food. By purchasing staples at wholesale and organizing a
coöperative marketing group for fruits and vegetables, as wide a variety and
as low a cost of food is possible as under most favorable city conditions.
The provision of rural traveling libraries, art exhibits, educational picture
films, the use of the schoolhouse as a social center, the improvement of
education in the rural and suburban school with its ideal natural
environment, all are part of that larger home-making for which every
mother and father should feel a responsibility.
The Value of Life and of Things. “The things that are seen are temporal;
the things that are not seen are eternal.” Do not mistake the means for the
end in housekeeping. Orderliness, immaculate linen, garnished rooms are
means. Good cheer, patience, kindliness, reserve force, poise are of vastly
greater value. Often it is necessary to choose between the two. Cherish
simplicity, beauty, courtesy, rather than conventionality, aping of passing
modes, vulgar show, and ostentation in the house, equipment, household
service, the clothing of the family. Train every member of the family to be
responsible for the care of his own belongings and to wait upon himself as
his share in social coöperation.
Let the children from toddling time help in the household duties and
chores. It will be for their guardians a good training in patience,
adaptability, and sympathy. What if their work is crude, with many mistakes
and mishaps? They are learning motor coördinations, manual dexterity, a
knowledge of homely routine, the meaning of labor and service, the joy of
workmanship and creation, the satisfaction of self-reliance, the happiness of
intimate comradeship with mother and father. Their character development

is the great consideration, not the materials they are handling or the petty
work they are accomplishing.

CHAPTER IV
FOUNDING A FAMILY

“The business of life is the transmission of the sacred torch of heredity undimmed to future
generations. This is the most precious of all worths and values in the world.”
—G. Stanley Hall.
“The young people of the next and all succeeding generations must be taught the supreme sanctity
of parenthood—that the highest profession and privilege they can aspire to is responsible fatherhood
and motherhood.”
—C. W. Saleeby.

Solicitude for the Child as a Factor in Social Progress. The eugenic
education of children is the real beginning. Parents can give to the little
children in the home true ideals of parenthood, wholesome respect for
maternity and paternity, training in the control of desires and appetites, a
controlling sense of their personal and social responsibility, and true
instruction regarding the origin and creation of life.
So to live that their children shall be strong and happy is a motive that a
child can appreciate, and it can become the most powerful incentive for
hygienic living, for industry, education, for social purity that is positive—
noble in thought as well as restrictive in action. Trained thus through
childhood, boys and girls will be prepared to meet with high-mindedness
and moral stamina the storm and stress of adolescence; their ideals of
sweetheart and lover will have a wholesome eugenic prejudice, and they
will be prepared to discuss with dignity, scientific spirit, and reverence this
significant phase of their future home life.
There is no essential contradiction between romantic love and eugenics.
Indeed, sincere, deep and enduring love of parents for each other and for
their children is an essential in a eugenic ideal. A young woman knows a
hundred young men, but is in love with only one (or possibly none) because
the others do not embody the ideal that she has fashioned. Every young man
and woman has such an ideal, perhaps only vaguely defined but certainly
felt, with which they are in love, for which they search, and with which they

sometimes invest an acquaintance only to discover later their illusion. This
ideal is composed of the most alluring qualities and personalities they have
known.
What young man would be likely to fall in love with a girl, however
pretty, even charming, whom he knew could be the mother only of sickly,
peevish, stupid children to inherit his name and perpetuate his family, or
who would refuse to assume the burden of motherhood? What normal
young woman would be attracted by any “fairy prince”, however romantic,
wealthy, handsome, if she were aware that his children, should he have any,
would be doomed to early death, weakness, or imbecility, and that she
herself would be made a sufferer for life? The widespread tendency of
young men and women of to-day to include beauty, vitality, and ability in
their romantic ideal is itself sufficient evidence. Young men and women are
generally too well balanced to marry simply from eugenic consideration
without romantic love, although this is less reprehensible than marriage
simply for title or livelihood, for social distinction, or personal creature
comfort without consideration for either eugenics or romantic love. The
prayer of Hector, as he lifted his little child in his arms in the tower of Troy,
while the battle raged without the walls, is the prayer of the parent heart
everywhere, that the child shall be nobler and greater than the father.
The normal biological life for every man and woman is parenthood. The
normal social relation between parents is mutual, abiding love. Only
through the development of such a love has humanity evolved from the
materialistic, individualistic stage of the animal to even the present stage of
spiritual life and social relationships.
It is mutual solicitude for the child that places the biological relations of
men and women on a wholesome, ethical, and spiritual plane. Historically,
marriage and monogamy are the result of children. The social stigma upon
illegitimacy is not artificial or unreasonable. It is the deep appreciation by
the social experience of humanity that parental responsibility and solicitude
is at the very foundation of society; that the selfish, reckless use of this
creative power, or a cuckoo-like disregard for the child’s life, is
undermining to society as well as to the character of the man, the woman,
and their child. The far-sighted perceive, too, that the undermining
influence of physical relations without spiritual purpose, of individualism
that ignores social responsibilities, of blind, unreasoning following of any

impulse, in this, as in any phase of life, is quite as destructive to the man,
the woman, and society, even without the penalty of the unwelcome child;
that usually the man is more blameworthy than the woman; that both are
often the victims of ignorance, lack of ideals, and of early training in
responsibility and self-control; and that similar selfish lack of solicitude for
their child is equally reprehensible within and without marriage.
The child is the equal creation, responsibility, and satisfaction of both
father and mother. The parent who willingly shirks the responsibility for the
care of his or her own child is a coward, if not a knave or a defective. The
father who would voluntarily forego his share in the care and
companionship of his child, or the mother who would demand this, are
equally lacking in parental instinct.
Celibacy, marriage without love, parenthood without marriage, are
equally undesirable. But if circumstances require a choice, celibacy is less
miserable for the individual and less detrimental to society. It is part of the
great social responsibility of parents and social administrators to remove the
causes of celibacy by:
1. Providing academic, social, and moral education that prepares young
men and women for congenial companionship and for home-making;
2. Making provision for wholesome recreational opportunities and
acquaintance, for young men and women of similar intellectual and social
interests;
3. Affording the economic opportunity for a family income for young
men by their early twenties, through vocational training, regulation of the
cost of commodities, direction of labor conditions;
4. Abolishing war, that fiendish Minotaur that not only interferes with
Nature’s provision of an equal number of men and women in any
generation, but that, more serious still, devours the ablest and strongest of
the young men, depriving millions of women of their husbands and their
children.
The Meaning and Significance of Eugenics. Eugenics, as defined by
Sir Francis Galton, is “the science which deals with all influences that
improve the inborn qualities of a race and that develop these to their utmost

advantage.” Wise men in former ages have perceived something of its
possibilities.
Positive eugenics is concerned with whatever will enhance the inborn
qualities of a new generation, therefore with social conditions that promote
the mating of the physically, mentally, and morally able; with conditions
that improve the quality of the germ cells in the individual; with ideals that
develop self-control and the spiritualizing of the instinct of race
preservation.
Negative eugenics is concerned with the elimination of hereditary
diseases and defects; with the prevention or correction of diseases, defects,
poisons, and practices in the parent that have a harmful effect upon the
germ cells and the unborn child; with the elimination of social and moral
conditions that endanger the life or handicap the progress of unborn
generations.
Genetics, the study of the laws of heredity, is the biological foundation of
the science of eugenics; ethics and religion are the basis of practical
eugenics.
In the past century great impetus was given to eugenic research and
ideals by Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. Galton, indeed,
coined the word “eugenics” from two Greek words meaning “well-born.”
To quote from Galton’s own writings:
“Man is gifted with pity and other kindly feelings; he has also the power
of preventing many kinds of suffering. I can conceive it to be within his
power to replace Natural Selection by other processes that are more
merciful and not less effective. This is precisely the aim of eugenics. Its
first object is to check the birthrate of the unfit, instead of allowing them to
come into being, though doomed in large numbers to perish prematurely.
The second object is the improvement of the race by furthering the
productivity of the most fit by early marriages and healthful rearing of their
children. Natural Selection rests upon excessive production and wholesale
destruction; eugenics on bringing into the world no more individuals than
can be properly cared for and those only the best stock.”
Galton devoted his time and his fortune to the investigation of these
principles and the propaganda of eugenic ideals. He made extensive studies

of family histories, especially to ascertain what evidence they gave of the
inheritance of physical, mental, and moral traits. He organized the Eugenics
Education Society, whose leaders include eminent scientists, sociologists,
physicians, educators, and under whose auspices the First International
Eugenics Congress was held in London in 1912.
Present Knowledge of Heredity. More has been learned about heredity
in the past quarter century than in all previous history. Through the
inspiration of Galton, extensive studies have been made of family histories
in many countries, and not only has the certainty of inheritance been
established, but some of the laws of heredity have been formulated.
Through the laboratory studies made possible by the improvements in the
compound microscope, important discoveries have been made of the
physiological processes and the mechanism by which characteristics are
inherited. This is the summary of our present knowledge:
Physical and mental characteristics are inherited.
Inheritance is of definite traits, such as eye color, height, musical genius,
high or low resistance to a germ disease, for example, tuberculosis.
Research work in genetics is at the present time especially concerned with
discovering what are the unit characters and how each is transmitted.
Special cells, called germ cells, are the carriers of heredity; these contain
the determining factors for physical and mental characteristics. These, like
all the other cells of the body, are microscopic in size. The body of the
individual is the temple in which the sacred cells of the race are protected.
Inheritance is not directly from the parent but from the germ cells, which
may carry characteristics not found in the parent but in some of the other
ancestors. An individual does not inherit what his parents are but what is in
the two germ cells, one from the mother, one from the father, that unite to
form that individual.
With the union of the two germ cells the inborn characteristics of the
individual are determined, “the gate of gifts is closed.” Environment and
training may increase the strength, or minimize the force of inborn
characteristics, or even suppress some of them, but it cannot add to them, or
increase their force beyond their inherent limitations.

Some few characteristics are inherited only through the mother, or only
through the father, or are transmitted only to the sons or only to the
daughters; most characteristics are not thus limited, but may be transmitted
by either parent to either son or daughter.
Acquired characteristics are not inherited. If a man loses his hand in an
accident, his descendants cannot inherit one-handedness; if he masters a
foreign tongue, his descendants cannot inherit his knowledge of that
language.
No disease germ is inherited, in the genetic sense of being conveyed in
the special germ cells. A child may be infected with a disease before its
birth; this is not, strictly speaking, heredity but congenital (or prenatal)
infection. Tuberculosis is sometimes thus conveyed from the mother, and
syphilis very frequently when either the mother or the father has this
disease even in latent form. What may be inherited is a tendency toward a
disease, a weakness of specific organs or tissues, a lack of resistance to a
specific disease.
Variations sometimes appear apparently spontaneously, as the result of
some accident to the germ plasm, or an unusual combination in the two
germ cells; such variations may be inherited.
Some characteristics are apparently persistent, and in the process of
inheritance tend to predominate over their complementary characteristics.
The former are called dominant, the latter recessive characteristics. The law
by which dominant and recessive traits are inherited was first formulated by
Mendel, an Austrian monk, less than half a century ago. Biological research
is being devoted at present to discovering what traits of human significance
are subject to this Mendelian law, as it is called.
A characteristic found in both parents, or in both families, has a double
possibility of appearing in their descendants, and some mental defects and
abilities tend to appear with greater force and at an earlier age, in the
descendants.
Every individual is born with all the germ cells he will ever possess.
These germ cells are highly susceptible to poisons in the circulation,
especially to:
(1) alcohol, even in dilute quantities,

(2) fatigue poisons,
(3) opium, morphine, and similar drugs,
(4) lead and other poisonous metals,
(5) lack of nutrition due to anemic condition of the body.
If a germ cell is thus affected by poison at the time of the uniting of two
cells, or during the subsequent development, the child is especially liable to:
(a) serious injury resulting in death before birth;
(b) low vitality resulting in death within a year after birth;
(c) defective development resulting in physical deformity or in mental
defect, such as feeble-mindedness or idiocy.
If either parent is infected with syphilis, the germs most frequently attack
the developing child and cause death before birth or during the first year; or
the germs may attack any tissues, crippling, producing deformities,
deafness, blindness, idiocy, manifest either at birth or later in life. If either
parent is infected with gonorrhea, the eyes of the child will probably be
infected at birth, and blindness prevented only by immediate use of silver
nitrate solution; or the mother may be made incapable of having a child.
Fitness for Parenthood. Even the minimum qualifications for
parenthood are various. For the fullest welfare of the child the following
qualifications are essential:
Spiritual: a sense of the responsibility of parenthood, love of children;
love of harmony and mutual agreement between parents; self-control,
unselfishness, patience.
Social: legal marriage, good moral character.
Economic: marketable skill, energy, adaptability; ability of father to earn
a comfortable living, potential ability of mother to earn a living, ability to
use income economically.
Mental: Maturity, experience, judgment to conduct one’s share of the
family and household responsibility, ability to learn; for the mother,
knowledge of at least the elements of hygiene, child-care and training, some
experience in caring for little children.

Physical: physical and mental soundness; sound heredity, especially
freedom from neuropathic taint, alcoholism, tuberculosis, venereal disease
(syphilis or gonorrhea); freedom from poisons of alcohol, fatigue, worry,
overwork; mother not less than twenty or more than forty-five; father not
less than twenty, preferably past twenty-four; maximum vitality and
physical energy.
Blood tests recently discovered make possible the diagnosis of
tuberculosis and venereal disease in the system, even when no symptoms
are obvious. It is estimated that about twenty to thirty per cent. of cases of
venereal disease are innocently acquired, through public drinking cups,
towels, lavatories, toilets, or by infection of the husband or wife after
marriage. Infection is usually acquired through sex immorality. The
certainty of a cure can never be made absolute; the probability requires
years of persistent treatment by a responsible physician, not a quack. The
man who has “sown his wild oats” has verily sold his birthright for a mess
of pottage, and is most liable to have acquired one of these loathsome
diseases, habits of drinking, and of self-indulgence. It is dangerous to his
wife and children for him to become a father until all of these have been
overcome. A woman who contemplates marrying such a man to reform him
is inviting disease and destruction upon herself and her children.
Some individuals should never become parents because they carry so
serious an hereditary taint which some of their children would probably
inherit and carry on. This includes individuals afflicted with the following:
Neuropathic taint: feeble-mindedness, idiocy, insanity, mania,
epilepsy, hysteria, chorea, sex perversion, alcoholism
Syphilis
Tuberculosis
Deaf-mutism
Otosclerosis (hardness of hearing due to rigid eardrum)
Catarrhal deafness
Retinitis (progressive degeneration of retina and atrophy of
optic nerve, producing blindness)
Albinism (absence of coloring in hair and eyes)

Inherent lack of physical energy; pauperism
If an individual with a family history that includes one of these taints in
hereditary form should marry an individual having a family history with the
same taint, some of their children would probably be afflicted with the taint,
and others of them would carry it on. Marriage of blood relations, such as
cousins, is subject to this law; it is eugenically permissible, provided the
same hereditary defect does not appear in both family histories.
The most advantageous years for parenthood, for the welfare of the
children, are between twenty or twenty-five and forty years of age for the
mother and past twenty-five years for the father. An interval of two or three
years should elapse between the children, to give ample opportunity for the
mother to gain reserve vitality and to care adequately for each child.
On the average, four children to a family are required merely to maintain
a constant population; families in which the average is less than this are in
danger of extinction.
As soon as its far-reaching significance to themselves and to their
children is generally perceived by parents and young people, men and
women who genuinely love each other will voluntarily give and absolutely
require a medical certificate before marriage. Before undertaking the
responsibility of parenthood, both mother and father should put themselves
into the best possible physical and spiritual condition, and if necessary, go
through as thorough a course of training as that of any aspirant for an
athletic prize or of any priest for a great spiritual work. The Vedas, the
sacred books of the Hindoos, contained special prayers for those about to
assume this creative work.
Nature has provided one effective, safe, and ethical method of limiting
the birth rate in the family, a method that is entirely in the control of
parents. This method is abstinence, except for the end to which nature
implanted this instinct,—the creation of a new life. It is conducive to the
welfare of the children. This is in no wise harmful to the physical, mental,
social, or spiritual well-being of men and women, if both are
temperamentally adapted to each other, mutually agreed, and thoroughly
honest with each other; if they have learned to transmute this instinct and
energy to other activities; and if their recreations, personal hygiene, and

adjustment of daily living are normal and wholesome, not artificially
stimulating.
In conclusion, to quote from two English writers:
“By no other means than the realization of the ideal that every new baby shall be
loved and desired in anticipation—an ideal that is perfectly practicable—can the black
stain of child murder and child torture and neglect be removed from our civilization.”
—Saleeby.
“Hitherto the development of our race has been unconscious, and we have been
allowed no responsibility for its right course. Now in the fullness of time we are
treated as children no more, and the conscious fashioning of the human race is given
into our hands. Let us put away childish things, stand up with open eyes, and face our
responsibilities.”
—Whetham.

CHAPTER V
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

“The child should know no other endeavor but to be at every stage of development
wholly what this stage calls for. Then will each successive stage spring like a new
shoot from a healthy bud; and at each successive stage he will with the same endeavor
again accomplish the requirements of this stage; for only the adequate development of
man at each preceding stage can effect and bring about adequate development at each
succeeding later stage.”
—F. FROEBEL.

Children do not grow and develop by any haphazard process. Too often
parents have had so little, either of first-hand acquaintance with other
children, recollection of their own childhood, or knowledge of the literature
of child-study, that they have fumbled in the dark, misunderstanding and
experimenting on their own children, without either standards for
comparison or principles for guidance.
There is a wealth of material, both technical and popular, available in this
“century of the child.” The impetus given to the study of the child by
Pestalozzi and Froebel a century ago has gained increasing momentum in
Europe and America. Some investigators have made laborious studies of
large numbers of children to ascertain average rates and factors of growth or
development of some part of the body or some phase of spirit. Others have
made painstaking, intensive studies of individual children and have reported
the characteristics observed at different ages.
The outlines, main features, and basal principles are already defined. A
knowledge of these is as essential to the intelligent worker with children as
a knowledge of the processes of plant growth and development to the
intelligent agriculturist. Many blanks and gaps in our knowledge of child
development are yet to be filled. The father, mother, teacher who is
sympathetic with child nature, who has the scientific mind for accuracy,
definiteness and persistence of observation, has an opportunity to contribute
to the common fund of knowledge of child life by making original
observations of the child in the home. Hitherto most of the published

studies, both of groups and of individuals, have been made by men. Doctor
G. Stanley Hall has been the pioneer leader and chief inspirer of the child-
study movement in America. Doctor John Dewey’s contributions and
inspirations have been both profound and extensive. Madame Montessori is
the one woman who has made large contributions.
It should be noted that a science of child-study and development was not
possible until the idea of evolution became known and appreciated. Froebel
sensed this evolution, as will be noted in reading his “Education of Man”,
which was published a quarter of a century before Darwin’s “Origin of
Species.”
This phase of psychology—tracing the stages of mental development as
an organic process from its simple beginnings in the individual or the race
to its maturity in adulthood of the individual or civilization of the race—is
the field of genetic psychology.
The intelligent worker with children in the home must be acquainted with
what is normal and usual at any stage, in child anatomy, physiology, and
psychology. Only with such knowledge is it possible to make intelligent
observations of the development of the individual child, and to supply a
normal environment and guidance suited to his stage of development. Such
knowledge and preparation can be acquired only through study of the
literature of child psychology, and through intensive, first-hand
acquaintance with children.
It requires about twenty-five years for nature to bring a human individual
from birth to physiological maturity. In the nine months before birth the
growth and development is very rapid. All the organs are formed, but their
development at birth is immature, especially the development of the
nervous system. What is accomplished in these years?

From Birth to Maturity
Total weight increases from 16 to 22 fold.
Length of body ” 3 fold
Size of muscles ” 37 ”
Size of lungs ” 18 ”
Size of heart ” 13 ”

Size of brain ” 3 ”
Weight of arm ” 4 ”
Weight of leg ” 5 ”

Note the great differences in increase of different parts of the body.

At Birth At Maturity (25 years)
Stomach undeveloped Complete digestive development
Few digestive juices All
No provision for digesting starch until 8 or 9 months; fats
Digestion of all food elements, including
(except cream); protein (except curds of milk); solid
solids
food
No teeth cut Two sets of teeth cut
Sense organs: incomplete development, especially sight
Senses fully developed
and hearing
Fine sense discrimination
Reproductive system rudimentary Reproductive system mature
Nerve cells undeveloped Nervous system complex and developed
Few association fibers formed
Medullary sheath not formed
Motor coördination of all muscles,
Motor ability limited to crying, grasping, reflex
including accessory eye and finger
movements of arms and legs
muscles
Mental ability limited to few vague, unlocated sensations, Concentration, imagination, judgment,
slight motor memory speech, all well developed
Language only a cry or instinctive movements of head,
Fluent use of language
arms, legs
Wide range of emotions, potentially
Emotions limited to slight pleasure-pain; no control
controlled and expressed
Volition rudimentary Will power to achieve any purpose
Social, moral, religious instincts undeveloped Sense of law and property rights
Social coöperation
Moral standards, judgments, and habits
Religious feeling and action

After twenty-five years there is sometimes a slight increase in height and
weight; plasticity is slight; new habits are not readily formed; new ideas not
readily accepted. The nervous system is capable of continued development.
There are a few foundation facts and principles that should be
summarized before taking up in detail the stages of growth and

development.
The child is not a small edition of an adult. His anatomical proportions,
his physiological processes, his ways of thought and of thinking, his
motives, interests, likes, emotions, methods of expression, are all different
from the adult’s; and they are all different at different stages in his
development.
The child lives through (recapitulates) in a general way the main stages
and order of physical and psychological development that organic life and
the race have passed through in the countless ages since life began. Starting
as a one-celled creature, he recapitulates in the nine months of embryonic
life the processes of evolution that required millions of years, from the
amœba to the higher vertebrates, in the evolution of the species.
At birth the baby is less developed and more plastic than the young of
any other creature at its birth. This helplessness and plasticity are due to the
incompleteness in development of the nervous system. It is because of this
incompleteness that the physical, mental, and spiritual life can be shaped in
great measure by environment. It is this incompleteness that provides both
the opportunity and the responsibility of parents and guardians.
For normal development there must be both the growth principle and
power within the individual, and the growth stimulus and materials supplied
by the environment.
The rate and nature of growth and development are influenced by two
factors: (1) heredity (race, family); (2) environment (climate, social status,
economic resources, city or country, materialistic or idealistic atmosphere,
commonplace or cultured, ugly or beautiful, expressive or repressive,
guiding or neglectful).
Growth and development are two different processes. Growth is increase
in size; development is increase in power of function. This principle holds
true for every muscle, every nerve, every special organ, every brain center.
Growth is a vegetative process, dependent upon intake of nutrition and
elimination of waste. Development is dependent upon use, which involves
the exercise of the organ or system and of the related brain center, and this
leads to both (a) the initial use of mind and (b) mental development.

Each organ, each physiological system or process, each mental process,
is controlled by its own definite nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. By
exercise of the specific organ or system, the corresponding nerve center is
developed; and the development of the nerve center makes possible a more
adequate and perfect use of the specific organ or system.
During the growth stage of any part, exercise of the part is not normal but
injurious. When sufficient growth has been attained for development to
begin, there is an instinctive desire or hunger for exercise of the part. This
desire is manifested by the natural, spontaneous activity or interest of the
child. For example, during some ten or twelve months the muscles of the
legs and back, and corresponding nerve centers in the spinal cord and the
brain, are growing. When their growth is attained, these muscles and nerve
centers begin to function in the process of standing and walking, and the
child makes every effort to walk. To put him on his feet and attempt to
teach him before this stage, is to strain unprepared organs, bones, muscles,
and nerves. To keep him lying in a vehicle so he cannot exercise when he
spontaneously attempts to walk, is to retard or prevent this natural
development.
The process of growth and development is not uniform during childhood;
neither do all the parts grow and develop at the same time. Growth is
periodic and by parts; it is variable for each part or system. There are
periods of slow or rapid growth and development at different ages.
Development begins first for the oldest (racially) muscles and parts, and
for those that are being used reflexly, that is, arms, legs, trunk, hands, which
are known as the fundamental muscles. The finer, accessory muscles and
their brain centers do not develop completely until several years after birth.
There are no average children. Every child is somewhat different. In rate
of growth, children may normally vary one to two years from the average.
In individual children, some factors at any stage will normally be more
marked than others. Distinction must therefore be made between (1)
chronological age, (2) physiological age, and (3) psychological age. The
standards for (2) and (3) are at present the subject of special researches.
Physiological age refers to such factors as dentition, development of bones,
height, weight, sex maturity. Psychological age refers to mental ability and
maturity.

In some children the hereditary force of a specific characteristic is
stronger than in other children. Or the environment of one child gives
greater stimulus to an instinct at its nascent (beginning) period, and greater
opportunity for its use.
The individual who lives most completely in each stage the life normal to
that stage, is best prepared for the succeeding stages of life.
To attempt to hurry a child through this process or to permit an arrest of
development in any stage or at any point, is to seriously handicap the
child’s normal and complete development. Infant prodigies and infantile
youths are both abnormal.
In each stage there are some instincts to be especially fostered, some that
need encouragement or stimulation, some that require careful direction into
useful channels, some to be ignored as only transitory, and a few that may
need inhibiting.
The following group of stages has been prepared as possibly most helpful
for guidance of parents and teachers in the home. The transition from one
stage to another is gradual.
In so brief a summary as the following, only a few of the most significant
items can be presented, and these typical of the average. This is not a form
into which every child must be expected to fit. Rather it is a suggestion of
the usual, which the individual normal child will approximate in general. It
presents a method for recording the development of the individual child.
Infancy
Birth to 2-3 Years
Marked Characteristics:
Rapid growth, especially of brain
First dentition
Nervous system rapidly developing
Association fibers developing between spinal centers and brain centers
Bones, nervous system plastic
Rapid heat radiation
Rapid pulse, respiration
Tissues flabby
Low vitality
Motor and sensory development rapid
Motor coördinations developing rapidly
Speech develops

Interest in pure motor activity, and sensory experiences
Thinking exceeds power of expression
All mental processes developing
Curiosity about everything seen, handled, heard
Perceptions crude, few
Unconsciously imitative
Activity an end in itself
Imagination crude, vague
Reasons by association of circumstances

Emotions crude, uncontrolled
Fear of noises and strange objects
Humor in surprise

Social dependence
Little self-control
Obedience
Trust

Early Childhood
2-3 to 6-7 Years
Marked Characteristics:
Rapid growth
Nervous system rapidly developing
Rapid growth of brain until 7 yrs.
Fundamental muscles utilized
Accessory muscles immature

Activity its own end
Experiments in motor control

Greatest sensory development and efficiency
Curiosity, analysis, investigation, experimentation strong
Interest in simple construction
Constructs for use

Thought concrete
Suggestibility
Continued plasticity
Attention flitting
Asks “What?” “Why?”
Memory for words
Æsthetic tastes crude
Frankness
Crude experience and association of ideas

Vivid, concrete imagination; images distorted
Imitation at its strongest

Imitative dramatic play
Humor in incongruity
Curiosity regarding sex biology
Sex feeling undeveloped
Emotions strong, slight control
Imaginary fears
Self-control weak
Selfish, thoughtless
Respect for parents
Wonder at universe
Obedience
Personification of nature
Conscience begins

Infancy and Early Childhood
Birth to 6 Years
Foster:
Sensory and motor activity
Trustfulness
Curiosity
Investigation
Acquaintance with world of realities
Initiative
Wide range of interests
Fanciful imagination
Formation of permanent habits
Sense of wonder
Cultivate:
Regularity
Respect for authority
Concentration
Thoughtfulness for others
Courtesy
Emotional control
Permanent moral prejudices
Thrift
Inhibit, or Overcome:
Social dependence
Fear
Selfishness
Reckon with:
Slow mental adjustment
Motor awkwardness
Misunderstanding of instructions

Mischief, which is the result of an abundance of vitality, initiative, sense of humor,
investigating spirit; it is not something to condemn, but for which to provide
natural environment.
Rudeness, which is due to childish frankness, democracy, thoughtlessness, examples
of discourtesy.
Curiosity regarding biology of sex, to be answered honestly but poetically under three
years and biologically after three.
Telling of falsehoods, from 3 to 7 years of age, frequently due to the vivid,
imaginative life that the child is living, his relative inexperience with the world
of realities, and the difficulty, therefore, of keeping the distinction clear between
the two.

Later Childhood
6-7 to 9-10 Years
Marked Characteristics:
Growth progressing
Differences in growth rate of boys and girls
Second dentition
Sensory and motor activities prominent
Heart and lungs relatively small
Brain growing slowly, attains adult size
Eye development still incomplete: near sight

Finger movements stronger, more precise
Rapid increase in motor control
Forearm and finger control develops
Manual skill easily acquired

Interest in workmanship
Ideals exceed ability
Plasticity to habit
Receptivity
Routine easy
Experimentation, exploration strong
Interest in variety
Actions not well coördinated
Lack of perseverance
Easily discouraged
Adjustment to realities
Images truer to reality
Memory strong for concrete
Period of imaginative activity
Less direct imitation
Imitative and imaginative dramatic play
Emotions becoming controlled
Fears strong
Self-control vacillating
Humor in puns, riddles

Appreciation of rules in game
Beginning of social sense in group play
Slight sense of property rights
Slight conscience
Interest in religious forms (imitative)
Foster:
Exploration
Experimentation
Moral habits
Imaginative play
Variety of interests
Doll interest
Motor coördinations—skating, dancing, swimming
Cultivate:
Power of voluntary attention
Self-control
Initiative
Modesty
Conventional courtesies
Respect for property rights
Inhibit:
Cruelty
Fears
Reckon with:
Fatigue, due to bodily conditions
Discouragement, from greater increase in ideals than in technical ability

Youth
Girls, 9 to 12-14 Years
Boys, 9 to 14-16 Years
Marked Characteristics:

Slower growth
Period of transition
Practical adjustment
Reproductive organs maturing
Period of low morbidity
Heart and lungs relatively small

Great motor activity
Reactions vigorous

Resistance to fatigue
Immunity to exposure, danger,
temptation
Senses acute
New adjustments and coördinations readily made
Routine and rote enjoyed
Motor skill easily acquired
Keen interest in workmanship and motor skill
Constructs for concrete purposes or use

Mental action better controlled, more connected, orderly
Memory quick, sure, lasting
More critical
Sex consciousness develops

Emotions weaker
Fear increases
Teasing other children

Less submissive to elders
Competitive sense increases
Conscience weak
Reverence weaker
Religious indifference
Foster:
Muscular activity
Motor and manual skill
Drill, memorizing
Routine, discipline
Three R’s.
Responsibility
Cultivate:
Fine handwork
Thoroughness
Reserve (in girls)
Chivalry (in boys)
Confidence in parents
Inhibit:

Athletic competition (too great strain on heart)
Fear
Reckon with:
Less confidence in adults
Group interest
Secretiveness

Adolescence
Girls, 12 to 18 Years
Boys, 13 to 21 Years

Marked Characteristics:
Rapid growth and development
Proportions changing
Lungs, heart increase in size and function
Blood pressure increases
Muscular strength increases
Voice changes
Awkwardness
Senses keen

Craving for larger experience
Routine irksome
Power of concentration
Abstract thought
Independent thought
Mental speculation
Larger mental perspective
Memory strong, includes abstract
Abstract reasoning
Debating
Imagination strong, comprehensive
Original thought and action
Organized dramatics
Individuality increases
Works for remote ends

Restive of restraint
Sex feelings increase
Romantic interest strong
Social sympathy increases
Social coöperation
Subject to moods
Shyness and bashfulness

Conscience keener or very callous
Sense of duty develops
Spirit of social service or rowdyism

Religious feeling
Conversion period
Criminal period
Idealism
Hero-worship
Foster:
Idealism Hero-worship
Altruism
Religious feeling
Group interest; team work
Leadership, individuality
Reasoning, debating
Constructive imagination
Athletics; physical activity
Cultivate:
Sense of reality
Emotional poise
Responsibility
Strength of will
Mutual sympathy (parent and youth)
Variety of interests
Vocational choice
Outdoor life
Inhibit:
Depression and pessimism
Finicalness
Recklessness
Reckon with:
Emotional upheaval
Philosophical speculation
Sex interest
Awkwardness, bashfulness
Self-consciousness
Reserve with family

Development of Language

Children vary naturally, and according to their environment, in the rate of
development in use of language. Any effort to hasten the process of talking
or vocabulary during the first four or five years is an artificial forcing that is
more likely to retard development. The following represents all that should
be expected of a normal child.
First six months: crying, gesture language

Second six months: babbling, imitation of sounds, gesture
language
One year: three to ten words
One to two years: vocabulary of 100 to 500 words; two-word
sentences
Two to three years: 500 to 1500 new words; begins use of
pronouns
Three to four years: 500 new words; complete sentences
Four to five years: articulation nearly perfect; interest in
rhyming
Five to six years: articulation perfect; inflection of nouns and
verbs nearly perfect; interest in nonsense words; use of drawing
Six to nine years: grammar usually correct; interest in puns
and in secret language; use of drawing as language expression;
imitative interest in symbols of language (alphabet, reading,
writing)
Nine to twelve years: genuine interest in language symbols;
easily learns reading and writing; with limited vocabulary, slang
develops
Physical and Mental Growth and Development
Physical
Birth First Six Months Second Six Months
Characteristics
Organs rapidly Muscles, bones, brain, As first 6 months, and
growing viscera teeth
Organs Head, surface, Head, intestines, liver,
”
proportionately large intestines, liver surface
Organs Stomach, lung Stomach, lungs, heart,
”
proportionately small capacity, legs legs
Organs
proportionately strong Anti-bodies, kidneys ”
in function
Organs Digestive and Digestive, respiratory,
proportionately weak respiratory systems; nervous systems; ”
in function tissues flabby leucocytes, hemoglobin

No teeth (rudiments
Dentition 2 teeth 6-8 teeth
of both sets in jaw)
Total number of Easily exhausted; As first six months;
cells but peripheral nerves spinal and brain
Nerves
development sensitive; sensory and associations
incomplete motor centers developing connecting
No hearing; sight
only for light and Hearing begins; eyes
Color sense, sound,
Sense development darkness; touch begin to converge and
rhythm developing
vague; sensitiveness work together
to temperature
Special organs or
systems at As first 6 months;
Muscles of arms, legs,
developmental stage, Lungs muscles of creeping,
trunk, hand; lungs
needing much hand, speech organs
immediate exercise
Bones misshaped;
Defects easily
Eyestrain; blindness eyestrain; nerves; As first six months
acquired
disposition
Defects easily Phimosis Bones; phimosis; tongue-
”
overcome temperament; tie, harelip
Cold, pneumonia,
Digestive, pulmonary;
Illness most jaundice,
rickets; nervous ”
susceptible inflammation of
disorders, erysipelas
navel
Congenital debility,
Most common Congenital debility; digestive disturbances,
immediate causes of syphilis; pneumonia, whooping
”
prematurity, cough, bronchitis,
death[2] accidents convulsions, measles,
meningitis
Nature and rate of Vague, indefinite, More definite, alert,
Slow, vague, diffused
mentality slow, groping quickened
Grasping, waving arms,
Sitting, creeping
Motor activities Chiefly reflex hands; kicking; few
standing, prattle
vocal sounds
Touch, sight, hearing Sight, touch, hearing,
Sense activity Slight, vague
becoming active active
Begins in staring,
Attention None Listening, examining
handling
Perception ” Dimly begins Vague

Objects in reach,
Curiosity ” Begins, vague opening doors, pulling;
exploring cupboards
Mechanical, of vocal
Of moods and vocal
Imitation ” sounds, moods, facial
sounds of adults
expression
For familiar acts and
Memory Slight Faint, vague; motor faces, responses to his
crying
Imagination None Glimmerings Glimmerings
By association,
Reasoning ” Dawning, by association
increasing
Trust, desire for
Egoistic, strong; trustful,
Social instincts ” companionship of
responsive to care
adults
Developed through
Vaguely sensed, as
regular regimen and
association of cause and
Sense of law ” beginnings of
effect; and in rhythm of
obedience, especially
regular regimen
to direct commands
Fear, sympathy,
Control weak but
Emotions Slight, vague confidence, satisfaction,
susceptible to training
anger
Shown in surprise,
Sense of humor None None; smiling begins
plays, laughing
Temperamental Persistent; shown in
Will ”
expression temper
Begins in trust, Human sympathy,
Religion ”
dependence confidence, obedience

Physical
Second Year Third Year Fourth Year
Characteristics
Upper arm, thigh;
Brain, teeth, muscles,
Organs rapidly growing Trunk, brain, teeth brain still increasing;
bones, viscera
bones
Intestines, liver,
Organs proportionately
kidneys, arteries, head, As second year As second year
large
surface
Organs proportionately
Legs, lungs, heart ” Lungs, legs, heart
small
Organs proportionately Heart, fundamental
As third year
strong in function muscles

Eyes, hands, fingers,
Organs proportionately
As first year legs, nerves, digestive, As third year
weak in function
respiratory
Dentition 6 teeth cut Completion of first set
Sensory keen, motor
Motor coördinations
Sensory-motor coördinations rapidly
Nerves developing, association
coördinations forming developing
centers developing
(fundamental)
Touch, muscular,
Hearing discriminate;
sight, sound; Increasing keenness,
Sense development touch becoming keen,
increasing discrimination
sight definite, focused
discrimination
Special organs or Arms, legs, trunk;
Muscles of walking, Trunk, back, arms,
systems at sensory-motor
forearm, hand; speech, legs, hands, speech,
developmental stage, coördinations;
sight, touch, hearing; senses, teeth,
needing much sensory nerves; teeth;
teeth respiratory
immediate exercise lungs
Bones; teeth, speech, Bones, teeth, speech, Eyes, bones, speech,
Defects easily acquired
nerves, disposition nerves nerves, teeth
Defects easily Bones; cleft palate, Bones, teeth, speech, Eyes, bones, speech,
overcome temperament eyes teeth
Digestive,
Digestive, respiratory; Digestive, respiratory; respiratory; measles,
Illness most susceptible
ears, throat, nerves; ears, throat, infectious scarlet fever,
to
scurvy, rickets fevers whooping cough,
colds
Digestive disturbances, Period of low death Low death rate;
Most common croup, pneumonia, rate; pneumonia, Pneumonia,
immediate causes of diptheria, bronchitis, tuberculosis, croup, diptheria, croup,
death tuberculosis, measles, diptheria, meningitis, tuberculosis,
meningitis scarlet fever meningitis
Nature and rate of Gaining in Impulsive, flitting,
Active, slow
mentality definiteness, slow slow
Quiet games
Alertness, but Increasing
preferred to active;
Motor activities inefficient Runs, coördination of legs,
dawdling;
throws arms, eye, and hand
spontaneous
Keen, especially touch. Handling, listening;
Sense activity Acquiring sight, touch, sound At best, most active
discrimination discrimination
Flitting, concentration Voluntary—weak
Attention Increasing
increased in doing Involuntary—strong

Gaining clearness, Still vague, but Still vague,
Perception
definiteness becoming definite improving
Varied; names;
Insatiable; objects in
Curiosity animals; mechanical Insatiable
environment
processes
Chiefly adult
Constant, of adult Adult actions, speech,
Imitation occupations, less
actions, voice moods
impulsive; literal
For names of things;
Verbal and motor Verbal, motor and
Memory emotions, simple
good; emotions emotional strong
movements
Auditory and motor
Imagination Slightly increasing Concrete, vivid images more distinct
than visual; concrete
Persistent, for motor For activity,
Construction Building
activity immediate use
By association;
By association of By association of
Reasoning ludicrous inferences;
experiences experiences
guessing period
Social dependence on Self-assertive;
Increasing sense of
Social instincts an adult; slight play selfish; quarrels over
ownership
with other children property
Discerned in regularity
Dim: susceptible to Disorderliness;
of régime: in
Sense of law training; sense of imaginative tales
commands, rewards,
ownership developing taken for lying
punishments
Love, fear, anger Easily aroused, keen;
Emotions Trust, fear, anger easily stirred; little pity begins;
control imaginary fears
In grotesque
Persistent; crude; in
Sense of humor In surprises, in tumbles situations, being
grotesque
caught, hiding
Vacillating, Unreasonable;
Will Little control
temperamental persistent
Respect for parents, Animistic; invests
Obedience, trust,
Religion trust. Obedience to inanimate things with
respect for authority
parents life

Physical Later Childhood 6-9
Fifth Year Sixth Year
Characteristics years

Organs rapidly growing See 4th year Legs, arms, chest Motor cells in brain.
girth Period of slower

physical growth;
cessation of rapid brain
growth
Organs proportionately Surface, intestines, Digestive system, liver,
As 5th year
large kidneys, arteries kidneys, surface, legs
Organs proportionally
As 4th year As 4th year Trunk, heart, lungs
small
Digestive and Digestive and
Organs proportionately
respiratory ability respiratory ability Leg muscles
strong in function
increasing increasing
Accessory muscles
Organs proportionally Heart; low blood
and nerves; eyes, As 5th year
weak in function pressure; teeth
fingers, throat
Sheds some first
Dentition 2nd dentition
teeth
Rapid growth of
Association fibres
association fibres in
Nerves rapidly developing; As 5th year
brain; easily fatigued in
see 4th year
8th year
Senses correlated; Eyes developed for finer
Sense Development Keen development
finer discrimination work
Special organs or Muscles of arms, legs,
systems at trunk Muscles of
developmental stage, As 4th year As 4th year forearm, 8 years.
needing much Muscles of fingers, 9-10
immediate exercise years
Spinal curvature,
Defects easily acquired ” ” defective teeth speech
disorders, eyestrain
Defects easily
” ” Speech disorders
overcome
Infectious diseases,
Digestive, respiratory,
rheumatism,
ears, diphtheria,
Illness most susceptible As fifth year nervousness, anemia,
rheumatism, measles,
digestive disturbances;
scarlet fever
illness increases 8th year
Low mortality;
Most common pneumonia, tuberculosis,
Period of low death Period of low death
immediate causes of diphtheria, croup,
rate As 4th year rate As 4th year
death measles, kidney and
heart disease

Nature and rate of Steadier, quicker, more More definite, Hesitating, impulsive,
mentality alert alert, quicker restless
Increasing Increasing Finger movements
coördinations, correlation. stronger, more precise;
Motor activities
rhythmic movements, Steadier action, actions not well
skipping marching, dancing coördinated
Improvising on Senses become
Finer discriminations;
Sense activity piano; eagerness to practically perfected;
notices sound, color
color; tasting sensory interest weaker
Purposive
Voluntary—weak; inattention; keener Flitting; lack of
Attention
involuntary-strong concentration in endurance, application
play
Truer to realities, more
distinct; differentiates
Perception Clearer, many groups Clearer
between real and
imagined
Physical properties;
Asks “What is it for?”
Curiosity Intense (see 4th year) processes; causes;
Wider range of interests
birth
Dramatic, of adult Dramatic; adults’
Decreasing, imitates idea
Imitation activities, animals; activities, animals;
rather than action
literal less literal
Verbal, strong;
Verbal, strong; learns poetry, stories; Literal, increasing in
Memory
nonsense, poetry motor, emotional, ability
strong
Strong visual, lives in As 5th year; Less fanciful; related
Imagination imagination; invents fanciful tales of more to facts and needs
stories personal experience of life
Follows idea; for Begins to be creative;
Things for use;
Construction activity, use, æsthetic interest begins in finish,
æsthetic interest
interest workmanship
See 4th year, reasons
Little use for
Reasoning by analogy; attempts As 5th year
explanations or logic
arguing
Prefers child to adult; Self-sufficiency; Group play, circle
Social instincts love of emulation; homesickness; games; slight respect for
selfish; ownership begins group play property rights

Expects to be held to law
No sense of property As 5th year.
and consequences;
Sense of law rights; disobedience Increasing; rigid,
respects power that
increases literal
requires obedience
See 4th year; jealousy;
Increasing control,
Emotions fears animals; Degree of control
reserve
imaginary fears
See 4th year.
As 5th year. Incongruities of action;
Sense of humor Drawings, practical
Silliness play on words; disasters
jokes
Will Increasing force As 5th year Vacillating
Wonder in nature; As 5th year; Period of ceremony,
Religion reverence; prayer; imitative interest in forms, rites Animistic
obedience formal worship tendency weakening

Youth Early Adolescence
Physical Characteristics Girls, 9-12 years Girls 12-16 years
Boys, 9-13 years Boys 13-18 years
Slow growth; girls more rapid Rapid increase (Girls, 11-14)
Height
than boys (Boys, 13-17)
Weight Slow growth Rapid increase ” ”
Trunk, legs, arms, lungs,
reproductive organs, heart,
Organs rapidly growing Legs, arms
liver, kidneys; proportions
changing
Organs proportionately
Arteries Hands, feet, arms, legs
large
Organs proportionately
Heart, trunk arteries Trunk, internal organs,
small
Heart, lungs; blood pressure
Organs proportionately
Muscles, legs, eyes high; muscles, fundamental
strong in function
and accessory
Nerves; internal organs,
Organs proportionately Heart, lungs; blood pressure; elimination; motor
weak in function elimination coördinations because of
change in bodily proportions
Dentition Complete (except wisdom teeth)
Nerves Reactions vigorous Under strain; easily unbalanced
Sense development Complete, including eyes Senses keen
Special organs or systems at Muscles of trunk, forearm, Muscles of trunk, arms, legs,
developmental stage, fingers; motor adjustments; lungs fingers; lungs

needing much immediate
exercise
Spinal curvature, eyestrain; Of reproductive system;
Defects easily acquired
precocious sex development shallow breathing
Defects easily overcome Bones, teeth Bones, lung capacity
Anemia, rheumatism, heart Anemia, nervousness,
Illness most susceptible weakness, nervousness; period of malnutrition; tuberculosis
low morbidity (girls); increased morbidity
Period of low mortality.
Pneumonia, tuberculosis, Pneumonia, tuberculosis,
Most common immediate
diphtheria and croup, heart and kidney and heart disease,
causes of death
kidney diseases, accidental accidental drownings
drownings
Well coördinated, more
Direct, alert; more orderly, abstract, logical,
Nature and rate of mentality
controlled comprehensive; routine
irksome
Well coördinated; need much
Muscular awkwardness during
Motor activities exercise; new adjustments readily
growth
made
Sure, acute, subordinate to
Sense activity Acute; all senses
thought
Potential voluntary attention
Attention Voluntary increasing
strong
Perception Clearer Clear
Wide range; persistent; craving
Curiosity Less keen
for larger experience
Less marked; of idea rather than Of ideals, strong; originality
Imitation
action marked; individuality
Quick, sure, lasting; period of rote
Memory At best; logical
learning
Vivid, comprehensive,
Imagination Clear, creative creative; works for remote
ends
Constructs for purpose; interest in Interest in technique, use,
Construction
workmanship, skill æsthetic qualities
Immature; by analogy or Logical, abstract; mental
Reasoning
suggestion; logic premature speculation
Less sympathy with adults, more Strong sympathies; group
Social instincts with companions; competition loyalty; altruism; sex instincts
increases developing

Increasing through games;
Conscience keen; marked
contempt for artificial laws,
Sense of law lawlessness or law abiding;
customs; less submissive to
restive of restraint
authority
Keen, subjective, whimsical;
Weaker; fears increase; sex
Emotions shyness and bashfulness;
consciousness developing
romantic love develops
Keen, expressed in teasing,
Sense of humor Strong; riddles, puns
practical jokes, puns
Self-will increasing; tendency to Self-will strong; potential will
Will
vacillation, inertia power
Conscience weak; reverence Deep religious feeling or
weak; religious indifference; irreverence Idealism;
Religion
formal interest in religious mysticism; altruism.
ceremonies, forms Conversion period

The tables of physical characteristics are based upon the work
of Vierordt, Uffelmann, Schmid-Monnard, Pfaundler and
Schlossmann. Holt, Kerley; the tables of mental characteristics
upon the studies of G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, Earl Barnes,
and their disciples, and the summaries of Kirkpatrick, Tanner,
Taylor, Tracy. The author’s personal experience with children, as
a medium for developing these data into a composite grouping,
has been supplemented by the criticisms and suggestions of
individual physicians, biologists, and psychologists. The subject
deserves much additional research in the comparative study of
children.

FOOTNOTES:
[2] Based on U. S. Census Report for 1913; causes arranged in decreasing
rank.

CHAPTER VI
PREPARING FOR THE BABY

“If I were asked what I considered the chief requisite for the successful practice of
pediatrics I would answer: The education of the mother. It is impossible to do even
fairly good work in diseases of children without proper home coöperation. A direction
is never followed out so well as when it is understood.”
—Doctor Charles G. Kerley.
“Is it not monstrous that the fate of a new generation should be left to the chances
of unreasoning custom, impulse, fancy—joined with the suggestions of ignorant
nurses and the prejudiced counsel of grandmothers?
“To tens of thousands that are killed, add hundreds of thousands that survive with
feeble constitutions, and millions that grow up with constitutions not so strong as they
should be; and you will have some idea of the curse inflicted on their offspring by
parents ignorant of the laws of life.”
—Herbert Spencer.
“Even the ordinary workman needs an acquaintance with the nature of his work
before an employer will put a task into his hands. But for the right care of children no
training in the mothers, nurses, or teachers has been considered essential.
Consequently the standard exacted among such persons, instead of being very high, is
very low.”
—Doctor Nathan Oppenheim.

Prenatal Hygiene. If any baby could supervise the preparation for his
own coming, he would not wait until the last few months before his advent,
that is, any baby who had even moderate ambition for his comfort, his
happiness, and his efficiency.

Approved Baby Clothing and Bassinet.
Diaper fastening at sides. Bassinet allowing ventilation, with green detachable hood to protect eyes
from strong light, and with rod to grasp.

He would begin by selecting his grandparents, who would be high-
minded, religious, abstainers, moderate in all their habits, industrious,
neither wealthy nor poverty-stricken, and who would bring up his father
and his mother as members of a family of children in the same spirit and
with foresight for his welfare. He would direct, during their childhood and
adolescence, the physical régime of his father and mother, which would be
simple, natural, regular, chiefly in the open air, with habitual deep breathing
and, especially for his mother, exercises and clothing that would develop
the most efficient digestion, breathing capacity, back and trunk muscles,
steady nerves, reserve vitality. He would guide their education, which
would include a minimum of traditional junk, parrotlike mimicry and
discipline, and a maximum of real experience, valuable information, and
æsthetic appreciation acquired through personal exploring, experimenting,

judging, creating, with a discipline that developed self-direction, self-
control, and self-reliance.
He would anticipate that his mother and father, with such a heredity and
education, would be high-minded above dissipation and triflings, sensible
beyond unhygienic habits in food and in dress, well-poised and superior to
pettiness and discords, with a radiant love that maintained an atmosphere of
joyousness, graciousness, courage. Having chosen each other because they
loved each other, his father and mother would live and work and plan
because they loved him. Before they invited him to come, they would have
a comfortable home settled, so his mother could give her chief attention to
him and be free to live much out-of-doors; they would consult their
physician and bring themselves to their best vitality, so he might have the
best physical constitution; and they would make any necessary sacrifice of
their own desires that he might be undisturbed and thus grow steadily and
sturdily until his birthday.
Physical motherhood is a natural, normal biological process. Under a
natural, rational régime it should be a happy experience with a minimum of
discomfort. The essentials, in brief, of such a régime are:
1. Thorough elimination of the increased amount of waste products,
through the skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines.
2. Strong, flexible trunk muscles.
3. Avoidance of fatigue, undue excitement, unhappiness, muscular strain;
continence.
4. Simple, nourishing diet, carefully balanced, anti-toxic, rich in
minerals, moderate in quantity, with a moderate amount of liquid.
The mother should of course be under the physician’s direction and
observation during the entire period.
Clothing. The essentials are freedom and warmth. Maternity clothing
need not be slovenly nor too obviously negligée. Elaborateness may better
be expressed in the maternity clothes than upon the baby clothes. For
dresses and coats a design with fullness at the sides, in the waist and skirt,
with revers, and a high waist line, is especially good. The materials should
be plain, or with a small, unobtrusive design. Clothing should be ample

enough to encourage rather than prevent a slight perspiration, thus
facilitating the elimination of waste.
The weight of the clothing should come from the shoulders. This is
important in order to prevent any downward pressure upon the internal
organs, as well as to allow for much deep breathing. It is possible by having
a one-piece union suit, a brassiere for attachment of hose supporters, a
combination corset cover and petticoat, and a one-piece dress.
All the clothing should be comfortably loose, especially any neckbands,
sleeves, gloves, which may well be a size larger, as there is a slight swelling
during this time. No round garters should be worn, as these impede the
circulation in the legs and increase the possibility of varicose veins. The
ankles should be well protected, because the blood vessels here are very
near the surface and easily chilled, and as the blood returns from the legs to
the trunk and internal organs, internal congestion might result from chilling
of the lower extremities. Shoes should have low heels to prevent falling and
rubber heels to minimize jars.
The corset is a moot question. The woman who has not been accustomed
to wearing one is most fortunate now, for she has been developing and
training the muscles of the back and trunk, which should be strong and
flexible, equal to the special demands made upon them during the last four
months and at the birth. If corsets have been the custom, it would be most
advisable to discard them three or six months before motherhood is begun,
and to give a systematic course of training to these muscles. Some
physicians require their patients to discard corsets during this time. Their
only possible value is to support the back and the bust, not as support for
the abdomen. They may be harmful by crowding the internal organs,
pressing any organs out of place, interfering with the fullest deep breathing
and internal circulation, keeping the trunk muscles flabby and weak,
compressing the breasts; and thereby causing more discomfort to the
mother, depriving the baby of sufficient oxygen, making the birth longer
and more difficult, and hindering nursing ability. A brassiere or comfortably
fitted muslin waist is an adequate bust supporter; or a knitted breast binder
is procurable which should be applied loosely enough to cause no
compression, which hinders the development of the nursing glands. After
the fourth month, the baby rises from the pelvis to the abdomen and the
waist increases in size. Ordinary corsets then become especially dangerous.

If for any reason a corset is then worn, it should be a special maternity style,
such as the Ferris maternity waist. During the last month or two, it is
advisable to discard even this corset, and if any support is necessary, to
wear an abdominal supporting band, a knitted, shaped band being especially
comfortable.
Food. The careful regulation of the diet and food-taking has vastly much
to do with the comfort of the mother and the sturdiness of the baby. All the
nourishment that the baby receives is derived from the substances that the
mother takes in food and drink, which are digested in her system and
conveyed from her circulation to his. It is a mistaken idea that the mother is
“eating for two” and needs to increase the quantity. No increase in her
normal requirement for protein or fat is considered either needed or
desirable during the entire nine months, or any increase in carbohydrates
until the last three months. The system cannot use the excess, which thereby
only makes a greater tax upon the organs of elimination or clogs the system
with poisons and overcrowds the abdominal organs. Abundance of mineral,
especially lime, phosphorus, iron, and soda is essential. During the last
three months there is an increase of about one fifth in the energy
requirements, which is best met by an increase in the carbohydrates not to
exceed this proportion. The following table gives the average dietetic needs
of women:
Sleeping 0.4 Calories per hour per pound body weight
Sitting quietly (at meals, reading, etc.) 0.6 ” ” ” ” ”
At light muscular exercise (dressing,
0.8 ” ” ” ” ”
standing, walking)
At active muscular exercise 1.4 ” ” ” ” ”
For example, for a woman weighing 125 pounds:
Calories
10 hours resting 0.4 × 125 × 10 500
5 ” sitting 0.6 × 125 × 5 375
5 ” light exercise 0.8 × 125 × 5 500
4 ” active exercise 1.4 × 125 × 4 700
Total for day 2075
Protein 10%-15% 207-311
Fats 25%-35% 519-539
Carbohydrate 50%-60% 1037-1245

There is only a fraction of an ounce daily increase in the weight of the
baby. A baby weighing 6½ to 7½ pounds at birth is more natural and easier
for the mother than a heavy, fat baby, which is produced by overeating,
overdrinking, and insufficient exercise.
The toxin-free diet, the quantity at one meal, and the time of meals are
matters for careful consideration. During this period there is an increased
production of waste, poisonous substances, and gases; at the same time
there is often an increased tendency toward constipation. Auto-intoxication
consequently results, causing much discomfort from nausea, headaches,
dizziness, melancholia, nervousness, irritability. Special care should
therefore be taken to select a diet (1)chiefly free from purins, (2)and from
stimulants, (3)higher in base-forming than acid-forming elements, (4)with
high mineral content, especially lime, and (5)laxative. This is done by
omitting, or using very sparingly, meats, coffee, tea, pastry, fried foods,
irritating condiments, vinegar; and by including milk, buttermilk made with
the Bulgarian tablets, cheese, eggs, nuts, whole-wheat bread, bran bread,
green vegetables, salads, fresh and dried fruits, fruit juices, butter, olive oil.
Any food that is difficult of digestion, or that produces fermentation or gas,
should be omitted.[3]
Enough water should be taken to carry off waste products but not to
unduly increase the body fluids or cause flabbiness of tissues. With the diet
recommended, less water drinking will be necessary than otherwise, six
glasses a day probably being quite ample. This should be taken at intervals,
not more than a small glass at one time, and not less than half an hour from
meal times; fruit juices or milk may be taken instead of plain water.
Alcohol, even in dilute quantities, is highly injurious to the delicate nerve
cells of the body, and should be avoided, particularly during this and the
nursing period. Patent medicines usually contain alcohol.
With a well regulated diet, there is less probability of cravings for
unusual or abnormal foods; such cravings may be pampered if for
wholesome foods; if absurd or abnormal, they should be ignored.
During the last four months, and especially the last two, it is better to
take the food in five meals than in three meals. There is less room in the
trunk for the stomach to expand in the movements of digestion, and it may
easily crowd uncomfortably upon the heart. The heaviest meal should be

taken in the middle of the day, and a light supper two or three hours before
bedtime, for adequate digestion and comfortable sleep. During the last
month, the daily diet may well include one or two pints of milk in some
form, because of its ease in digestion.
Bathing. A daily bath is especially important during this period, because
there is so much waste and poison to be eliminated. If the pores of the skin
are not kept clean and open, the kidneys (the work of which is now much
increased) will be overtaxed, or some of the poison will remain in the
system, causing headaches, nausea, and other discomforts. Very cold or
very hot baths are equally to be avoided. The latter may cause a
miscarriage, especially during the first three months. A woman who is
accustomed to a daily cold bath may continue this as long as there is a good
reaction. Surf bathing is inadvisable because of the low temperature and the
muscular strain; bathing in quiet waters is quite safe. The daily bath should
be warm enough for cleansing (90°-98° F.), followed by a cool sponge or
spray for tonic. A salt bath (one quart of sea or coarse salt dissolved in a tub
of water) is a good tonic. Two baths daily are permissible, not remaining in
the water more than ten minutes. A vigorous rub with bath mitts, a Turkish
towel, or coarse damp salt, is a further aid to skin elimination. Vaginal
douches should never be used except on the advice of the physician. For
sleeplessness, nervousness, congestion of blood in the head, the neutral (96°
F.) sitz bath combined with a hot foot bath will promote the necessary
equalizing of the circulation.
Exercise. Exercise now has two important purposes: the elimination of
waste, and the strengthening of back and abdominal muscles. The
precautions are avoidance of fatigue and of sudden or severe strain upon the
abdominal muscles that might produce a miscarriage. During the first three
months, the placental attachment is relatively insecure and therefore more
easily detached. The certainty of motherhood cannot be established until the
third or fourth month, although some presumptive symptoms are manifested
earlier. The woman who has left motherhood to chance, and who therefore
is not preparing for necessary care during these earlier months, is the more
liable to a miscarriage through disregard of due precautions.
The ideal for this period would be complete outdoor living, with two
miles of walking each day and plenty of light exercise that could be
dropped at the approach of fatigue. Such a gypsy-like experience is often

removed from usual living conditions. With a little planning, it could often
be approached, however. The investment in such a vacation would yield far
richer returns to the baby than an expensive layette, to say nothing of the
increased comfort, ease, and happiness of the mother. The extreme
antithesis of this ideal would be continuous indoor life with no work to
occupy muscles and mind.
The individual mother must plan her environment and her work as nearly
as possible to the ideal. Living in the country with good roads has the
advantage of outdoors. An outdoor sleeping porch is much to be desired.
For indoor sleeping or working, the room should be thoroughly ventilated
with a constant current of fresh outdoor air, with the temperature not above
68° F. for working, and from 32° to 60° F. for sleeping. Extra clothing may
be worn rather than to keep the windows closed.
A habit of deep breathing of outdoor air for about ten minutes on rising,
at bedtime, and at several stated times during the day, will be wonderfully
beneficial. The mother is now breathing for two, and the baby needs much
oxygen.
Light household work is beneficial. Long standing, lifting, or pulling
heavy weights, scrubbing on hands and knees, running up and downstairs,
much stooping, working long over a hot stove, the use of a sewing-machine
treadle or a washboard, are harmful. If the responsibility of the household
work rests upon the mother, she must use her ingenuity to reduce it to its
lowest terms of muscular energy.[4]
Walking is the best athletic exercise, two miles a day being desirable. It
should be taken in easy stages, stopping to rest when tired, or a part of this
distance taken at different times during the day. Golf, tennis, basketball,
skating, horseback riding, bicycle riding, swimming, rowing, dancing, surf
bathing, long rides over rough roads, involve the risk of overstrain, and
should be omitted.
Special Exercises. Clothing should always be very loose, especially
around the waist, and the room should be well ventilated, for these
exercises.
Breathing Exercises. These should be taken out of doors if possible;
otherwise, at an open window. Breathing should be from the diaphragm.

Repeat each exercise three to six times, or until fatigue begins.
1. Standing, hands on lowest margin of ribs, thumbs toward back, fingers
few inches apart. Blow the breath out slowly, bending body forward at hips
and pressing in gently with the hands to force out the air. Return slowly to
upright position, breathing in through the nose gently to utmost capacity.
Hold breath ten seconds and repeat exercise.
2. Stand erect. Take a deep breath, rising on balls of feet, extending arms
out at side, shoulders high, hands clenched and describing small circles, as
though boring. Hold ten seconds, then gently drop arms, blowing out the
breath as long as possible.
3. Lying on the back, hold one nostril closed and breathe in slowly and
deeply through the other. Hold the breath five or ten seconds, close the
second nostril, and breathe out through the first. Repeat, breathing in
through the first and holding the second closed; hold the breath, close the
first, and breathe out through the second. This is a soothing exercise.
Trunk Exercises. Any one not accustomed to these exercises should
consult the physician before beginning them during this period. All
exercises should be done slowly, with no jerking movements.
For overcoming constipation, improving the tone, elasticity, and strength
of the abdominal muscles.
1. Lie flat on the back, arms at the sides. Raise the right arm slowly,
keeping it parallel with the body, describing a half circle until it rests on the
bed or floor, above the head. Repeat with the left arm. Bring each arm
slowly back to position. (Figure 2.)
2. Same position. Raise the right foot, keeping the toes pointed forward,
bending the knee until it touches the abdomen. Repeat with the left foot.
May be repeated ten times or until fatigued. (Figure 1.)
3. Same position. Bend knees; draw the abdominal wall in and out slowly
by muscular effort, without the assistance of deep breathing.
4. Same position. Lift the trunk from the floor, resting the weight on
shoulders and hips.
5. Sit or stand, hands on hips. Twist the body slowly to the right and
slowly return to position. Repeat, twisting to the left.

6. Walk up and down stairs moderately with a springing step, holding the
body erect, shoulders straight, chest expanded, mouth closed, weight on
balls of feet.
These simplest and easiest exercises may be continued throughout this
period or may be commenced at any time.
The following exercises are more strenuous and should be used
cautiously during the first three and last two months by those not
accustomed to exercise. The physician should be consulted before using
them during this time. They are profitably begun six months beforehand and
are valuable for ordinary conditions of life.
7. Lie on the back, arms at sides. Raise both arms together, as in Exercise
1. Bring arms back slowly to sides.
8. Same position. Raise the right foot, toes pointed forward, knee straight
till leg is at right angles with trunk; hold position ten seconds and lower
foot slowly. Repeat with left foot. Raise both feet together. (Figure 2.)
9. Lying flat on back, hands on chest or clasped behind head, feet held
down under a chiffonier or by an attendant, come to sitting position without
assistance of hands or elbows. (Figure 4.)
10. Lie on the back, grasp the rounds of the headboard and gently pull the
body toward the head of the bed. Push with the feet against the footboard,
or other non-resisting surface.
The knee-chest position is a most valuable exercise. It relieves the
abdominal pressure, and therefore any swelling in the legs from such
pressure, or any prolapsis of internal organs, bearing-down feelings,
backache, disturbed pelvic circulation. It may be taken a few minutes at a
time, several times a day. Sleeplessness will often be relieved by taking this
position for a few minutes and then lying down. Kneel on the floor or other
unyielding surface. Lay the side of the face down on this surface, with the
shoulder of that side as near the knees as possible, keeping the upper leg
from knee to hip at right angles with the floor. Weight may be supported on
forearms placed at right angles to the body.
A good posture should always be maintained when sitting or standing;
especially avoid letting the chest sink in. Whenever possible in sitting,

especially after meals, elevate the feet, thus preventing varicose veins and
swelling in the legs.
Sleep. Much sleep is needed. From eight to ten hours’ sleep at night is
essential, and a nap or rest in the afternoon, about an hour after the midday
meal. By following the régime previously given, undisturbed sleep is likely
to be the rule. The mother should sleep alone, and preferably in a room by
herself. A little pillow under the small of the back is very comfortable, and
during the last four months, an additional pillow under the shoulders.
Teeth, Hair, Eyes. The teeth should have been examined and put in good
condition before the beginning of this period. During the entire time they
should be brushed carefully after every meal, and the mouth rinsed with an
alkaline wash, such as milk of magnesia or soda bicarbonate. The scalp
should be massaged every day during the last two months and the two
succeeding months, to prevent the hair falling out. The eyes should be
examined three months after the birth.
Prenatal Influences. Life begins when the germ cells unite, and from
that time the mother is the guardian of a living, though immature child. By
the end of the third month the form and features are complete, though in
miniature, the weight is about four ounces and the length about three
inches. The study of development before birth is called embryology. So far
as scientific research has been able to discover, there are no nerve cells
connecting the nervous system of the mother with that of the child.
Notwithstanding superstitions and folklore to the contrary, it is scientifically
known that she cannot give her child a Greek nose by looking at classic
pictures, an ape face through seeing some disagreeable sight, or musical
genius by attending concerts. Anatomical form and mental traits are matters
of heredity, as previously stated, and these factors are settled forever when
the germ cells unite. The sex is also determined at that time, apparently
depending upon the sex-determining factors in the germ cells. Hundreds of
theories (such as the diet or the condition of the parents) have been
suggested for influencing the sex of the child, but none of these is as yet
proven true, and certainly no such influence can have any effect after the
germ cells have united. “Birthmarks,” such as red or blue spots, are
probably due to some interference with the blood supply during
development.

Approved Crib, Scales, Nursery Table. Holding the Baby, Supporting Head
and Back.
The mother is influencing the child during the entire nine months,
through the blood supply. If she indulges in fear, anger, melancholy (dark
emotions that develop poison in the blood), if she over-eats, or takes
alcohol, if she neglects deep breathing, daily bathing, elimination, exercise,
she is impoverishing and poisoning the blood supply, and the quality of her
child’s bodily and mental characteristics will suffer. If she lives a
wholesome life, following a régime that continuously eliminates poisons
and gives abundant nourishment and oxygen, with the cultivation of peace,
cheer, courage, joy (emotions that promote good circulation and a
wholesome blood stream), she is providing good nourishment and
enhancing the quality of her child’s life.
It is for the comfort of the mother and for the welfare and beauty of the
child that the mother should be sacredly reserved for her work during this
and the nursing period.
A normal woman whose physical life through her childhood and
adolescence has been well regulated should have an easy experience. A
certain amount of discomfort and mental depression is to be accepted as a

matter of course, but the greater care now given to physical hygiene would
naturally increase health and vitality. Concerts, plays, lectures, and social
gatherings (except where these would involve crowds and ill-ventilated,
overheated rooms), reading, music, play, should all be part of her life during
this time. The joy of anticipation gives the singing heart and makes this a
time of beatitude, of weaving of dreams such as no other experience in life
can give.
The preparation of the nursery and the baby clothes is part of the joyous
experience. This may well begin early, that it may proceed leisurely,
without sense of haste, and with its full measure of satisfaction. Simplicity,
cleanliness, economy in care, daintiness, are the keynotes.
The Nursery. Room. It is desirable that the baby should have a room
alone. If this is not possible, his room should be equipped for the nursery,
and only the mother or nurse should sleep in the same room. Sunny
exposure is essential. Second floor is preferable, for dryness, and freedom
from cats and dogs. A covered, sunny veranda for outdoor sleeping is most
desirable. The room should be ventilated from two sides, and preferably
with open fireplace.
Floor. Washable, either painted, oiled or waxed, never carpeted. Small
size washable rugs.
Walls. Washable, either painted or covered with Sanitas, at least to
wainscot four feet high. Soft, plain, neutral tone; buff, warm gray or
medium green.
Curtains. Both light and dark shades; sheer, washable curtains, plain or
figured scrim; no heavy window draperies or portières.
Heating. Preferably hot-water heater, with open fireplace for occasions.
Steam and hot-air systems lack a sufficient amount of moisture, and are
subject to sudden changes in temperature. Gas or kerosene stoves consume
the oxygen and should not be used in the nursery. Coal stoves should be
carefully watched to avoid poisonous gases from imperfect combustion, or
sudden changes in temperature. Large open basins of fresh water should be
kept in the room in winter, to supply humidity.
Lighting. A dim, shaded light for night use, lit only when needed.
Nursery should be dark at night; daylight soft but not darkened, during first

two weeks; ordinary lighting thereafter during waking hours, softened but
not dark during daytime sleep.

Nursery Equipment

Chiffonier for clothes and toilet equipment
Low chair or rocker without arms

Approved Shoes and Baby Carriage.
Basket or bassinet for first four or six months, with stand; high bassinet
stands are now procurable
Iron or brass crib, high sides, plain round tubing without ornamentation,
narrow spaces between bars, one side to be lowered
High folding screen with detachable, washable covering for wings; a
firm-standing clotheshorse four feet high answers also for a clothes rack;
covering of muslin, cheesecloth, or china silk, attached with tapes when
needed
Nursery table for dressing, with plain, round legs and a six-inch ledge
securely screwed on; edges and corners of ledge preferably rounded. An
ordinary kitchen table with drawer answers very well. A carpenter can make
and attach the ledge.
One or two small low tables, with rounded legs, for bathtub and bath
accessories
Folding tables economize space. Firm, round tables can be used later for
the child’s dining and play.
For bassinet: Four-fold cotton blanket or table felting as mattress; or 6-inch
pad filled with clean silk floss, hair, straw, or chaff
3 absorbent pads, quilted or of table felting
4 to 6 sheets, cotton for summer, soft outing flannel (all cotton) for winter
1 or 2 knitted afghans, or blankets of eiderdown or three-quarter wool
For crib: Hair or silk floss mattress; for economy, clean straw may be used.
2 absorbent pads
4 to 6 sheets, cotton or outing flannel
1 or 2 knitted spreads, or eiderdown quilts or three-quarter wool blankets
1 or 2 piqué or dimity counterpanes

Papricloth nursery blankets, or light-weight rubber sheeting, to protect
mattresses

2 pads of hair or straw ½ inch thick, 9 × 12 inches
3 to 6 cotton slips for pads
6 to 12 square or triangular pads, 12-inch size, quilted, stockinet, or table
felting
1 rubber lap protector, detachable piqué or flannel slips
1 yard dark green sateen for bassinet canopy
2-3 yards cheesecloth, dimity, or china silk for one end and side of crib

50 yards cheesecloth, six to ten cents a yard, for diapers, face cloths
3 sizes of safety pins with safety fasteners
Nursery scales, common beam type, not spring type commonly sold for
nursery, which are difficult to read and unreliable
Bathtub, enamel or tin most practicable. Rubber is soft and adaptable, but
soon outgrown, and baby cannot kick or splash so well. After five or
six months, the baby may be bathed in the large bathtub.
Room thermometer, Fahrenheit
Bath thermometer, Fahrenheit; red or blue indicator easier to read than
mercury
1 or 2 small white enamel hand basins, one of these kept exclusively for
diapering
1 largest size white enamel or agate bucket with cover, for diapers
1 2-quart pitcher
1 4-quart pitcher
1 3-ounce package lysol
1 pound boracic acid (powder)
1 pound powdered borax
Small hand scrub brush
Small hot-water bottle or thermophore

Smallest size china or enamel cuspidor
Nurse’s apron with bib
Bath apron of knitted goods, stockinet, or heavy Turkish toweling
Light-weight detachable rubber sheeting apron to wear under bath and
nursery aprons
6 wash cloths, 8-inch square, of soft old table linen, stockinet, knitted, or
four-fold cheesecloth
2 largest size soft Turkish bath towels
2 medium, soft linen towels
2 soft face towels, of old table linen or toweling
Package tissue paper napkins
Wooden box with hinged cover, or enamel tray, for bath accessories, as
follows:
a. Baby’s soft hairbrush
b. Celluloid or ivory soap box with cover
c. Small semi-blunt scissors
2 6-ounce glass jars with screw tops, to hold sterilized gauze and
d.
cotton
e. Cake pure Castile or Palmolive soap
f. 2-ounce bottle liquid albolene or sterilized olive oil
g. 2-ounce bottle liquid vaseline
h. 2-ounce bottle grain alcohol
i. 2-ounce bottle saturated solution of boracic acid (made from powder)
j. 2-ounce bottle 2% boracic acid
k. Small box zinc ointment
l. Small tube cold cream
Shaker-top powder-box, with powder made of 1 ounce oxide of zinc,
m.
1 ounce cornstarch or rice powder, 1 ounce boracic acid
n. Small package absorbent cotton (kept in covered jar)

o. Sterilized cheesecloth cut in 3-inch squares (kept in covered jar)[5]
Baby Carriage. High; not less than 14 inches wide, and 28 inches long,
inside measurements; wood body preferable to reed or rattan (latter should
be kept free from dust by frequent cleaning); detachable, washable covering
to upholstery; good springs, brake, rubber tires; porous hood with lining
dark green, brown, or gray to protect eyes (never white), ventilated by holes
near top or by side curtains; ample drop for feet when baby is sitting up;
reversible body or handles desirable.
Baby Pen. The nursery table or crib will answer until the sitting stage, at
five or six months, and the crib until the creeping or climbing stage, at
seven or nine months. A pen four to six feet square gives room for tumbling
and creeping. It should have a wood bottom, preferably of slats loosely
joined (for flexibility). Raised six inches above the floor, to escape drafts;
sides made of slats or plain round rods 4 inches apart, 2½ feet high; edges
rounded; clean detached quilt or table felting over floor. Sides may be
hinged to fold away. A large packing box, sides padded, raised on 6-inch
blocks, may be used for economy. The light-weight pens, resting on the
floor, usually found in the shops, are drafty and inadvisable.
Harmful Equipment. The following have no place in a baby welfare
nursery:
All unsanitary germ holders, such as sponge, powder puff, basket
trimmings, open or porous toilet basket, pacifier, veil.
Rubber or other waterproof diapers, because they are unavoidably
heating and irritating; feathers, because too heating; linen sheets, which are
cold and chilling.
Pinning bands or swaddling clothes, which prevent the activity so
essential for growth.
Cradles or rocking bassinets, which are injurious to the nerves.
Baby-walkers, because they keep the baby too long on his feet and legs
when he needs the intermittent rest of lying down while learning to walk;
they retard his confidence in walking alone, and are a cause of dangerous
falls.

Low go-carts and sulkies, which keep the baby in the low strata of dust
and germ-laden air, and which are frequently badly proportioned for good
posture.
Soothing syrups, patent medicines, paregoric, whiskey, brandy; they are
all poisonous.
Patent artificial foods; they are expensive and an inefficient makeshift.

Drugs and Unsanitary Appliances.

Unhygienic Equipment and Unsatisfactory Scales.

Clothing List for First Six Months.
Minimum Moderate
2 3 knitted binders with tapes to tie
2 4 knitted shirts. double-breasted, size 2
2 4 flannel Gertrude petticoats
1 2 nainsook Gertrude petticoats
2 4 dozen cheesecloth diapers, 1 yard square, sterilized
dozen stockinet or cotton bird’s-eye diapers, 22-inch,
2 2
sterilized
nightgowns: soft crepon, long cloth, nainsook, or Viyella
3 4
flannel
3 6 plain slips: soft crêpe, crepon, long cloth, or nainsook
1 2 fine slips: nainsook, dimity, soft lawn, batiste, or linen
1 3 wrappers: cashmere, challie, flannel, or albatross
1 2 sacks: knitted, flannel, challie, or cashmere
kimono-sleeve wrap: cashmere, flannel, eiderdown, or
1 1 broadcloth. Separate padded lining (cheesecloth or china
silk) for cold weather
bonnets: nainsook, lawn, china silk, or silk knitted (open
mesh) for summer. Flannel, broadcloth, cashmere, or
1 2
loosely knitted for cool weather. Quilted detachable lining
of cheesecloth or china silk for cold weather
1 hood shawl: flannel, or cashmere
1 2 shawls: flannel or knitted
pair long hose: cotton for summer Merino for cool
1 4
weather
1 2 pair bootees: porous, not heavy

Knitted binders are more elastic than flannel.
Cotton bird’s-eye, or cheap outing flannel diapering is warmer and more
absorbent than linen or canton flannel; stockinet is best.

Cotton material for slips, and lace or embroidery for trimmings, should
be very soft.
Viyella flannel, which is half wool and non-shrinking, is most
satisfactory; loosely woven flannel, half wool, with silk or cotton, is soft,
shrinks little, and is warmer than heavy, close weaves.
Outing or Shaker flannel is all cotton; the soft nap is highly inflammable.
Crêpe, crepon, and woolens, should be shrunk before making.
Knitted shawls, jackets, and quilts are warmer and lighter than woven
fabrics; avoid colors unless guaranteed non-fading.
For the knitted (ready-made) shirts, some authorities prefer all cotton,
others part wool. All wool is never advisable, as the baby’s skin is very
sensitive, and furthermore, all wool shrinks badly. For most babies, under
average conditions, one-quarter wool, three-quarters cotton or silk is
advised. In very warm weather, all cotton is better. In very cold climates,
half or three-quarters wool may be advisable. Silk has no special advantage
over cotton. Babies with very delicate skin, eczema, or any rash should
never have wool next the skin. Some manufacturers now make part wool
knitted underwear, having only the cotton thread next the skin, wool
outside.
The binder is worn only two or three weeks, as a protector to the navel
until it is healed. It should be fastened comfortably, not tight. With delicate
babies or those out of doors in cold weather, a band with shoulder straps
may be worn as a substitute during the first year, although this is
unnecessary with a double-breasted shirt. The Vanta binders and shirts
(double-breasted), fastening with twistless tape instead of buttons, are
especially satisfactory.

Kimono Coat, Raglan Sleeve Slip, Kimono Slip.

Knitted Shirt and Band. Shaped Diapers. Diaper Fastening with Tapes.

Gertrude Petticoat. Kimono Nightgown Fastening with Snaps.
For the Layette.

Making. Preparation of the baby clothes should be a joy and not a worry
or burden. Let them be simple, moderate in quantity.
The kimono or raglan sleeve gowns, wrappers, and coats are much easier
to put on and off than the set-in sleeve. By liberal measure under the
shoulders, the sleeve will not pull out; a gathering string at the cuff for little
babies will keep the hand from slipping out.
All seams should be flat.
Seams on woolen garments should be felled or edges featherstitched flat.
Armhole and neck of flannel garments should be covered with soft seam-
binding or turned back ¼ inch and raw edge stitched down or
featherstitched; never turn under, as this makes a ridge. At hem of flannel
petticoat, raw edge need not be turned in but may be featherstitched flat.
Sleeves may be turned back in a 2-inch hem for first months.
Edge of dress sleeves and neck may be finished with a ⅛-inch hem with
featherstitching, or a narrow Armenian or val lace, or soft batiste
embroidery, whipped on; or twistless tape or wash ribbon ¼ to ½ inch wide,

may be run through facing or beading at neck and one or two inches from
edge of sleeve.
Fine gathers or tucks may be made in the front and back of slips to form
a yoke; these may be taken out later as the baby grows.
Beading, or buttonholed eyelets two inches apart, for wash ribbon sash,
may be made in dresses, thus forming a yoke; leave garment loose two
inches each side of under-arm seam.
Maximum length allowable for dresses and petticoats, 27 inches;
minimum, 22 inches; hems, 1 to 3 inches.
Neckbands, 9½ inches at birth to 10 inches at 6 months.
Sleeve bands should be 8 to 12 inches long.
Average length of infant, neck to soles, at birth, is 16 inches; at 6 months,
24 inches.
Set-in sleeves, small cuffs, small neckband, tiny buttons, make dressing
difficult. Gathering string of twistless tape or ribbon, with beading, at
sleeves and neck, are recommended, or ample neckbands.
Kohinoor snappers are preferable to buttons, using care in laundering to
prevent bending. If sewed on to linen tape, which can be used as a facing
for material, there is less strain on goods.
Short Clothes. Clothes are usually shortened at four months in summer
or six months in winter, keeping about the same models.
Rompers are convenient after creeping begins. The English use diaper
drawers knitted of soft wool.
Leather moccasins, made after the Indian model, with seams outside, are
the best footgear until the walking stage, at twelve to fifteen months.

FOOTNOTES:
[3] See Chapter IX.
[4] See Chapter III.

[5] See page 363.

CHAPTER VII
[6]
CARE OF THE BABY

“Everything in after life depends upon uninterrupted healthy growth during
infancy.”
—Doctor F. Truby King.
“There is no young creature in the world so ignorantly and cruelly nurtured as the
average infant.”
—Ibid.
“Since what is needed most is intelligent care, all proper means should be
employed to educate mothers and those caring for infants, in proper methods of doing
this.”
—Doctor L. Emmett Holt.

The baby is a unity of body, mind, and soul, and these cannot be
separated in his actual life. During every minute of his care, in every detail,
his whole nature is being influenced and his character shaped. It is only for
convenience of discussion that the physical régime is separated from the
rest of his care.
The régime here outlined is for normal, well babies, for their first year or
two. Delicate, feeble, or sickly infants must receive special care, under the
physician’s directions, in their feeding, bathing, clothing, and outdoor
living.
There are only a few fundamental principles, but these are to be practiced
with conscientious thoroughness by every one who has anything to do with
the child. It is the little details in the routine of his daily life that produce
vigor or weakness. Errors in his care now easily cost his life; or apparently
they may not harm him now but will be paid for in suffering, deformities, or
weakness in childhood or adulthood. The woman who has this
responsibility needs special preparation in self-sacrifice, self-control,
gentleness, regularity, thoroughness, and accuracy in little details. She
should be in good health, free from any contagious disease.
Fundamental Principles.

1. Regularity, particularly in feeding, sleep, stools
2. Cleanliness of baby, food, clothing, utensils, toys, nursery
3. Fresh air and sunshine, Nature’s great disinfectants and vitalizers
4. Gradual, moderate changes in temperatures, clothing, food, régime
5. Quiet, because the brain and nervous system are yet incomplete in
their development, and are very sensitive; the maximum of sleep, with little
stimulation while awake. The brain grows as much during the first year as
during all the rest of life.
6. Gentleness in handling, to prevent any curvature or misshaping of the
soft bones, or shocks to the nerves
7. Moderate warmth, which avoids either chilling or coddling
8. Freedom of movement, for only thus can body and mind normally
develop
9. Training in self-control, which can begin the first day and needs daily
attention
10. Mothering, cuddling, fondling, regularly every day, before feeding, at
bath or dressing times, an hour previous to bedtime
11. Holding and Lifting. The whole length of the spine and the weight of
the head must be well supported until the baby is strong enough, at six or
seven months of age, to support these himself. In lifting a young baby, the
left hand and arm are slipped under the head, neck, and upper back, the
right hand under the lower back. He may be carried in one arm by
supporting the head in the crook of the elbow and supporting the entire
length of the back with the forearm, wrist, and hand. If held in an upright
position at this early age, the wobbly head should always be supported.
Never lift a baby or little child by his arms.
Daily Régime. The following schedule is in general typical for the first
year. It will vary somewhat with the age of the baby, the climate and season.
In varying from this schedule, note that the following factors are important
and to be observed strictly:
1. Regularity in feeding

2. Interval of one hour after a feeding before bath
3. Interval of one hour between feeding and fruit juice
4. Interval of twenty to thirty minutes between feeding or water and
urinating; this interval should be observed for the individual child, that the
habit of control (and the saving of wet diapers) may be established as early
as possible
5. Regular time for stools; by beginning the week after birth this can be
early established, and much unnecessary work saved
6. Regular time for the bath, scheduled for mid-morning or for evening,
according to which time is found to agree best with the baby
7. Regular times for play, kicking, cuddling
8. Regular time for weighing, that conditions may be the same
9. Note that in cool weather the baby should not be put outdoors until one
hour after the bath; and that an oil rub may be given instead of the cool
sponge at night

A daily schedule card is of assistance in maintaining regularity, noting
new developments or unusual conditions. It is advisable to record it at least
once a week, on the day for the weekly weighing.
Typical Schedule
Conditions. Season: June Age of Baby: Four Months
A.M.
5:30 Wakened; changed. (Some babies will sleep until 6:00, others will waken early, and should be
changed but not fed; may be given water if they cry, and left to play in bed.)
6:00-6:15 Feeding
6:30 Urinated (cuspidor)
6:45-8:00 Slept
8:00 2 teaspoons water; stool (cuspidor) normal
8:00-8:30 Kicking in bassinet (or on nursery table); crying 10 minutes
8:30 Weighing, exercise, rub
8:40 Urinated (cuspidor)
8:40 Bath (temperature 98° F.); cool sponge (84° F.); dressed; crying 10 minutes
9:00-9:15 Feeding

9:30 Put outdoors; asleep
11:55 Wakened; changed
12:00-12:15 Feeding

P.M.
12:40 Urinated (cuspidor)
12:45 Put outdoors
1:00-2:00 Slept
2:00 Changed; 2 tablespoons prune juice
2:00-3:00 Kicking on nursery table (or in pen) in open air
3:00-3:15 Feeding
3:30 Urinated (cuspidor)
3:30-4:30 Put outdoors; slept; crying 10 minutes
4:30-5:30 Cuddled
5:00 2 teaspoons water
5:30 Urinated; stool (cuspidor) normal
5:45 Rub; sponge bath (90° F.); dressed for night
6:00-6:15 Feeding
6:30 In bassinet, asleep (Change if wet)
10:00 Changed
10:00 Feeding
Totals. Sleep: 17 hrs. Water: 3 T. Stools: 2. Crying: 30 minutes.

Clothing. The designs previously suggested for the baby clothes (page
83) are adapted to ease in dressing, laundering, making, and to freedom of
movement. With these, the baby need be turned only once in dressing, or
not at all, if the dress is fastened in front. Use only flat, protected safety
pins, no common, straight, or ridged pins. With tapes and snappers, pins
may be eliminated.
It is much easier and more comfortable to dress and change a baby on the
nursery table than on a low bed or the lap.
The clothes should be put on and off over the feet, not over the head.
The clothing should be changed completely at the morning bath and at
night. The day outfit is the same as the night during the first three months.
Later the day slip is worn, as the baby is awake longer. The nightgown may
be of Viyella flannel, the petticoat then being unnecessary, except with the
temperature below 40°-50° F.

Overdressing, like overfeeding, is a common and serious mistake. If the
baby’s skin is moist to the touch, he is overwarmly dressed and thereby
made highly susceptible to “colds” and pneumonia. If his feet are cold, skin
“goose-fleshed”, and lips blue, he needs more clothing. With a room
temperature of 68°-70° F., duly humidified, a baby four months or over
usually needs only a diaper, cotton or quarter-wool double-breasted shirt,
flannel petticoat and cotton slip. The binder is needed only until the navel
heals,—about three weeks. It should be loosely applied, fastened by tapes
rather than by pins or sewing. If applied tightly or worn longer it hinders the
development of the trunk muscles, interferes with digestion and breathing,
and, contrary to superstition, will not prevent but may cause rupture. For
babies under four months or with a room temperature below 68° F. a
wrapper, sweater, or sack should be added. The cotton petticoat is only for
ornamental purposes with fine slips.
On warm summer days (over 72° F.) he may dispense with the petticoat.
In very hot weather, also, substitute a cotton, half-sleeve vest for the long-
sleeved shirt, or after three months dispense with all but the diaper while
awake, adding a cotton slip during naps, and a cotton shirt at night.
For outdoors, he should not be bundled until the minute before he
departs. A thin cap of cotton, linen, or silk may be worn in warm weather
(or none at all after three months) and a double one for winter, not thick
enough to cause perspiration. For the first twelve months a kimono-sleeved
coat, with drawstrings at shoulder and wrist, will provide protection, with
the blankets, for cold weather. The nightgown pattern may be used to make
a sleeping bag of eiderdown, broadcloth, or flannel. This allows much more
freedom than the usual type of sleeping bag, and is better ventilated. The
hood should be of lighter fabric, knitted or of flannel, broadcloth, cashmere;
eiderdown or angora is overheating.
Stockings and booties ordinarily are not needed during the first year
except when the baby is kicking and creeping about with a temperature
below 68° F., or for appearance when he is taken out in arms. See that the
feet are warm, but not hot or moist. Stockings are always coming off or
getting wet from the diaper; they keep the feet perspiring, making them
tender and increasing the possibility of colds. When worn, they should be of
cotton, or in very cold weather, one quarter or one half wool; all wool are
overheating and shrink badly. When the baby begins standing or creeping,

the leather Indian moccasins may be used. Other baby shoes on the market
have many faults,—tightness across toes and instep, seams turned inside,
non-porous patent leather; slippery, stiff, or rough soles; they produce only
discomfort at the time and are productive of callouses, corns, bunions, and
misshaped feet. At twelve or fifteen months a heavier-soled Indian
moccasin may be worn or sandals with flexible, corrugated soles, roomy at
the toes, shaped like the foot, right and left, soft, porous (not patent) leather,
perfectly smooth inside, using gaiters or leggings with these for out-of-
doors in damp or cold weather.
Diapering. Reduce the number of wet and soiled diapers by training.
Begin training at one week of age.
Hold a small (warmed) cuspidor firmly in the lap.
Hold the baby above this, the legs extended in the hands, back resting
against the mother’s chest.
Do this at regular time for stool, early morning or late afternoon.
The use of a suppository for a few days will assist; use a little roll of soft,
clean paper dipped in liquid vaseline.
Note on daily record the interval between feeding or drinking, and
urinating (20 to 30 minutes).
Hold the baby for urinating at these regular times when awake and before
beginning the bath.
In a few months he will learn to control the bladder as well as the bowels
for these times, when awake.
At eight or ten months the baby may be supported on the toilet seat, by
using the baby’s detachable toilet chair now manufactured. A nursery chair
for this purpose is not advised. They are usually wrongly proportioned and
constructed; and the child is usually left alone to sit for half an hour or
more, thereby inducing local irritation, deferred action, prolapsis of the
rectum through straining, or bad habits. The mother or nurse should always
stay with the child, and the least possible time should be permitted.
Change the diaper as soon as the baby wakes or immediately, if it
becomes wet while he is awake. (The urine is salty, sometimes acid, and

always irritating.)
Before removing diaper, have at hand everything needed, viz.:
Clean, dry, warm, folded diaper
Diaper preferably folded oblong and fastened at the sides
Diaper handbasin with warm water
Special wash cloth and towel kept only for diapering
Powder, zinc ointment
Diaper bucket
Lay the baby on the nursery table, on a Turkish towel.
If pins are used, put into blanket at right hand, removed from baby’s
reach.
Remove the diaper and drop it into bucket.
Wash baby clean and pat dry, especially in creases.
Use powder very sparingly or not at all.
Use albolene or zinc ointment for chafed places.
Put on dry diaper.
Leave baby in safe position while putting away utensils.
Never use a diaper a second time without washing; the acid and salty
urine deposit will cause chafing.
Avoid pulling tight about the waist; the pelvic bones are now only
cartilage, easily misshaped; if pelvis is narrowed in girls, childbirth will be
made more difficult for them.
Avoid tightness in front, especially for boys, as this will produce
irritation.
Avoid much thickness between the legs; it will cause bow legs.
Never use rubber or other waterproof diapers; they are overheating and
may cause bad habits.
A small pad of cotton batting folded into sterilized cheesecloth, or a
double fold of Turkish toweling or stockinet placed in the diaper will absorb

moisture and avoid the extra thickness of a heavy diaper; this pad may be
burned if soiled.
A quilted or stockinet pad placed between the diaper and petticoat will
prevent drenching of clothes while asleep.
If diaper is fastened to shirt, make sure of ample length; avoid any pull
on shirt or diaper.
Throw water from basin into toilet or slop bucket, not into lavatory.
Wash out cloth, disposing of water in same way; or put cloth into diaper
bucket.
If diaper is soiled, flush off in toilet before putting to soak.
Wash hands thoroughly in the special basin, with soap and water, after
changing diaper.
If marked congestion of genitals, or a discharge appears, take special care
to disinfect hands and burn cloths and diapers. Report the condition at once
to the physician; these symptoms may indicate a serious disease.
Never let a child use a public toilet without placing paper or cloth over
the seat; children’s detachable seats may be purchased that can be carried in
traveling.
Laundering. Baby clothes should be washed with a mild white soap,
such as Ivory, and thoroughly rinsed. Diapers require special care. They
should be thoroughly boiled and rinsed. Laundry soap, soda, or bluing
should not be used, but Ivory soap, with borax or ammonia if necessary.
Dry in sun if possible. Ironing is not necessary.
Boiling, outdoor sunshine, and pressing with a hot iron, are all sterilizing
processes.
Starch is never to be used in baby clothes, which should always be soft
and non-irritating.
For woolens, use warm water; add soap in solution, not rubbing on
clothes; add one teaspoonful of borax or ammonia per gallon of water, if
very soiled. Squeeze, or wash with vacuum washer; do not rub, but use
hand brush on very soiled places. Squeeze or press without twisting. Rinse
through two waters, same temperature as the first. A teaspoonful of

glycerine per gallon of water, added to the last rinsing water, preserves
softness.
Dry at once by moderate heat; avoid freezing or extreme heat. Stretch
into shape, and lay on frames or towels to dry, turning once or twice. If
pressing is desired, use a moderately hot iron. Cheesecloth between iron
and fabric preserves softness.
Bathing.
One bath every day
Sponge bath until cord heals; later, tub bath
Not within an hour after feeding
Not when greatly fatigued
Tub bath preferably in morning, before second feeding;
otherwise, before third or evening feeding
In warm weather an additional sponge bath at night (same as lower
temperature of morning) is advisable.
In hot weather give two or three sponge baths 70° to 90° F., according to
age, in addition.
In cold weather, an oil rub at night may be given instead of sponge[7]
bath.
Temperature for bath is always to be regulated by bath thermometer.
Changes to be gradual, by 1° F., from day to day.
Until sixth or eighth month, tub bath 98° to 100° F., followed by cool.
Then reduce 1° a fortnight, to 90° F.
After second week, a dash of cool water (90° F.) applied by hand to back
(begin at lower end), chest and buttocks. At two months lower by 2° F. and
apply with wash cloth; lower 2° F. each month to 80° F., so long as baby
reacts well—skin rosy and warm, not blue lips, goose flesh, cold feet.
Cool water may be added slowly while baby is in tub, but not hot water.
Giving the Bath. Before beginning to undress the baby, have everything
ready, and just before undressing the baby, wash the hands thoroughly.
Costume: wash dress, sleeves to elbow, bib apron, bath apron.

Room: no drafts; temperature about 70° F. (65°-72°).
Equipment: Clean tub or basin filled with bath water; enamel, tin, or
rubber tub may be used; after six months, large tub may be used. Heavy
bath towel may be placed in bottom of tub.
Prepare tray with toilet articles and rolled gauze.[8]
Bath thermometer; supply of hot and cold water.
Fresh wash cloths for face and body, kept only for baby.
Soft face towel; two large bath towels spread on nursery table.
Laid out in order for dressing; dry, warm clothes, petticoat placed inside
of dress; wrapper or shawl.
Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for undressing, exercises, bathing,
dressing.
Allow five to ten minutes for rubbing and exercise.
Allow two to ten minutes for clearing away after bath.
Undress the baby on the nursery table; have a large, warm, Turkish towel
under him; leave the diaper on, unpinned, until put into tub.
Rubbing. ½ minute to 2 minutes. Use only the hand until 9-12 months.
Hands warmed; anoint with cold cream or cocoa butter, if rough.
Give 2 to 6 long strokes, each arm and leg, beginning at extremity and
rubbing towards heart;
4 to 6 long stokes down back;
4 to 6 long stokes across chest;
4 to 6 long strokes on abdomen, gently, beginning at lower right, and
ending at lower left;
2 to 4 strokes on ribs, from back to front.
Exercises. 3 to 10 minutes. (Begin at one month, see page 112.) Fill tub
to depth covering abdomen of baby; note temperature with thermometer.
Wrap the towel around the baby and put on cuspidor to urinate. Keep
towel around the baby until ready for the tub. Ears, eyes, and head are

washed before going in the tub; also the buttocks, if soiled, using the diaper
basin and cloth, not the bath water.
Ears. Use sterilized cheesecloth or old soft muslin squares, little or no
soap.
Use warm water from tub.
Wash carefully in all creases and behind the ears; let no dirt remain.
Apply albolene or liquid vaseline for scurf.
Never use a pointed instrument; “never put anything smaller than your
elbow in the ear.”
Put soiled gauze in tissue paper receptacle.
Nose. Clean each nostril with a fresh cheesecloth square rolled to a point.
Dip the gauze in the liquid vaseline or albolene, and then push gauze
gently into the nostril and twist around, until nostril is clean.
Never dip the gauze a second time into the oil; put used gauze into tissue
paper receptacle.
If the nose accumulates dirt or mucus during the day, repeat.
Eyes. Use a fresh square of sterilized cheesecloth for each eye.
Wet the gauze in the weak boric solution (2 per cent.), and squeeze a drop
into the corner of the eye.
Wash eyelids gently, toward outer corner, and carefully remove dirt or
secretion.
Never put gauze in solution a second time; put gauze into tissue paper
receptacle.
If eyelids are sticky or with slight secretion, anoint with vaseline,
avoiding eyes.
Repeat boric wash at night, or at hourly intervals, if eyelids are inflamed.
Report severe redness or discharge to physician immediately.
Head. Use face cloth, soap, water from tub.

Soap wet cloth and rub over head, avoiding pressure over fontanel or
getting soapy water in eyes.
If head has scurf, anoint at night with vaseline, olive oil, or fresh lard,
and put on a thin muslin cap.
Never use a comb or harsh rubbing.
Body Bath. Note temperature of water and modify with supply at hand to
exact degree. Place the baby in the tub, supporting the head and upper back
with left hand. Baby may be lowered in the towel, if afraid.
If giving only sponge bath, hold head face upward over basin to rinse,
and wash and dry each part of body separately.
Rinse the head several times very thoroughly with cloth.
Wash the body gently; use a little soap two or three times a week.
Wash under arms, in creases of neck, thighs, fingers, and toes; turn baby
over and wash the back.
After six months, baby may splash or attempt swimming for one to four
minutes.
Lift baby on to bath apron and give cool sponge very quickly.
Lay baby on table and wrap in dry Turkish towel.
Wipe face and ears with soft face towel; pat body dry with towel. Dry the
head thoroughly.
Do not rub with towel before ten months.
Dry carefully under arms, in creases of neck, thighs, knees, fingers, and
toes.
Remove wet towel.
In warm weather, after two months, allow an air bath one to three
minutes, patting or gently rubbing skin with the hand.
Avoid the use of powder, except in hot weather, in creases, for fat babies;
powder clogs the pores.
Put zinc ointment or albolene on chafed places.

If there is any bulging of the umbilicus, put two strips of surgeon’s
plaster across, to hold in place and prevent rupture.
During first four to six weeks, gently draw back foreskin in boys and
cleanse with boric acid; wash genitals of girls with boric solution; apply
vaseline. Later, general bathing is usually sufficient, and special attention is
not desirable.
Dress with dry, warm clothes; brush hair; put on wrapper or shawl.
Cleaning Room. Empty tub, scrub, dry thoroughly, put away.
Put toilet articles carefully away from dust.
Remove soiled clothes.
Wrap soiled gauze in paper receiver and burn.
Leave room in order; lower temperature to 68°-70° F.
Avoid. Washing the mouth; the saliva keeps it naturally clean; the delicate
membrane is easily injured.
Getting soapy water in eyes.
Removing wax from ears with instruments; soft wax is needed; hard wax
may be softened with a few drops of olive oil or liquid vaseline.
Special washing of genitals after six weeks unless hard secretion
develops, which should be softened and removed with olive oil or liquid
vaseline. The usual daily bath and washing when diapering will cleanse
sufficiently; further attention may lead to irritation or to bad habits. Unusual
redness or secretion or adhesions should be immediately reported to the
physician. Circumcision may be needed. Never let the child touch these
parts.
Opening of doors, or other sources of draft, during bath.
Bathroom too warm—above 72° F.
Sudden change to cool temperature after bath; or taking outdoors in less
than an hour after bath, in cold weather.
Public bathtub, as in hotel; infection is possible.

At any time putting the fingers into the baby’s mouth unless necessary,
and then only after thorough washing.
Care of Nursery. Watch the temperature, humidity, and ventilation; keep
the room well sunned.
Air the room and bedding thoroughly with a strong air current from ten to
thirty minutes twice a day, while baby is out of the room.
Keep clothing, towels, bedding, and furniture orderly and clean.
Drying of clothing and bedding, or cooking, should not be done here.
When baby is creeping or walking, take special care that pins, needles,
scissors, matches, and other small objects are not on floor or in reach.
Clean daily while baby is out of room; dust is the baby’s worst enemy.
Dust-raisers, such as corn or whisk brooms, feather or dry cloth dusters,
are not to be used.
Carved woodwork or furniture, bric-a-brac or other dust catchers are out
of place in the nursery.
Use a vacuum cleaner, dustless mop, oiled or damp dusting cloths; for
toys, use a clean damp cloth.
Wipe floor, window-sills, furniture and toys, and vacuum-clean rugs.
Weekly Cleaning. Vacuum-clean rugs, floor, moldings, ledges, and
walls.
Hang rugs out of doors from one to three hours.
Wash or wax floor; wash window-sills, doors, picture frames.
Hang fresh window curtains, screen curtains, crib draperies.
Wash bassinet canopy; brush bassinet thoroughly outdoors.
Clean carriage frame with vacuum, brush, and damp cloth.
Feeding. The kinds of food, quantity, intervals, and times of feeding are
important.
The only natural and adequate food is mother’s milk. No thoroughly
satisfying substitute has ever been found, or is likely to be. Mother’s milk

has the following advantages:
1. It is germicidal—it contains no harmful bacteria, and it has elements
which destroy disease germs in the baby. The babies that are nursed have a
special protection against such diseases as influenza, whooping-cough,
measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria.
2. It is always clean, and therefore greatly reduces the possibility of
diarrhea. Only one breast-fed baby dies to ten bottle-fed babies.
3. It does not sour.
4. It requires no time for preparation or care of bottles.
5. It is always ready.
6. It is balanced in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, for the baby’s needs, and
the proportion of these elements changes with his development.
7. It is in fine, soft curds, adapted to the baby’s stomach and digestion.
8. It contains vitamines, the living, organic principles essential to growth,
and found only in fresh or slightly cooked foods.
9. It has growth-producing properties found in no substitute. In a study
made not long since of 100,000 French soldiers, it was found that the group
of those who in their infancy had been nursed for six months averaged
heavier and taller than those nursed only three months; the group nursed
nine months likewise exceeded in height and stature those nursed only six
months. Similar phenomena have been noted by many observers.
10. It produces better teeth, less subject to decay, both first and second
set.
11. Nursing her baby promotes the return of pelvic organs to their normal
condition, and thus promotes the mother’s comfort, shapeliness and health.
12. It fosters her love for her baby, and the baby’s love for her.
Patent baby foods are usually either some form of dried or condensed
milk, or a dextrinized cereal. The constituents having been subjected to a
high temperature, the vitamines have been destroyed; there are frequent
cases of scurvy among babies so fed. These preparations usually contain a
high percentage of starch or sugar, with an insufficiency of proteins, fats,

and minerals; this produces plump babies that look flourishing in pictures,
but that are lacking in solid muscles, bone and nerve tissue, and are subject
to rickets, With little resistance for pneumonia or other germ diseases.
Patent baby foods, condensed or powdered milk, are the last makeshift.
If artificial feeding becomes necessary, clean cow’s milk is the best
substitute. Cow’s milk is made for the calf, whose stomach and digestion
are much coarser, and development much more rapid, than the baby’s. As
produced, it contains too high a percentage of protein and lime, too low a
percentage of sugar and phosphorus, and the curd is too large and coarse for
the baby’s digestion. It is difficult to produce perfectly clean, and to keep
perfectly sweet until feeding. It must be modified carefully, according to the
age and condition of the baby.
The formula is a technical matter for the medical or dietetic specialist to
work out and prescribe in each individual case, and to change as the
individual baby requires; it is no more a subject for experiment by a novice
than is a case of fever. The formula prescribed must be prepared with
scrupulous cleanliness and exactness.
As about ninety mothers in every hundred are fitted and able, with wise
prenatal and postnatal hygiene, to nurse their babies, the subject of artificial
feeding merits relatively less attention.
Ability to nurse is affected by conditions long before motherhood begins.
An active, out-of-door life, with freedom from nervous strain or worry, and
with clothing that does not compress or overheat the breasts, is important
from childhood. Alcoholism in the mother’s father, or Cæsarean birth of the
child, usually inhibit nursing.
The ability is increased by a moderate, nutritious diet,[9] including
cereals, milk, water (not exceeding an additional quart of liquid daily
beyond the mother’s normal need); by quiet mind, outdoor living, moderate
exercise; by regularity in nursing, and the complete emptying of a breast at
a nursing. It is decreased by a contrary régime, by fatigue, nervousness, or
by interrupting or discontinuing the effort to nurse.
Fats are increased by more nutritious diet; proteins, by diet and
decreasing the intervals between nursings. Fat in the diet does not affect the
proportion in the milk. Indoor life, with overfeeding and insufficient

exercise, will unduly increase the proportion of protein and cause colic. A
too hearty diet, especially if high in sugars and starches, will unduly
increase the fat. Irregular nursing, nervousness, not completely emptying
the breast, decreasing the liquids in the diet, will decrease the supply.
Every drop of the mother’s milk is of great value to the baby. If the
quantity or quality is not sufficient, nursings should not be stopped, but one
or more supplemented with modified milk, prescribed by the physician or
dietitian, to furnish the balance. Contagious disease, except tuberculosis, is
not necessarily a contraindication to nursing. Unless the milk disagrees with
the baby, nursing need not be suspended during menstruation; otherwise,
modified milk may be used temporarily, and the milk regularly withdrawn.
Weaning should be done slowly, substituting one feeding for a nursing, and
discontinuing other nursings at intervals of two or three days. In this way
the baby is gradually accustomed to other food, and the mother’s milk
gradually disappears. Reducing the diet and omitting liquids for a few days
will stop the flow of milk.
While the mother is in bed no more food is needed than under ordinary
circumstances, as the food requirement is low during rest and the quantity
needed by the baby is very small (page 118). An excess of food is likely to
produce indigestion and constipation, and actually interfere with nursing.
Foods easily digested, laxative, rich in minerals (especially lime and iron)
should be selected through the nursing period. The diet list as for children
six to eight years of age is a desirable one to follow.[10] No patent nostrums
should ever be experimented with; they are worthless when not harmful.
Beer and all forms of alcohol are particularly to be avoided; they do not
increase the amount of fluid more than would an equal quantity of water or
milk; any increase they produce is of fluid, not of nutriment; the alcohol
enters the baby’s system unchanged, and may injure his sensitive nerve
cells. Doctor D. D. Bezzola, of Switzerland, who has made extensive
studies of the effects of alcohol upon infancy, concludes: “The time may
come when we shall see that every drop of alcohol taken by the parent
means a drop of stupidity for the child.”[11] Malt liquors are apt to disturb
the mother’s digestion and cause her to put on superfluous fat.
Constipation in the mother will produce constipation in the baby, and
laxatives or drugs taken by the mother are likely to affect the baby. Anger,
worry, excitement produce poisons that render the milk indigestible, even

poisonous; if these are indulged in, the baby should be given only plain or
barley water, and the milk withdrawn and thrown away for one or two
nursings.
Before a nursing the mother should wash her hands thoroughly with soap
and hot water, and then wash the nipples with a saturated boric solution.
The feeding should be done in a quiet room where there is no noise or
conversation to disturb the baby, and the mother should be composed and
relaxed. After the feeding, give the baby a swallow of water to rinse out the
mouth. Wash the nipple again with the boric solution and dry thoroughly
with a clean towel. A triple fold of clean, sterilized gauze, or surgeon’s lint,
should be pinned to the undervest, covering each nipple, thus protecting
both the nipple and the clothing; this should be changed every day.
Cleanliness will prevent thrush in the baby’s mouth, and local soreness and
discomfort for the mother.
The quantity normal at a feeding will depend upon the baby’s age, and
consequently the size of his stomach and the amount needed for his growth
and maintenance. (See page 118.) The quantity taken at one feeding may be
ascertained by weighing the baby just before and just after a feeding.
Until recently, two-hour intervals for feeding were prescribed for babies
at one or two months, with two night feedings. Extensive studies in France
and Germany (where the raising of babies for replenishing the army has
made infant hygiene a subject of State investigation) have proven that
babies usually thrive better on longer intervals, allowing time for the
stomach to rest. Some continental specialists advise four-hour intervals
from the beginning, and with some babies this is quite satisfactory. The
Table on page 118 presents the more usual schedule now recommended. It
provides for a three-hour schedule at the start, changing to four hours at five
months, with no feeding after 10 p.m. The 10 p.m. feeding can usually be
dropped with advantage at about nine months. To drop a feeding, substitute
water for a few nights if the baby wakes or cries.
Regularity is of the greatest importance in the feeding. Clock schedule
should be observed from the first day and maintained thereafter. The
digestive system is much like a machine, pouring out its digestive fluids at
regular habitual intervals, and doing good work so long as this regularity is

respected and observed in the feeding. Feeding the baby whenever he cries
produces indigestion, colic, irritability, self-indulgence.
Ten to fifteen minutes is the usual duration of a feeding. The first milk is
thinner, the latter part of the nursing richer. Generally one breast is taken at
a feeding, the other breast at the succeeding feeding; if the quantity in one is
insufficient, both may be used at one feeding. Neither the mother nor the
baby should go to sleep during the nursing. If the baby dawdles, the food
may be taken away until the next time. He should stop a minute at the end
of each five minutes, to rest and breathe. If he regurgitates or vomits up
after nursing, he is being fed too much, or the intervals are too short.
When the baby has finished, he should be handled very gently for the
succeeding hour. His condition is not unlike that of an uncorked bottle. He
should lie or sit quietly without jolting or rocking, much less tumbling or
other vigorous manipulations. Lay, him on his right side if he is inclined to
eructation; on the left side in diarrhea or intestinal trouble, to open the rectal
valves and allow gas to escape.
Between feedings, the baby should be given pure water, 65° to 70° F., at
regular intervals, several times a day; or during the night if he cries. It can
be given the first month from a sterilized medicine dropper, then from a
spoon; the use of a cup may begin at five or six months.
If the water is not perfectly pure, it should be boiled twenty minutes; to
remove sediment, strain through several thicknesses of sterilized
cheesecloth.
Strained orange juice or prune juice, without sugar, at first diluted one
half with water, may be given daily at six months, or earlier if the baby is
constipated. Begin with one teaspoonful and gradually increase to four
tablespoonfuls at six months. It should be given an hour before feeding
time.
At six months a scraped, clean chicken or chop bone (after being cooked)
may be given once or twice a day, a quarter hour before feeding, to exercise
the jaws (being very careful that it is not dropped on the floor). At ten
months this may be replaced once a day by a hard crust to be sucked after
feeding, watching that the baby does not break off any pieces, or removing
these from his mouth.

No other food should ordinarily be given until nine months, when
weaning may usually begin by substituting for one nursing a feeding of
milk and strained cereal, given with a spoon or from a cup. The formula
should be prescribed by the physician or dietitian. Whether a baby should
be completely weaned at nine months or at twelve will depend upon the
condition of the baby, quality of the mother’s milk, and the season. The
baby and the milk should be examined, and the physician’s or dietitian’s
advice followed. Starch is not normally digested under nine months; solid
food or lumps may cause convulsions.
Stools. There should be at least one normal movement every day; some
babies have two or three.
Begin the second week to establish regularity.
A movement is most likely to follow a feeding in early morning and the
afternoon.
Normal stools are yellow, soft, and smooth.
If gray or brown, with mucus, blood, or undigested food, report to the
physician.
If green or with foul odor, report immediately and substitute barley water
for feedings. Spinach will cause green stools, or they may turn green an
hour after removal; this is normal.
Keep the bowels in good condition by giving plenty of water, fruit juice,
and abdominal exercises; avoid enemas, suppositories, and laxative drugs,
all of which are detrimental.
Sleep. During his first year this should be the baby’s chief occupation.
Any period of rapid growth involves much work on the part of all internal
organs, and a low power of resistance. In this twelve months, the weight
trebles, and the length increases about one half; the brain increases its
weight nearly three times, and has by far more work in learning new
adjustments than in any similar period later in life.
The amount of sleep required at different stages is shown in the table on
page 118.
The baby should always have his own bed, and if possible, his own room.
He should preferably sleep outdoors except (1) in rain or falling snow, (2)

damp, fogging weather, (3) with snow melting, (4) dusty, windy weather,
(5) temperature below 40° F. or above 90°. The night air is as healthful as
that of the day with these same provisions. A sleeping porch is an
investment that will pay high dividends all through his life.
In dry, still weather, 68° to 95° F., the baby may be taken outdoors two or
three days after his arrival; otherwise he must gradually be accustomed to
the cooler outer air by being taken into a room with windows open on one
side (wrapping him up judiciously), reducing the temperature every few
days, until at one month he is breathing a temperature of 65° F., at two
months of 55° F., and at three months, he can breathe it nearly at freezing
(32° F.). Abrupt changes should be carefully avoided. Pure cold air is
invigorating; stale air is poisonous; air too dry injures the mucous
membrane of the nose and throat; air too moist is oppressive; all of these
develop colds and pneumonia.
When the baby is indoors, there should be a constant, quiet current of
fresh air, except during dressing and bathing. The air should be regulated,
not by guess, but by a reliable thermometer (tested at the baby’s head), and
the equally important hygrometer for humidity, when there is not a constant
intake of fresh, outside air.
The room temperature should not exceed 70° F. the first three months,
and 68° F. later, when the baby is dressed. It may advantageously thereafter
be 65°-68° ordinarily. When the baby is sleeping, or playing with wraps on,
it is of vital value to have it lower, graduating it from 40° to 60° according
to circumstances. Cold air is vitalizing; warm air is devitalizing. An open
fireplace, with one window lowered from the top, or a six-inch window
board for very cold or windy weather, will provide reasonable ventilation.
A baby has more room and sleeps more comfortably in his basket or crib
than in a carriage. When awake, he needs more space to roll, kick, creep,
walk. In the open country, he is much better off on the veranda or in the
nursery with windows open, lying in his basket or pen, than rolled up in a
carriage. Babies unfortunately housed in city apartments or crowded
tenements must sometimes be confined in a carriage for the sake of getting
to the open air. In a sunny, open-aired room or by an open window is better
for a baby than down in a dusty street. The air at higher levels has less dust
and fewer germs. The roof of an apartment house, if there is protection from

chimney gas, hot sun, and high winds, is preferable to the street. He should
never be put on the ground without the protection of a waterproof and
blanket or rug to prevent chilling.
Making and Care of Bed. Lay in the mattress—preferably a washable
folded quilt, laid smooth, or a floss, hair, or straw-filled mattress.
Cover mattress with papricloth nursery blanket or light-weight rubber
sheeting, laid smooth.
Over this, lay the large quilted pad or felting.
Lay on the lower sheet, tucking it under the mattress.
Lay a small quilted pad under the baby’s hips, or use a large size pad for
older, tossing babies.
Lay a flat quilted or hair pad (which may be covered with a cotton or
linen slip) or a folded diaper or soft folded towel for the head and face; a
pillow is inadvisable.
Put on the top sheet and the coverlet, folding the sheet back six inches
over the top of the coverlet for protection, and tucking in at sides (not tight)
and at foot.
For cold weather, especially outdoors, put in first a woolen blanket. Lay
several newspapers between this and the mattress, and when the baby is in,
fasten this over the coverlet like a sleeping bag; for cold weather a knit or
woolen sleeping bag is desirable.
When the baby is out of his bed, it should be taken apart, both morning
and afternoon, shaken, thoroughly aired, and sunned.
In cold weather, the bed should be warmed before putting the baby in,
and flannelette may well be used instead of muslin sheets.
Change sheets and pads whenever they are wet.
The crib bed is cared for in the same way. Padded side protectors should
not be used, as they prevent good ventilation. The light-weight, washable
side curtains may be used, but these on only one side and end; they should
be removed and washed every week. The screen will furnish ample
protection from drafts.

The bed should always be placed where it has a quiet current of fresh air
but not a draft, strong wind, or hot sun. The basket should rest firmly on its
stand, or a large table, or dry surface, never on the floor. Protection should
be provided against flies, mosquitoes, cats, dogs, falling objects; and after
eight months, against the baby’s climbing and falling out.
“Putting the baby to sleep” should consist in laying the baby in his
stationary bed,—warm, dry, comfortable, protected,—to go to sleep by
himself. Rocking disturbs the circulation in the brain, produces only light
sleep, and is bad for the nervous system. Babies often cry at first, when laid
in bed, merely to be taken up, rocked, or played with. To humor them in this
way is to cultivate in them self-indulgence, irritable temper, and tyranny. If
let alone they may cry themselves to sleep for a few nights, but this will do
them no physical harm; they will have learned their lesson, and the family
will be spared further trouble.
The baby should not always be laid on his back, but may be laid on one
side, or on his stomach, turning his head to one side and putting a flat pad
under his chest. The latter position is not only a restful change, but also
promotes digestion and encourages development of the muscles at the base
of the head and in the upper back.
Disturbed sleep may be caused by bad air, overclothing, rough clothing,
cold feet, indigestion, thirst, need of circumcision, a habit of rocking. It is
not necessary to keep the house in silence while the baby is sleeping.
Sudden and boisterous noise should be avoided, but the baby outdoors or in
his own room learns to sleep undisturbed by ordinary conversation, music,
household activities.
The baby should be gently wakened, if asleep at feeding or bath time.
After a few weeks, his system will be so trained that he will naturally
waken at these times.
The regular waking of the baby should be anticipated, and the mother or
nurse should be there at the time to take him up, change the diaper, and
make him comfortable before he begins to cry. Waking time should be a
smiling time.
Play and Exercise. The first play is simple, muscular play of limbs.

After the first month, arrange clothing and covers so there is great
freedom for kicking, twisting, rolling, stretching, pulling.
After two months, baby will not sleep so much and will be more active
with hands, arms, legs.
He should have a pen or yard, raised six inches above the floor; or a
board may be made to fit over mattress of crib. Pen or board should have
woolen blanket and quilted pad over it; let baby kick and roll freely. The
floor is bad because of drafts and dust. A large dry-goods box, raised, is
better than the floor.
Do not prop a baby up in a sitting position until he is strong enough to
hold himself up five minutes without support; then allow sitting position for
only ten minutes at a time, not on the table or bed with the feet extended in
front, but in a carriage or chair, legs bent at knee.
After two months place objects for him to grasp toward, upward, and
forward.
As soon as the baby learns to smile, this becomes a little game. At six or
eight months, he begins to play with vocal sounds, at peek-a-boo and pat-a-
cake. Boisterous play, tossing, tumbling, tickling, are too severe for the
delicate nerves; his laughing at this is a symptom rather of nervousness than
of joy. The baby is not a plaything for his elders. The hour before bedtime is
a good time for quiet mothering.
Motor development during the first year normally approximates the
following plan.
Eyes begin to focus at about six weeks; coördination not well developed
until three months or later; real tears, from the lachrymal glands, begin at
about three months; knows mother or nurse by sight at about three months.
Voluntary smiling begins at about five weeks, laughing at five or six
months. Ability to sit alone develops at from six to eight months, to stand
alone at twelve to fourteen, and to walk alone at fourteen to eighteen
months.
Exercises. Special exercise may begin at three or four weeks of age.
Begin with one exercise, and three-minute periods. Each fortnight time may
be increased two minutes up to twenty-minute limit. Add new exercises
gradually, at two-week intervals.

All exercises should be given slowly, rhythmically, two hours after a
feeding, when baby is in happy mood; before bathing in mid-morning, or in
mid-afternoon, is a good time. Do not permit fatigue or test endurance.
Always do the exercises in the same order, thus cultivating motor
memory.
Lay the child on the padded nursery table; have clothing loose, or
preferably without clothing; diaper unfastened; no drafts; temperature at 70°
to 72° F.
Arm movements. For development of chest, upper back, upper arms.
1. Take hold of each hand; extend arms straight on table, at right angles
to body, saying “down”, 4 times; bring hands together in front of body as in
clapping, saying “up”, 4 times. (Figures 1, 2.)
2. At “down”, bring arms down to sides, parallel with body; at “up”
stretch arms upward to table above the head (if baby objects, each arm may
be done separately) 4 times. Keep his elbows straight in both exercises.
(Figure 4.)
Leg movements. For trunk and leg muscles; overcoming constipation.
1. Grasp foot, bend knee to body; do alternately with right and left, each
4 times; then both together 4 times. (Figure 3.)
2. Grasp leg, keep knee straight, bring leg to right angles with body; take
each leg alternately, 4 times; then together, 4 times. Avoid sidewise
movement. (Figures 5, 6.)
When the child is able to lift his head, he may be allowed to pull himself
up as far as he can, holding the nurse’s hands. Grasp his hands firmly so he
will not suddenly lose his hold and fall back; do not pull him, but let him
develop strength to pull himself to a sitting position. (Figures 7, 8.)
At first let him immediately lower himself to lying position, gradually
sitting up one minute, and slowly increasing by one minute.
Many babies at about eleven months go on all fours, bear-fashion. At this
stage the wheelbarrow exercise can begin, grasping the baby’s feet and
lifting them up while he supports himself on his hands and arms. This is
strengthening for arms, chest, back, and trunk. At this age the substituting

of rompers for dresses permits more freedom of action and minimizes
accidents from tumbling.
Crying. Every baby does some crying, and every cry has some meaning.
The wise mother will find the cause and will, if necessary, remove it. She
will never use pacifiers, sugar, soothing syrups, loud noise, trotting,
bouncing, tossing, irregular feeding, all of which are injurious to the baby’s
sensitive nerves.

Causes of Crying Nature of Cry; Treatment
Vigorous, red-faced. Usually at feeding, bathing, dressing; 3-20
Painless, spontaneous exercise
minutes. Necessary
Physical discomfort. Fretful or sharp; continued
Clothing wet; pins in clothes Remove cause
Clothing wrinkled, tight,
Practice better hygiene
oppressive
Clothing rough, hot Rub the back, with downward strokes
Bed rough, covers tight
Tired of one position
Air oppressive, stale, too
warm, dry
Cold feet, thirst, overfeeding
Sleepiness, overtired, hunger
Teething, constipation
Colic, gas, indigestion Sharp, intermittent; feet drawn up
Illness Moan, wail, feeble, intermittent
Psychological: Lusty, continued
Desire for attention, especially
Stops when desire is granted
at night
Desire for things forbidden Will soon stop if ignored

A pernicious habit of self-indulgence and tyranny is cultivated if the baby
learns that he can get his desires by crying. If indulged, even at a few weeks
of age, he develops temper, self-indulgence, and disrespect for authority. If
no attention is paid to such crying, or desires cried for are denied, he soon
learns self-control, self-reliance, respect for law and authority.

Exercises for the Baby.

Infant Mortality.[12] Chief causes presented in the order of their
frequency.
Immediate Causes as Given in Mortality Statistics Underlying Causes

Ignorance; poor hygiene
Low Vitality
Bottle feeding
1. Diarrhea and indigestion
Unclean milk and preparation
Solid food too early
Irregular feeding

Ignorance; poor hygiene
Congenital debility
Indoor living
Overheated, overdry rooms
2. Pneumonia, croup, colds
Tobacco smoke in rooms
Overclothing; overfeeding
Playing on floor
Sitting on unprotected ground
Adenoids, enlarged tonsils

Ignorance; inadequate prenatal hygiene
Weak heredity
Poor health of parents
Use of alcohol by parents
Syphilis
3. Congenital debility (weakness at birth)
Self-indulgence of parents
Lack of continence during pregnancy
Poor nutrition of mother
Overwork of mother
Too short interval between births (less than
two years)

Ignorance; poor hygiene
Lack of resistance
Indoor living
4. Contagious diseases: whooping cough,
Infections in crowds, streetcars, stores, dusty
diphtheria, measles
streets
Infection of colds from family or visitors;
kissing
Adenoids, enlarged tonsils

Defects Easily Acquired in Infancy[13] Causes
Spinal curvature Careless lifting, holding, or laying down

Sitting up too early or too long

Diapers too thick
Bow legs
Standing too early
Inadequate feeding

Narrow pelvis Diapers too tight
Binders too tight

Misshapen ribs and chest Clothes too tight
Rickets

Binder too tight
Rupture
Binder worn too long
Rough handling

Careless lifting or holding
Internal displacements
Jogging, tossing
Too long sitting

Enlargement of stomach
Overfeeding

Feet kept too warm, perspiring
Shoes tight, rough, non-porous
Tender or deformed feet
Shoes worn too early
Use of “baby walker”
Walking too early

Irregularity
Indoor living
Wrong feeding
Nervousness Lack of training in self-control
Nervousness of attendant
Disturbance of sleep
Need of circumcision
Excitement; tickling, tossing, rocking

Frequent among preventable illnesses of infancy are colds, constipation,
colic, rickets, scurvy, marasmus.

Bad Habits to be Guarded Against Remedies
Putting fingers in mouth Give suitable toys

Thumb sucking (produces ugly mouth, self- Put aloes or golden seal on fingers
indulgence; may cause infections,
Put on sleeveless sack dress
adenoids)
Put on aluminum mitts

Screaming, tantrums Leave alone
Deny object desired

Medical examination
Masturbation Circumcision
Local cleanliness
Toys; occupation

To state the underlying causes of infant mortality and defects is at the
same time to emphasize their preventability and to indicate the method of
prevention. The pathos is less in the high rate of death and illness than in
their needlessness,—if only young women and young men were provided
with even a meager preparation for this responsibility! The following are
representative judgments expressed repeatedly by physicians everywhere.
“The problem of infant mortality is not one of sanitation alone or housing
or indeed of poverty as such, but is mainly a question of motherhood.”
—Doctor G. Newman (English).
“The parents in their homes are largely responsible for the high infant
mortality.”
—Doctor Ira S. Wile (American).
It is advisable to have the baby examined by the physician once a week
during the first three months and at least once a month thereafter during the
first year. If the daily régime is followed carefully, with judgment, the baby
will probably gain normally in weight, be rosy and happy, free from any
illness. The first year is the critical year, the time for every precaution both
to prevent defects and promote vigor.
Table of Feeding, Sleep, and Weight[14]

Average
Ounces at Total
Weight of Age of No. of Intervals
Each Ounces in Hours Sleep
Baby in Baby Feedings in Hours
Feeding 24 Hours
Pounds
Birth
22
7½ and 2d 4 1 4 6
hours
day
6, 9, a.m.,
7 3d day 6 1 6 3 12 noon; 3, ”
6, 10 p.m.
4th ” 6 1½ 9 3 ” ”
5th ” 6 2 12 3 ” ”
7¼ 7th ” 6 2½ 15 3 ” ”
7½ 10th ” 6 3 18 3 ” ”
Begin
6 3½ 21 3 ” ”
3d week
” 4th ” 6 4 24 3 ” 21 ”
” 2d
8¾ 6 4¼ 25½ 3 ” 20 ”
month
10½ ” 3d ” 6 4½ 27 3 ” 19 ”
14¼ ” 4th ” 6 5 30 3 ” 18 ”
6, 10, a.m.;
13¾ ” 5th ” 5 6½ 32½ 4 2, 6, 10 16 ”
p.m.
15 ” 6th ” 5 7 35 4 ” ”
16 ” 7th ” 5 7½ 37½ 4 ” ”
16¾ ” 8th ” 5 8 40 4 ” 15 ”
17½ ” 9th ” 5 8¼ 41¼ 4 ” ”
End 9th
18 5 8½ 42½ 4 ” ”
”
21 ” 12th ” 5 4 ” ”

FOOTNOTES:
[6] See Preface, page xiii.
[7] A “sponge bath” is given with a wash cloth; sponges are never to be used,
because unsanitary.
[8] See page 79.

[9] See Chapter IX.
[10] See pages 164, 5.
[11] “The Body in Health” (O’Shea and Kellogg).
[12] For statistics, see Appendix.
[13] For statistics on infant mortality, see Appendix.
[14] From “Feeding and Care of Baby.”—F. Truby King, M. B.

CHAPTER VIII
[15]
THE PHYSICAL CARE OF YOUNG CHILDREN

“The care and improvement of the child’s health is of
paramount importance. A sound and efficient body is his initial
stock in trade for winning the rewards of life.”
—Life Extension Institute.
“Instruction can wait, but the demands of health are
imperative.”
—William H. Burnham.
“If only the intentions of nature were respected during the
period of growth and development, the problem (of ill health)
would by no means be so serious.”
—Lewis M. Terman.
“The sound body and vigorous health are the foundation
without which the higher qualities of mind and heart develop
precariously or feebly, or fail to realize their possibilities. The
basis of education is and must be physical.”
—J. M. Tyler.
The Foundations of Efficiency. It is the business of the home to develop
in children such vitality that they will enjoy exuberant health in childhood,
acquire habits of good hygiene, lay the foundation for endurance, beauty,
and longevity in manhood and womanhood, and bequeath vigor of
constitution to their children. The slogan is “Prevention—Vitality—
Efficiency.”
For efficiency the organs must be approximately perfect, and their
functioning sure and strong.
The ultimate physical sources of power are:

1. Good nutrition and sound digestion
2. Sound, active lungs
3. Vigorous kidneys
4. Strong heart
5. Steady nervous system

That is, there must be ample intake of food and oxygen, thorough
removal of waste, quick distribution of fuel, oxygen, and waste, economical
working of the organism. The whole body must be organically sound, and
all its functions must go on efficiently and vigorously.
Developing Vitality to Resist Disease. Disease may be due to:
a. Some defect of structure in an organ as the heart, spinal column, eye,
tooth
b. Ineffective functioning of an organ or system, as in constipation, slow
circulation, shallow breathing
c. Low resistance to disease germs or poisons, as in the contracting of
influenza, diarrhea, pneumonia, whooping cough

The Means for Developing Vitality.

1. Good nutrition. This involves sound digestion and assimilation. It can
be assured only through:
a. Wholesome foods, adapted to the age in quantity and preparation
b. Sound teeth
c. Regularity in feeding
d. Right conditions in feeding
Eating slowly
Chewing well
Avoiding severe exercise within an hour after feeding
Eating not less than 1 to 3 hours before bedtime
Eating in a cheerful frame of mind
Food at approximately body temperature

2. Thorough elimination of waste.
a. Through the lungs by oxidization. Deep and adequate breathing
accomplishes the two ends of eliminating some of the poisonous waste (as
carbon dioxide from the lungs) and bringing quantities of oxygen to the
internal cells for burning up of waste. Active physical exercise and the habit
of deep breathing are both necessary.
b. Through kidneys and intestines. These are Nature’s plumbing system
for removing poisonous waste. Regularity in these functions should become
a habit in early childhood. There should be a bowel movement once or
twice a day. Abundance of laxative foods in the diet, water between meals,
outdoor life and activity, are natural means of regulating these functions.
3. Regulation of bodily heat. Colds and chills pave the way for vital
disorders. They are not always symptoms of an infection. They are often
due to poor training of the nerves in the skin to respond quickly to changes
of temperature. The training of these nerves can come only as that of any
other nerves—through their exercise. Indoor and sedentary life does not
supply sufficient exercise for them; for this exercise there is required:
a. A low slightly variable temperature, 65°-68° F. indoor
b. Perceptible air current
c. Air baths, sun baths, and cold-water baths administered with judgment
4. Good circulation of blood. The blood is the only avenue by which
nourishment can be brought to the cells or their poisonous waste removed.
So far as it can be directly controlled, circulation may be quickened by
abundance of exercise, cool temperature, wise distribution of porous
clothing. The child should be taught how to quickly warm hands or feet by
special exercise, rolling or shaking of hands, stretching the arms and
forcefully opening and shutting the hands, slowly rising and sinking on the
feet, running, alternately stretching the toes and heels, rubbing the feet.
5. Protection of nose, throat, and chest. Nature has provided the nose
with a delicate mucous lining that constantly secretes a fluid which has the
power to destroy germs that may enter with the air. If this moist mucous
lining becomes dry, it cannot function. It will not become dry unless the
indoor air is too dry, as is the case in artificially heated rooms unless

additional moisture is supplied by open dishes of water and by constant
intake of outer air. The throat likewise suffers in a dry atmosphere.
Bundling the throat and chest keeps the skin moist and makes it more
susceptible to congestion; they should be made resistant to congestion by
deep breathing and daily cold sponging. Adenoids and enlarged tonsils are
abnormal growths of lymphatic tissue in the nose and throat that make
breathing difficult and inefficient, and that become breeding places for
germs. The infection that they harbor leads frequently to colds, earache,
deafness, tonsillitis, diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever. They obstruct the
breathing and reduce the supply of oxygen, spoil the shape of the face,
reduce the ability to think, and by their discomfort produce irritability and
nervousness. They greatly interfere with the vitality. Adenoids should
therefore be removed, and tonsils treated, their removal being a last resort
when they are diseased.
6. Maintaining high count and efficiency of red blood corpuscles and of
leucocytes in the blood. The red blood corpuscles carry oxygen. Evident
symptoms of their inefficiency are paleness, low vitality, inertia. The
leucocytes are the special blood cells that attack disease germs which have
made their way past the sentinels in the nose, throat, and stomach. The
number and efficiency of these bodyguards is increased by outdoor
exercise, cold-water baths, air baths, sun baths, by adding more mineral
food to the diet.
Additional means of preventing development of germ diseases are: (a)
protection from contagion; (b) injecting of antitoxins. The greatest
preventive, however, is internal resistance, since disease germs are usually
in the atmosphere and are entering the system every day through the nose
and mouth.
7. Storing of nervous energy. This is possible only through abundant
sleep, regularity of regimen, temperance, moderation, self-control,
avoidance of stimulants, narcotics, or dissipation. Nature has intended that
childhood shall be a period of accumulating and conserving nervous
reserve.
The effect of any regimen or any exception to a principle of good
hygiene must be measured not simply by its immediate results but even
more by its remote consequences. Nature is patient, long suffering, and will

endure much abuse without great protest, but Nature is also an accurate
bookkeeper and remorseless creditor; every debt must at some time be paid
on demand,—it may be five, ten, forty years later, or in the lives of the
succeeding generation. Nature makes no allowance for ignorance of her
laws. Parental love cannot atone for lack of knowledge or experience. The
death-rate from tuberculosis rises considerably among girls in their
twenties. To what extent is this due to general poor hygiene, indoor life,
lack of exercise, in childhood? During the last quarter century there has
been a marked increase in the death-rate during middle age from kidney
disorders, cancer, heart disease, insanity. It may well be asked to what
extent these are due to habits of irregularity, overfeeding, wrong feeding,
self-indulgence, nervousness, acquired in childhood.

Children’s Typical Physical Regimen

1 to 2 Years 6: A.M. 2 to 9 Years 6:30-7 A.M. After 9 Years
Toilet Wakens
Stretching for circulation and gradual (Same as 2-9 years.)
Milk
increase of heart action
Put on bathrobe and slippers, if cool
Open bed to air
Taken to toilet
Teeth brushed; mouth rinsed
Some children at this age Drink of water
will remain quietly in bed Vigorous exercise or play 2-5 minutes
for an hour after taking
Fruit juice
milk, when the schedule for
Face and hands washed, cool water
children 2-9 for rising and
Rubbing of entire body, 2-4 minutes
bathing may be followed.
Others are ready to be up, (Rub from extremities toward heart)
and these may have a cool Bath as prescribed, 2-4 minutes
sponge to chest and back, Dressing: 5-15 minutes
with bath at midday or (After three years, child should dress
evening. himself)
Bed, room, night clothes opened to air
Children who have not slept outdoors
should get out for 5-20 minutes vigorous
play before breakfast

7:30-8:00

Fruit juice; toilet Breakfast
(Same as 2-9 years.)
Outdoors or play in open- Toilet (time for regular bowel movement)
air room Hands washed
Teeth brushed
Bed made, bedroom put in order
Outdoors ½-1 hour
Outdoors by 9 a.m. (earlier in summer)
before school
If inclement weather put on outdoor wraps;
Open-air school
open windows in room for open-air play

10:00 a.m.
Toilet Glass of water Water
Mid-morning meal

10:30
Teeth brushed Fruit
Toilet Toilet
Outdoors

11:30
Hands washed, finger nails cleaned;
Undressed; drink
preparation for dinner

12:00
Bath; toilet; nap Dinner Dinner

12:40 p.m.
Toilet
Outdoors ½-1 hour
Hands washed
Undressed for bed; remove shoes,
stockings, dress, waist, trousers

1:30
In open-air school 1-3
Toilet; dressed
hours

2:00
Dinner Toilet; dressed; bed made

2:30
Toilet Glass of water
Outdoors Outdoors, or open-air play indoors Outdoors 2-4 hours

4:30
Drink water Indoors; toilet, glass of water
Hands washed, finger nails cleaned
(Warm bath 2 or 3 times week; cool
sponge in summer)

5:00
Indoors; toilet Supper

5:30
Supper Undressed; teeth brushed
Face, neck, ears, feet washed

6:00
Undressed; teeth; toilet; in
In bed (6 to 9 years at 7:00) Supper
bed

10:00
Toilet Toilet (until 6 years)

Sleep. Quantity. All the sleep a child can get is so much of fortification
against the inevitable stress of later years, as well as conducive to his
immediate vitality, comfort, and good nature. Children vary individually;
often, however, the nervous child who needs most sleep is least willing to
take it. Children should sleep as much as they want to and should
approximate the following amounts as a minimum.

Approximate Average Requirements[16]

Age Hours of Sleep Time in Bed
12 months 15 6.00 p.m.-6.00 a.m. midday nap 2-3 hours
1-4 years 14 6.00 p.m.-6.00 a.m. midday nap 1-2 hours
4-6 ” 13 6.00 p.m.-6.00 a.m. 1 hour midday rest
6-8 ” 12 7.00 p.m.-7.00 a.m. 1 hour midday rest
8-10 ” 11½ 7.30 p.m.-7.00 a.m.
10-12 ” 11 8.00 p.m.-7.00 a.m.
12-14 ” 10½ 8.30 p.m.-7.00 a.m.
14-16 ” 10 9.00 p.m.-7.00 a.m.

16-18 ” 9½ 9.30 p.m.-7.00 a.m.

Conditions. 1. Bed alone. No one can sleep as comfortably or restfully
with another person as alone. With little children, moral as well as
physiological possibilities are to be considered.
2. Room alone, if possible, especially for children under six, that they
may not be disturbed.
3. Outdoors if possible, on a sleeping porch, with bedding protected from
dampness, and provision made for first warming the bed at night in cold
weather.
4. Room cool and with current of outside air, if sleeping indoors.
Temperature not above 60° F. and may be as low as 50° F. to advantage for
normal children over six months, or 32° F. without harm, with ample
bedding and warm night clothes. Warm wrapper or shawl should be
provided to wrap around the child when taken out of bed.
5. Children beyond infancy (1½ years) should have their supper an hour
before bedtime until eight or nine years of age, and thereafter two hours
before bedtime. Children should be taken up for the toilet at a regular hour,
either nine or ten o’clock, until six or eight years of age, to prevent bed-
wetting or disturbed sleep.
6. Every condition should be provided for complete relaxation and sound
sleep, not light semi-sleep. Among these conditions, besides the foregoing,
are:
Lights extinguished in sleeping room;
Stationary bed that does not rock;
Story-telling before child is undressed, not after he is in bed, that the
mind may not be filled with vivid images, or brain congested, when trying
to sleep.
Evening stories should be quiet, restful, happy, without gruesome,
melodramatic, exciting, or sad atmosphere.
Chanting, humming, rhythmic singing, is relaxing, and five or ten
minutes of this after child is in bed may be advantageous, especially with

nervous or unruly children.
Massaging down the back, in long slow strokes, Will relieve the
congestion of the brain.
Give the child one toy to occupy his hands; prohibit more than one, to
prevent mental activity.
Bedtime should not be a time of punishment, recalling of misdeeds,
scolding; leave that until the child is most vital, in mid-morning or
afternoon. Bedtime should be a quiet, happy time.
A thought impressed upon the child as he is falling to sleep, or directly
after, especially if it is repeated for some days or weeks, is absorbed by the
subconscious mind and has profound influence upon motives and action.
The suggestion may be given aloud to the conscious mind while the child is
still awake, or repeated softly or thought intensively, after the conscious
mind is dulled by sleepiness.
The child should learn, from early babyhood, to go to sleep by himself,
without a light, with the door closed. This is a most important training in
self-reliance.
If these conditions are observed, sleep should be restful and undisturbed.
Possible disturbing conditions may include constipation, indigestion,
intestinal worms, nervousness. The matter should be reported to the
physician. Bed-wetting may be overcome by taking the child up during the
night, by giving no liquid after four o’clock, by promise of rewards, by
mental suggestion. Circumcision may be needed. Punishment is worse than
useless.
The Afternoon Nap. The same general conditions should be provided.
The room or sleeping porch should be darkened, and ample ventilation and
light covering provided. The outer clothing, shoes, stockings should be
removed, and nightgown put on over the underwear; or the child may be
completely undressed as at night. If the child is disinclined to sleep at nap
time, use the spinal sponging with warm water, the spinal massage, and
undress completely as at night. Even if the child does not sleep, he will
receive the much-needed relaxation, and the resting of spine and heart, the
work of which is greatly reduced while lying down.

Waking. The waking time should always be anticipated, and some one
should be at hand to take the child at once to the toilet, to speak to him and
reassure him. This is important both for physical and moral reasons. Waking
should be a happy time.
Clothing. Clothing should be comfortable to body and mind; it should
provide freedom of action and thought, cultivate modesty, simplicity,
democracy, daintiness, avoiding self-consciousness or vanity.
Too much clothing keeps the skin moist, and is a cause of colds.
Distribute clothing judiciously; avoid overclothing trunk and chest,
underclothing legs.
Underclothing. Use light-weight underwear and give additional warmth
by extra wraps as needed. Adapt clothing to the actual weather conditions,
not to traditions of seasons. Avoid sudden changes, as from heavy play suit
to thin suit.
Underclothing may be all cotton or part wool.
Porous clothing is warm, holding a protecting layer of air; thick woven
clothing is cold, preventing the evaporation of moisture from the skin. For
hot weather use sleeveless or half-sleeve gauze vests.
Use side elastics to support the stockings, never the round garters. Select
carefully the waist for attaching supporters; the “Ideal” waist is excellent.
Protect the ankles and legs with stockings or leggings in cold or
changeable weather.
Keep the throat open, except in very cold weather, and then protect
lightly.
Shoes and stockings should keep the feet warm and comfortable, not
perspiring, cold, restricted.
Night clothes. A complete change should be made at night. After three
years a shirt is not needed at night, except in very cold weather. When
diapers are no longer needed, the nightdrawers may be worn, using those
with feet for cold weather. For outdoor sleeping in cool weather a sleeping-
bag of eiderdown is desirable, and a light hood. A flannel or eiderdown
bathrobe and slippers should be provided for emergency and morning use.

Care. Begin to teach the child at one year to put his shoes neatly
together; by two years to lay his clothes neatly when taken off, and to hang
up wraps; by three years to fold; by four years to take care of all clothing as
removed and keep his chiffonier in order. Provide low hooks and small,
low, easy-working bureau drawers within reach of the child.
Keep soiled clothing in a ventilated receptacle, out of the sleeping room
or kitchen.
Keep hats and wraps well brushed; shoes brushed and cleaned; after five
years, children should care for shoes.
Readymade clothing should be washed before wearing. Much readymade
clothing, whether cheap or expensive, is made in sweatshops and crowded
tenements.
Children’s play clothes should be of such durable material and simple
design that play may not be hampered through fear of soiling or injuring
garments.
Avoid:
Underwear: Thick woven
Heavy cotton fleece-lined
All or three-quarters wool (unless open weave and soft)
Rough seams
Corsets
Stockings: Thick, heavy
All wool
Seams; much darned
Round garters
Tight hose supporters
Shoes: Patent leather or other non-porous material
Rough inside seams and soles
Tight across toes, instep, or ankle
Stiff, inflexible soles
Rubber soles unless with leather insoles
Too large or too small
High heels
Non-washable dresses or wraps for children under three years
Elaborate, showy clothes
Unbecoming clothes

Wraps: Fur or other heavy neck pieces
Mufflers, except in very cold weather, and for children under five
Gloves in winter. (Mittens give better circulation)
Rubbers or overshoes, except in rain or slippery weather
Ear muffs
Veils
Unventilated hats
Tight Clothing: Gloves, neckbands, waists, underwear, stockings, shoes

Ample size is especially important with growing children, and easily
overlooked or neglected as they outgrow their clothes. Rubber in legs of
readymade rompers is always too tight, and is better removed.
Bathing. Each child should have his own wash cloths and towels. Have a
separate wash cloth and towel for the face, another cloth and Turkish towel
for the body. Dry and sun wash cloths every day; boil them weekly.
Temperature of bathroom about 70° F. (65-70), with no drafts. Before the
child is undressed, have everything ready, including the clothing to be put
on.
Water and soap are irritating to eczema; use oil or, occasionally, water
bath with bran.
The Cold Bath. The daily cold bath is of vital importance in training the
skin to react quickly to temperatures, increasing the circulation, increasing
the white blood corpuscles, and maintaining a high degree of vitality and
resistance to illness, especially to colds, croup, coughs, pneumonia, and
tuberculosis.
By careful attention to details, the cold bath can be given with a
minimum of shock, and children enjoy it. It should be made as enjoyable as
possible, and persisted in, even under protest. It should not be given,
however, in a cold room. If the child has a cold, or the skin is cold and
clammy, it should be given only to the throat, chest, and back. If the child is
in a low vital condition, or does not react well otherwise, it may be
preceded by a quick hot bath (98°-100°F.) to furnish body heat. The mildest
form is to give it while the child lies in bed, quickly bathing and drying one
part at a time. Ordinarily it can be given as follows, the whole procedure,
including rubbing, not taking more than five minutes.

Let the child jump, run, or exercise vigorously for a few minutes before
beginning the bath. Remove clothing and give a vigorous allover rub with
hands or Turkish towels, rubbing from extremities toward the heart; let the
child help in this and do it himself after four years. The child may stand
with his feet in lukewarm water, or on a bath mat, not on a cold surface.
Temperature of the water should be at least down to 70° F. and as much
lower as the child can take and react well. Salt (1 tablespoon to quart of
water) gives a better reaction and lower range. Tepid water gives no tonic
and may leave a chilly reaction. Have the wash cloth wet but not dripping.
Wash quickly in the following order: (1) hand, arms; (2) neck, chest; (3)
back, beginning at lower end; (4) legs, beginning with soles of feet; (5)
abdomen. In this way the reflexes are bathed first, and the feeling of shock
reduced, but the same valuable tonic results obtained. Dry quickly, rubbing
with Turkish towels and hands. In cold weather, or if the skin is very dry,
rub in quickly a little cocoa butter, olive oil, or cold cream. A spray with
weak force, or pouring from a cup may begin in the second year; a strong
spray or shower not until the fifth year.
The Warm Bath. For cleansing, the warm bath is needed two or three
times a week in winter, and every day in hot weather. The body surface is
relatively greater in children than in adults, and because of their greater
activity and more rapid circulation, a relatively greater quantity of
perspiration and waste material is constantly being poured out upon the
skin. If this is not removed, it clogs the pores and thus keeps poisons within
the body and prevents the normal absorption of oxygen through the skin.
The warm bath is best given at night, as a tub bath, before the supper, or
an hour afterwards. When the bath is not given, the neck, ears, armpits,
hands, and feet should be well washed. The water temperature should be
96°-98° F. A mild oil soap should be used moderately, such as Castile or
Palmolive. The bath should be given in three minutes. Let the children
splash in the tub for another three minutes, trying to swim. Always follow
with the cold water to close the pores and prevent colds. This may be
poured into the tub, to reduce the temperature to about 70°, or poured from
a pitcher, or given with a spray, at 70°-80°, or given as a quick sponge at
that temperature. Dry quickly and thoroughly, putting on a wrap to avoid
chilling. If the child sleeps outdoors, the bath should be given an hour

before bedtime in cool weather, or the oil rub may be given instead of water
bath.
In hot weather children may have three or four sponge baths at 70°-80°
during the day, or five-minute splashes in the tub at due intervals after
meals.
The daily air bath is as much needed as the water, and should be given,
with exercise and rubbing, if the water bath cannot be taken at the regular
time. It is a tonic for the skin and gives the exercise to the nerves that
cultivates resistance against colds.
Sun Baths. Sun baths, judiciously given, are also of great vitalizing value.
In warm weather (70°-90° F.) children should be allowed to play outdoors
with minimum of clothing, as sandals, white rompers or bathing trunks, and
a light sun hat, for several hours a day, avoiding exposure of too hot sun
(over 80°). Children not accustomed to this must begin gradually and may
have a preliminary oil rub, to prevent either chill or sunburn. In cool
weather, this may be given in the house, although the benefits are not so
great, as the most effective (the violet) rays do not penetrate through glass.
White or light colored clothing permits the penetration of light rays to the
skin, and dark clothing prevents this; the former, therefore, is of greater
vitalizing value. The sun and light baths are of great therapeutic value with
nervous or anemic children. The tanning of the skin gives remarkable
resistance.
The development of resistance through judicious use of baths and light,
combined with deep breathing, would greatly reduce the mortality from
colds, pneumonia, tuberculosis, which are the chief causes of death after
infancy.
The Hands. Cleanliness of the hands is highly important both for
sanitary and moral reasons. Therefore teach the child from babyhood, by
example and precept, to always wash the hands:
1. Before touching food, either for eating, serving, or
preparation, as a safeguard against infection
2. After eating, to prevent soiling of clothes, furniture, toys
3. After going to the toilet

4. Before going to bed
5. Before touching the eyes
The finger nails should be cleaned with an orange stick once a day, and
before meals whenever dirty. To prevent hangnails, press the cuticle back
around the nail every day. Trim finger nails round. A soft hand brush and
Hand Sapolio, almond meal, or corn meal may be necessary for very dirty
hands. Always dry thoroughly to prevent chapping, and in cold weather
apply a lotion.
The Feet. Wash the feet every night when a bath is not given. Dry
thoroughly between the toes. Perspiration is acid and soon causes soreness
if it remains. Once a week trim the nails, cutting straight. If the feet are
cold, put in cold (75°-80°F.) or hot (96°) water for three minutes, apply a 25
per cent. solution of alcohol, rubbing dry. If cold from exposure, always use
the cold water. Chronically cold feet indicate wrong shoes, poor general
circulation, or need of more exercise for feet. Corns, callouses, bunions, or
misshapen toes can be prevented by using shoes that are comfortable and
adapted to the shape of the foot.
The strength of the arch should be increased by foot exercises: (1) Rising
slowly on the toes and slowly descending, keeping the weight of the body
on the soles; (2) Alternately stretching the toes and the heel; (3) Massaging
the ankles. Braces in the shoe prevent development of ankle muscles.
Braces and arch supporters should be worn only on the advice and
prescription of a physician, if possible, an orthopedic specialist. Much harm
may be done by their wrong use.
Care of the Hair. During the second year the head should be washed two
or three times a week, or oftener if scurf appears. Use Castile or Palmolive
soap and rinse thoroughly to remove all soap and prevent formation of
scurf. If a crust appears, gently rub in fresh lard, olive oil, or liquid vaseline
at night, and wash off in morning; never use a comb or harsh rubbing to
remove. During the third and fourth year shampoo weekly, and thereafter
every two or three weeks.
The shampoo should be given in the daytime, when there is ample time
and means for drying quickly and thoroughly, preferably in the sun. The
scalp should be massaged five or ten minutes every day, through childhood,

to promote good circulation in the scalp and keep it loose and clean, and the
hair brushed thoroughly to remove dust. This is Nature’s own tonic, and
more effective than any bought at the drugstore. If the hair is thin, olive or
cocoanut oil or vaseline rubbed into the scalp will stimulate new growth.
Going without a hat (except, of course, in cold weather or hot sun) is
beneficial for the hair. The hairbrush should be soft, and brush and comb
should be cleaned every week. Tangles should be patiently and gently
brushed out; braiding will prevent them.
Curly or straight hair is hereditary, and curls can be only temporarily
produced in naturally straight hair. Heated irons, metal curlers, tightly rolled
curlers, dampening the hair, are all injurious. For curling, only soft rags, or
kid, on which the hair is loosely rolled, should be used, and these not
applied at night around the head, to interfere with comfort in sleep.
When hair is trimmed, it should not be shaved off close at the base of the
head, as is sometimes the fashion, leaving this most sensitive part of the
head and neck suddenly and unduly exposed.
If the eyelashes or eyebrows are short, stubby, rough, light, they may be
improved and darkened by daily application of vaseline, and brushing with
a soft, narrow toothbrush. Such attention adds greatly to the beauty and
expressiveness of the face, and will be a cause of much gratitude in later
years.
Nose. The nose should be kept clean. For children under four, it should
be cleaned every morning with the liquid vaseline or warm water, using a
sterile piece of twisted gauze which is immediately wrapped in paper and
disposed of. Repeat at night and during the day, if the nose is not clean. At
three years, children should be able to blow the nose, and this should be a
regular part of toilet-making both morning and evening.
In blowing the nose, one side should be held closed, while the other side
is blown. To blow both sides at once produces pressure in the ears that may
cause injury. Nasal douches are to be avoided except in illness and by the
physician’s orders.
Avoid (1) dusty air, as in the city streets, or in a room that is being
cleaned; (2) overdry air, as in artificially heated rooms. Both of these are
thought to promote adenoids. The former contains many disease germs. The

latter drys the mucous membrane, preventing, therefore, its work of germ
destruction, and producing uncomfortable, cracked membrane.
Throat. The throat is strengthened by the daily cold bathing of neck and
chest. A child can learn to gargle at three or four years, and is then able to
do it easily if soreness develops.
Ears. Wash the ears every day with warm water, making sure that no dirt
remains in creases or behind the lobes. If wax accumulates, remove it with
the twisted end of the wash cloth or gauze. Never put sharp instruments of
any kind in the ear.
The lining of the inner ear is a continuation of the lining of the nose and
throat. If the latter becomes infected, as with a cold, directly or from
enlarged tonsils or adenoids, the infection is likely to continue into the ears,
causing running ears, which may result in deafness.
The ears should not be made sensitive by cotton stuffing or ear muffs. In
very cold weather, little children should wear a hood, and older children
may do so with temperature below 40° F.
Never pull the ear lobe nor strike a child on the head; it may cause
deafness. Teach children that blowing or shouting into the ear may produce
deafness.
Teeth. After the first six teeth are cut, during the first year, it is advisable
to have a small, soft brush to use with water, plain or with boric acid or
bicarbonate of soda, after each feeding. This never should be neglected after
eighteen months. Doctor Truby King advises giving the child a raw apple, a
third of which has been peeled, and which is partially bruised until
softened, following the midday feeding, after one year of age; munching
this for ten minutes is a natural and effective method of cleaning the teeth.
By four years of age, the child should be able to brush his teeth himself.
Salt, bicarbonate of soda, or milk of magnesia are effective dentrifices.
Patent pastes, powders, and liquids are expensive and of no more efficacy
than the foregoing, their chief value probably consisting in the incentive
they give to the use of the brush.
In brushing, the motion should be up and down, and rotary, as well as
across the teeth; the inner and upper as well as the outer surfaces and the

gums should be brushed. To safeguard against infection, teeth should not be
cleaned over the hand basin, but into a receptacle for waste water.
Clean teeth will not decay. If the first teeth are allowed to decay, the
second will not be sound. The rudiments of both sets of teeth are formed in
the jaw before birth. The first teeth (20) are cut by thirty months; the first
permanent teeth are the six-year molars; the second set are cut from six to
twelve years of age. The enamel of the teeth is formed once for all during
childhood. The substance of the teeth is mineral, chiefly lime. It will
therefore be appreciated that the child needs abundance of mineral in order
that he may have sound tooth material. This he can get only from mineral in
his food (see page 169), or, before his birth, from his mother’s diet. Good
circulation in the jaws is also essential for normal development both for
teeth and jaws, therefore the importance of some hard food every day after
ten months.
The toothbrush should be selected with care. A good toothbrush is made
with separate tufts, and with holes along the back, that it may more easily
be kept clean. For children under three years it should be soft, for older
children medium. The care of the brush is as important as its use. An
unclean toothbrush may be a source of infection. It may be kept antiseptic
by being very thoroughly rinsed, preferably under running water, then in
borax water, or grain alcohol, and placed across hooks or a glass, bristle
face down, to dry, after each using. Once or twice a week it should be
thoroughly disinfected by drying in the sun, boiling in borax solution, or
soaking in alcohol. It should receive thorough disinfection after each using,
in case of influenza, tuberculosis, diphtheria, or other infectious disease.
Dental Examination. After one year of age the child should have a dental
examination and tartar removed every six months. Any cavities should be
filled, and irregular teeth straightened. A decaying tooth is a breeding place
of germs which are carried, with the poisons they produce, to the stomach
and thence through the system. Its sensitiveness compels the child to do his
chewing entirely on the other side, spoiling the symmetry of the jaws, or to
omit proper chewing. It causes pain that lowers the tone of the whole
nervous system, produces irritable temper, and interferes with mental work.
At the slightest complaint of discomfort or the merest suspicion of decay,
the child should go to the dentist for attention. Prevention saves both pain

and expense. The dentist’s office should be a place of comfort, not of
torture by reason of neglect and decay.
The Eyes. The eyes of mankind were called upon chiefly for long-
distance seeing, observation of operations with coarse materials, and slow
adjustment, until the past few hundred years of civilization with its printing,
sewing, and other fine close work. The anatomy of the eye has not yet
become adapted to these new demands.
The child’s eye is not fully developed. The shape of the eyeball is
undergoing change during the first twenty years. Farsightedness is normal
until from nine to twelve years of age.
Eyestrain will result, therefore, if the eyes are called upon for fine, close
work during the first ten years. There is also a hereditary form of nearsight
that can be detected as early as six years by the oculist, and that demands
special care. Astigmatism (a structural defect causing blurred vision) is a
prevalent cause of eyestrain. Squint and cross-eye, which are due to
structural defect, require treatment in early childhood or babyhood to
prevent the necessity of an operation, or possible blindness.
Even normal eyes will suffer if their use is abused. The following
precautions should be observed with little children and taught to school
children, as practices to be avoided for the sake of strong eyes:
Rubbing the eyes
Staring at a strong light
Watching a flickering light (as in moving pictures)
Sudden flash of strong light
Looking at pictures, reading, writing, drawing, or doing
handwork, in poor light
Use of artificial light, for children under seven or eight years
of age, for drawing, painting, reading, looking at pictures, or
other fine work
Long application to close work at any age
Use of eyes for reading, pictures, or other fine work before
breakfast

The child can be taught from babyhood to sit so that the light falls from
the left upon his pictures or drawing, and not to sit either directly facing the
window or with his back squarely against it.
Reading for five minutes requires more than a thousand separate
movements of the eye,—as much work as is required of it in an hour of
ordinary use; and the ciliary muscle, which controls the eye
accommodation, probably is required in that five minutes to do as much
work as in a day of ordinary seeing.
This has an important bearing upon the question of how early a child
should begin reading, writing, sewing, or fine handwork; certainly, from the
standpoint of hygiene, such work should be deferred until at least seven or
eight years, and then begun only with the assurance of the oculist that the
eyes can stand the strain.
School children should be taught to read with the best conditions, viz.:
Light from the left
Strong steady light
Light placed so it does not shine directly into the eyes and
face
Not using the eyes before breakfast, as adjustment is slower
and more difficult on first rising
Not reading on trains or other vehicles
Resting the eyes every fifteen or twenty minutes by looking
up from the book at some distant object
Lamplight is easiest. Lights should always have a plain shade. Indirect
lighting is best. Gaslight should have a Welsbach to give steady rays. White
light is hard on the eyes; amber light, produced by amber shades, is easiest.
In selecting books for children, look for the following requirements:
Paper white or cream, without gloss
Lines short, preferably three inches
Margins wide

Print large
Wide spacing between lines
Certain contagious diseases of the eyes temporarily or permanently
impair vision. At any sudden redness or white discharge, the child should be
immediately taken to the physician, as blindness may follow in a few hours
after infection, although it is preventable by a simple immediate treatment.
Children should be warned never to use public towels or wash basins, or to
touch the eyes with soiled handkerchief or dirty hands.
The eyes should be washed daily with the boric acid solution until three
or four years of age, and after that with the plain or slightly salt water, using
the boric acid whenever irritation or redness appears.
Motor Training and Poise. Provide some play apparatus that requires
motor coördination.
12 months to 3 years. A stile, of one or two low steps, adjusted to the
baby’s size, with handrail each side, on which he can climb up and down.
Tenpins, large size ringtoss.
Use a small enamel cup for drinking, and let the child, when feeding, use
his spoon and cup himself as early as he shows an inclination, which should
be not later than a year and a half. Do not scold when he spills things while
learning. By three years he should have control, and be held to strict
carefulness and neatness in eating.
3 to 6 years. Jumping place, with elevation 1 to 2 feet from which to
jump toward a marked space. Teach the child how to jump correctly,
landing on the soles of the feet and bending the knees as he lands.
Car rail or substitute to walk along, preferably raised 1 to 6 inches from
the ground. A single painted board 4 inches wide, or a painted mark 2
inches wide will answer.
Ringtoss more difficult
Throwing at a mark on the ground, floor, or wall
The fence for walking sidewise or for swinging from, as used
by Montessori
Swinging rings and a horizontal bar

Marching, skipping, folk-dancing

Bad Posture. Good Posture. Bad
Posture.

Bad Posture. Good Posture.
American Posture League Chair and Bookrest.
Courtesy of American Posture League.

From three years, let him carry his tray at meal time, with dishes and
food.
Teach the child how to gain poise when he begins to feel worried, cross,
nervous, excited:
a. Relaxing completely, sitting down if necessary
b. Taking long, slow, deep breaths
c. Sitting quietly for a few minutes to think,—with eyes shut,
if thinking is thereby easier
d. Thinking of something funny
e. Getting away by himself, in a room, or out with nature

Posture. Find out what is good posture in sitting, standing, and walking,
and see that the child maintains these. During childhood and youth the
bones are still soft and yielding, readily altered in shape.
Stretching, throwing, swinging from rings or horizontal bars, climbing,
rowing, swimming, are excellent preventive exercises, and useful for
correction of curvatures or round shoulders. For the child’s use select chairs
that are properly constructed (as most chairs are not) and a table at which he
can work without stooping, changing such furniture to meet his needs as he
grows.
Spinal curvature and round shoulders may be caused by rickets,
eyestrain, partial deafness, improperly constructed chairs and tables, long
sitting, insufficient outdoor life and physical activity, unequal strength of
complementary muscles of back and chest, or of right and left sides, and by
carrying always on one side.
Spinal curvature crowds the internal organs, interfering with the normal
functioning of lungs, heart, blood supply, stomach, and intestines; it causes
pressure upon the spinal nerves, and consequent disorders in remote parts of
the body controlled by the affected nerves.
If curvature has developed, special gymnastics and training should be
faithfully practiced in addition to removing the cause. Braces are
inadvisable, preventing needed exercise. The correction of even the
slightest curvature is important while the bones are still plastic. The special
exercises should be prescribed by a physical director or physician.
Physical Exercises. A child who has ample outdoor play space, and
clothes adapted to outdoor play is not likely to need any special exercises.
For correcting abnormal or weak conditions, the following are effective:
1. Hanging from bar or swinging rings. (Figure 3.)
To overcome tendency toward spinal curvature, and to strengthen back
and trunk muscles.
2. Lying on table, hard bed, or floor (covered by clean sheet or blanket);
lift knees to chest, alternate legs four counts, then together four counts.
(Figure 1.)
3. Same exercise in standing position.

4. Lying on hard, clean surface, lifting feet at right angles to trunk;
alternate legs four counts; together four counts. (Figure 2.)
Exercises 2, 3, and 4 are valuable in overcoming constipation, promoting
digestion, strengthening trunk muscles, increasing circulation to trunk and
pelvis.
5. Lying on hard surface, arms folded, feet held down, rise to sitting
position. Four counts. (Figure 4.)
6. Same position, but hands clasped back of head. Four counts.
7. Same position, but arms extended above head. Four counts. (Figure 5.)
Exercises 5, 6, and 7 strengthen trunk, chest, and back muscles and have
also the values of 2, 3, and 4.
All exercise should begin slowly and be done steadily. Especially with
trunk exercises there should be no sudden, jerking movements. One who is
unaccustomed to these exercises should begin with the easiest, (2) and (5),
and gradually begin the more severe ones.

Exercises for Trunk, Chest, and Back.

These exercises are especially important for girls, who are likely to miss
the climbing and tumbling exercises that their brothers enjoy. Girls
especially need the straight spine, the strong trunk muscles, and the
thorough pelvic circulation.
8. Lying on a hard surface, knees bent, forcibly contract and expand the
abdominal wall. By placing the hand on the abdomen, the sinking and rising
of the abdominal wall is easily marked.
This is a very mild exercise for increasing circulation in the trunk and
pelvis, thereby promoting digestion, overcoming constipation, and
strengthening the pelvic organs.
Preventing or Overcoming Nervousness. Nervousness may express
itself as:
Irritability, peevishness
Temper, tantrums, lack of emotional control
Poor coördinations, dropping things, shuffling in walking,
waddling gait, inability to hit a mark or walk on a straight line.
Lack of motor control; involuntary jerkings of muscles,
twitchings (chorea or St. Vitus’ dance)
Restless sleep, disturbed sleep, nightmares, sleeplessness
Masturbation
Bed-wetting, weakness of kidneys
Nail-biting
Fears
Silliness, simpering
Inability to learn
Inability to carry out a plan; much dreaming that never attains
to expression in action
Marked nervous defects, such as imbecility, idiocy, epilepsy, manias,
cannot be more than mentioned here. They may be present from birth, or

may develop later. Their treatment belongs entirely to the field of the
physician, neurologist, and psychopathologist. Treatment of mental defects
should begin at the earliest possible age; some forms are curable if treated
early.
Nervousness may be due to physical or psychological conditions. It may
appear at any age. Its causes may be immediate or may lie farther back in
childhood, infancy, or heredity. As the nervous system was the latest to
evolve, it is therefore the least stable, and the most likely to suffer under
stress of conditions. If there is a heredity in either branch of the family,
either of marked nervous defect, alcoholism, or neurasthenia, special
precautions should from the first be taken to overcome this predisposition in
the child.
Other causes of nervousness in children include:
Irregularity of régime
Poor nutrition
Constipation
Insufficient sleep, fatigue
Indoor life
Decaying teeth
Adenoids or enlarged tonsils
Eyestrain
Fine handwork, or reading; or other abuse of eyes
Pressure of school work
Undue excitement such as crowds, parties, theaters
Tickling, teasing, nagging, tossing
Masturbation
Suppression of curiosity regarding sex phenomena
Suppressing expression of interests, curiosity, or emotion
Worry or unhappiness

Threats of fearsome punishment
Cultivating of fear by “scaring”, telling of grewsome or
unhappy stories, seeing exciting picture plays
Lack of training in self-control
Preventing nervousness is a matter of preventing these causes;
overcoming is a matter of removing the cause and conducting a constructive
program of physical régime and psychological treatment. The physical
régime will include regularity, free outdoor life and play, open-air sleeping,
frequent rest periods, nutritious diet, with special attention to sufficiency of
mineral and laxative foods, and use of relaxing or energizing exercises.
Rhythm through instrumental music that is listened to, or in dancing,
marching, gymnastic exercises, and singing, is of great value in overcoming
nervousness. Cheerful, happy, comfortable stories and pictures will supply
mental images to replace the disturbing ones, especially before bedtime.
Relief from intestinal worms and local irritation, or circumcision, may
remove the cause of masturbation. The child’s questions regarding sex
phenomena should always be answered wholesomely, reverently,
sufficiently to give him a true perspective and to satisfy his natural
curiosity.
The substitution of large muscle work, as with large blocks, balls,
carpenter tools, will provide activity without taxing nerve ends of fingers.
Examination by the oculist (not optician) will locate eyestrain. Opportunity
for expression of wholesome emotions and interests will remove tension
and sense of suppression.
Interests or emotions that appear unwholesome or abnormal should be
patiently and thoroughly analyzed to discover the germ of good that is in
them, and to utilize this; consultation with a physician, teacher, minister,
social worker, or psychologist, may be enlightening. Wholesome emotions
and interests should have encouragement for full expression, limited by the
strength of the child and courtesy due to others.
Detect fatigue symptoms: (a) the tenseness shown by flushed face, rapid,
labored breathing, excitement, erratic movements; or (b) relaxation shown
by listlessness, indifference, irritability, forgetfulness. Fatigue not only

overstrains the nerves; it develops poisons in the blood that affect the whole
system.
Fears are a difficult problem. Make a list of the things it is observed the
child fears, such as the dark, cats, dogs, flies, etc. Gradually, slowly,
patiently lead him to acquaintance with these, and therefore to his own
destruction of the fear. Teach him to memorize quotations that ring with
confidence, faith, courage.
Cultivate self-control through regularity of regimen, the example of
poise, the denying of any object that is screamed for, or cried for, the
inculcating of an ideal of self-control through story-telling.
Sex Hygiene. This is both a physiological and a psychological problem.
Both phases must always be recognized.
Physiological Hygiene. In infancy, keep the special organs clean as
directed in Chapter VI. Consult a physician regarding the advisability of
circumcision; this is needed in about twenty per cent. of boys, and is often
advisable in others; it is sometimes required in girls.
Take special care that clothing is not rough, tight, or irritating about the
genitals; therefore avoid (a) underdrawers with more than one-quarter wool;
some children with sensitive skin should have even these lined with thin
cotton gauze; (b) drawers cut too short or shallow in the seat (a defect in
some ready-made styles); (c) trousers too short or tight or with rough
seams; (d) suspenders too short, that pull the trousers too tight; trousers
during first six years should not have opening in front.
With young children, watch for any local irritation or discharge. For the
former, use local applications of boric solution as a wash, followed by a
starch powder or zinc ointment. Discover the cause; it may be rough or
damp clothing, intestinal worms, acid urine due to excess of sugar or meat
in the diet, or to insufficient drinking water. Alkaline diet, or a pinch of soda
in the drinking water for a few days, will help to counteract the acidity. As
the child grows older, beyond six years, encourage him to report to you any
irritation, and teach him how he should relieve it.
If a discharge appears, of mucous, whitish, or greenish matter, report the
matter immediately to the physician, and take every precaution against
infection; use a local wash of boric acid, double strength, cleanse the hands

with antiseptic solution, sterilize the child’s wash cloths, towels,
underdrawers, and bedding, and let him have his separate wash basin,
chamber, and bath until the physician gives assurance of no contagious
disease.
Teach the child to always wash the hands after going to the toilet. See
that the hands are outside the bed covers at night; they may be folded under
the cheek, or the child may have a doll or toy animal to hold. Be watchful,
but do not let the child ever surmise that you mistrust, suspect, or even
watch him in these matters.
Avoid soft beds and especially feather beds, which are enervating and are
overheating to the spinal nerves.
Teach children never to use a public drinking cup or towel; and never to
sit on a public toilet, even in public school, without first laying a paper over
it so they do not come directly in contact with the seat.
Avoid stimulating foods, such as condiments, or an excess of meat—
more than 2 or 3 ounces a day.
Avoid excitement by late hours, especially late dancing parties, during
adolescence. Set a standard of ten o’clock closing for school or home
dances for these young people. Teach them to find recreation not
dissipation.
Psychological. Cultivate respect for the body and reverence for its
creative work and organs, for motherhood, fatherhood, and birth of any
creature.
Cultivate a sense of modesty in both girls and boys from babyhood.
Inculcate in boys a spirit of chivalry toward all girls and women; in girls,
a sense of reserve, and an appreciation of their responsibility for the social
and moral standards of boys.
Instill a personal ideal of worthy fatherhood and motherhood; this may
begin incidentally at two or three years of age.
Give instruction in the biology of reproduction in plants, emphasizing the
protection, care, and forethought for the young. The child naturally sees all
the phenomena of life in an impersonal and wholesome, that is, a scientific
way. Cultivate this attitude in him and in yourself.

Before children begin going to school, see that they are informed
sufficiently about the origin and birth of human life so that they will no
longer be curious or interested if unwholesome talk is presented. Ill-trained
children or unscrupulous adults usually sense a well-informed and
wholesome-minded child and are less likely to present any vulgar
conversation in his presence.
The boy will early meet with superstitions and perverted ideals among
his companions, particularly after twelve years, when the influence of
parents and teachers is waning before that of his companions. Therefore
teach him before this age that he has a great trust,—to protect these organs
sacredly for his children until he is grown and is wise enough to be a father;
that these organs are not like muscles which must be used to develop and
preserve their function, but that they are glands, secreting fluids as other
internal organs do, like the spleen or the thyroid gland, and that these fluids
are needed for the well-being of the whole body; that the boys who
ignorantly think otherwise or act otherwise are greatly injuring and
weakening themselves.
Prepare both boy and girl, by instruction at about eleven years of age, for
the physical changes that are before them, so they will not be surprised or
frightened when these changes come. Thus prepared, they will not
ignorantly resort to measures that may produce lifelong illness, or fall into
the net of quacks, evil-minded men or women, or ignorant companions.
Avoid taking the children to the theater before twelve or fourteen years of
age, and make it an event worth while. Be sure beforehand that the play is
clean and wholesome and not overstimulating. Never allow children to go
to theaters or picture plays without a responsible older person. Be your
children’s companion in drama and in fiction as long as possible,—as long
as you can see with their eyes and their interests.
Keep children occupied with handwork, physical activity, and outdoor
life. It is the child with nothing to do, living an overfed, indoor,
uncontrolled life, who has every condition for falling into temptation.
Cultivate an appreciation and taste for good literature, poetry, sculpture,
painting, music. Provide abundance of good and wholesome books.

Teach children from babyhood that to follow merely the instincts and the
line of least resistance, to act merely from impulse and emotion, is
unworthy of a human being.
Foster idealism and religion, which have always been the great bulwarks
of the soul and the refiners of instincts.
City or Country Life. That the country provides more natural physical
conditions and health opportunities is self-evident. The open air, the larger
space and facilities for muscular exercise, the freedom from artificial
excitement, are all essential to vitality. The marked differences between city
and country children in height, weight, chest girth, strength of grip, vitality,
endurance, are attested by the statistics of special investigators as well as by
general observation. The chest girth of country girls more nearly
approaches the average for boys of the same age than does that of city girls.
It is true that in sanitation the rural districts and small towns have not kept
pace with the large cities. Ventilation, drainage, water supply, disposal of
sewage, clean milk, the reporting and control of infectious diseases, are too
often neglected in rural districts. The improvement of these sanitary
conditions is part of the responsibility of the home-maker.
The School and Physical Health. The weight of medical, biological, and
psychological authority of such experts as G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey,
Arthur Holmes, Lightner Witmer, Thomas D. Wood, J. M. Tyler, is
decidedly against prevailing unhygienic practices of the schools, such as
home study for children under high school age; nerve-racking academic
examinations; fine work in reading and writing for children under nine
years of age; indoor school life for young children; artificial, sedentary life
instead of physical activity during school age; the over emphasis of the
mental and the neglect of the motor activities.
In a recent volume, “The Health of the Child,” Lewis M. Terman writes:
“The close correlation of morbidity with years of school
attendance and with the progress of the school term; the
deterioration of attention toward the end of the school year; the
damaging effects of strenuous school activities upon appetite,
digestion, metabolism and the constitution of the blood; the ill-
effects from deprivation of fresh air and healthful exercise; the
impairment of nervous coördinations and the profound

disturbances reflexly produced by worry—these and other
injurious effects have been sufficiently attested to justify the
most vigorous prosecution of reform in matters of educational
hygiene.
“We have taken the child out of its natural habitat of open air,
freedom, and sunshine, and for nearly half his waking hours we
are subjecting him to an unnatural régime, one which disturbs
all the vital functions of secretion, excretion, circulation,
respiration, and nutrition.”

Defects Prevalent Among American School Children

Total School Population, 20,000,000
Defect Percentage of School Children Affected
Teeth 50%-90%
Eyes 15%-30%
Spinal curvature 20%-30%
Round shoulders 5%-10%
Tuberculosis (predisposition) 15%-20%
Ears 10%-20%
Enlarged or diseased tonsils 10%-15%
Adenoids 8%-10%
Malnutrition 6%-30%
Nervousness 5%

These defects are often acquired before school age, or as a result of home
conditions during school age. Note that they are chiefly preventable by
good hygiene in the home, practiced by intelligent mothers and fathers.
Forms of rheumatism, heart disease, infectious diseases (such as
whooping cough, measles, mumps, scarlet fever), respiratory diseases (as
pneumonia, croup, tuberculosis), all are prevalent and preventable diseases
of childhood, reaping every year a great harvest, and leaving a trail of
permanent defects.
Two means of prevention are necessary and at hand:

(1) Wholesome daily hygiene (the elements of such hygiene have been
suggested in the foregoing pages). (2) Early detection of defects or
weakness, and their remedy in the incipient stage. This is possible by an
examination every six months during childhood and youth, by (a) a
competent physician, trained for preventive examinations, (b) osteopath, (c)
dentist, (d) oculist. With these two precautions on the part of the home, the
present enormous deathroll of one hundred and fifty thousand little children
each year from preventable causes, and the preventable defective conditions
of fourteen million of the twenty million school children, could be
practically eliminated, and as reckoned by Professor Irving Fisher, the span
of life for each child could be increased fifteen years.

FOOTNOTES:
[15] See Preface, page xiii.
[16] Adapted and amplified from the Ninth Year Book of the National Society
for the Study of Education, by permission of the author, Doctor Thomas D.
Wood.

CHAPTER IX
THE FEEDING OF CHILDREN[17]

“We are what we eat.”
“We should eat to live and not live to eat.”

“Heavenly Father, for this food,
We, Thy children, thank Thee.
Sun and showers and earth have wrought it,
Labors of our neighbors brought it.
May it give us strength to love
And serve Thee and our neighbor.”

One of the most important factors in the well-being of any individual is
right feeding in childhood, especially in early childhood. One of the chief
causes of sickness and death among young children is their wrong feeding.
A conservative estimate would be two thousand ill on any one day from this
cause. Further, wrong feeding weakens the system so the child is much
more susceptible to infectious diseases.
Not only the general health of the individual but also the quality of the
teeth, the efficiency of the digestive system, the desire for stimulants, the
stability of the nervous system, the quality of mental activity, power of will,
strength of character, the happiness or misery of everyday living, are
profoundly affected by the foods and régime of feeding during childhood.
The intelligence of the mother or the nurse, the grandmother, the father,
and the friend has far more to do with the right feeding of children than
does the amount of the family income. The child in the wealthy home is
quite as liable to be wrongly fed as the child in the poor home. It is possible
to buy enough of the right kinds of nourishing foods for a very small sum.
To feed a child so as to produce one hundred per cent. efficiency in his
health to-day and fifty years from to-day should be the ambition of every
one who has the care of that child,—not merely to keep him from death or
present illness. This is not an easy matter, nor to be learned in a day or a

month. It requires careful and earnest study of food composition, food
values, the physiology of digestion, dietetics, cooking; and then patience,
thoroughness, and practicability to put this knowledge into use three to five
times a day, seven days in the week, every week in the year.
The Fundamental Principles of Feeding
Cleanliness and Purity. The following standards are necessary to meet
these requirements.
1. Unadulterated foods. Foods unwholesome because of adulteration
include:
a. Canned goods preserved with benzoate of soda or other artificial
preservative
b. Candies, jams, pickles, containing coal-tar dyes and other adulterants
c. Sulphur-bleached dried fruits and molasses
d. Bakery goods made with preserved eggs, milk, and other adulterants
2. Protection from dust, dirt, and insects. Dry foods, such as bread,
crackers, dates, figs should be kept wrapped in moisture-proof paper.
Butter, bakery goods, and dried fruits not so wrapped should be kept under
glass. Fruits and vegetables should be kept within doors, protected from
dogs and cats. Milk, which is most easily contaminated, should be produced
in a clean dairy, by clean workers, kept covered constantly, protected from
animals, in a cool place.
3. Preparation under sanitary conditions. Bakeries and other food
factories and kitchens should be scrupulously clean, with abundance of
fresh air and sunlight. All persons handling food should be free from any
contagious disease, with clean hands and garments. This factor is even more
important than freedom from adulteration.
It is easily possible to-day to ascertain what products meet the pure food
requirements. By careful purchasing, and the preparation and serving of
food at home by healthy individuals, with intelligent attention to sanitation,
these essential requirements of hygiene can be most completely assured.
Regularity. Meals should be served promptly at regular hours, and no
food taken between meals. If food is taken irregularly, rhythm is disturbed,

the digestive fluids are not ready and cannot act efficiently. If food is taken
while undigested food remains in the stomach, the work of digestion must
begin over again, as the fluids secreted in the early stage of digestion are
different from those in the last stages. Thus the food previously taken is
kept in the stomach too long; it ferments, too much acid is produced, sour
stomach results, the stomach is irritated, the glands are overworked and
become exhausted, and the consequence is poor digestion. To do its best
work, the stomach requires rest between feedings.
During sleep, the activity of the digestive tract is very slow. Solid food
taken less than an hour or two before bedtime is not well digested and is
likely to remain in the stomach and ferment; the pressure produces
disturbed sleep and “bad dreams”; the stomach is not ready for digesting
breakfast; the individual wakens tired, without appetite, and possibly with
headache or nausea. Babies, having only milk, can be fed at bedtime. With
children two to six years, an hour should intervene between the light supper
and sleep; with older children, from two to four hours.
If a child is regularly hungry between meals, the cause may be (a)
insufficient quantity at meals; (b) diet not well balanced—frequently
insufficient mineral foods; (c) eating too rapidly so that food is not well
chewed and therefore not assimilated; (d) too long intervals between meals.
If occasionally hungry between meals, light food requiring little digestion
should be given, such as fruit juice, ripe fruit, dates, figs, or a glass of milk.
Cake, cookies, candies, or other hearty foods upset digestion.
Simplicity. This applies both to the variety served at one meal, to the
method of preparation, and to the serving. A maximum of five or six food
items at one meal is sufficient, and is more easily digested than a greater
number. Foods simply cooked require less work of the digestive organs than
do more complex mixtures; at the same time they cultivate simple tastes,
with their contentment.
Cheerfulness. Good cheer is the best of appetizers. Professor Pawlow
has discovered that the amount and the efficiency of the gastric juice are
affected by the anticipation and enjoyment of food, and that the gastric juice
thus poured out at the beginning of a meal, which he has called the
“appetite juice”, is the most powerful and active. Happiness and laughter
(but not silliness or horseplay) should therefore be encouraged at meals.

A child should not be fed when excited, angry, cross, crying, unhappy, or
overtired. Under emotional stress no gastric or intestinal juices are formed,
and food cannot be digested. When a child is very tired, the system is too
exhausted to do the work of digestion, and nitrogenous foods (such as meat
or eggs) taken then are positively harmful, as they only decay. If at
mealtime a child is cross simply because he is hungry, feeding will help put
him in a happy mood, conducive to digestion. Otherwise, it is better to give
only a small quantity of easily digested food, such as fruit juice, thin gruel,
vegetable broth, toast, milk.
Sufficiency. This applies to the total quantity of energy and fuel foods, or
what is technically called caloric sufficiency; and to the quantity and
proportions of each of the food elements, technically called a balanced
ration. Careful studies of dietetic needs have been made within the last ten
years, and the approximate needs and conditions for different ages are now
so well defined that adequate feeding need no longer be mere guess-work.
Caloric Sufficiency. A calorie is the measure of a unit of heat as an inch
is a measure of a unit of space. One calorie[18] of heat is the amount that
will raise the temperature of a pint of water 4° Fahrenheit. The amount of a
given food, as of bread, that would furnish this much of heat when digested
in the body is a one-calorie portion of bread,—1/10 ounce, or a half-inch
cube. The total caloric requirement depends upon the amount of bodily heat
and muscular energy needed by an individual. This will depend upon the
individual’s (1) weight, (2) age, (3) occupation, (4) health, (5) climate. The
amount of outdoor life, clothing, the temperament, height, and personal
idiosyncrasies will require individual variations from the average.

Daily Energy Requirements During Growth.

Part of this energy is needed to carry on the vital processes, such as
circulation, secretion, digestion; during the waking hours, energy is needed
for every muscular action, such as walking, dressing, talking, exercising.
Calories per Pound of Normal
Age in Years Calories per Day
Body Weight
Under 1 year 50-45 280-900
1-2 45-40 900-1200

2-5 inclusive 40-35 1200-1500
6-9 ” 35-30 1400-2000
10-13 ” 30-25 1800-2200
14-17 ” 25-20 2300-3000
18-25 ” 16-18 2000-3400

Proportions of Food Elements. To furnish what is termed a “balanced
ration”, the protein, carbohydrate, and fat should each constitute, in the total
calories for the day, approximately the following proportions: protein 10 to
15 per cent., carbohydrate 50 to 60 per cent., fat 25 to 35 per cent. To some
extent the fat and carbohydrate are interchangeable, but a great excess of fat
or carbohydrate produces indigestion, and great insufficiency of fat starves
the nerves. Each gram (about 1/28 ounce) of protein or carbohydrate
furnishes four calories of heat; each gram of fat furnishes nine calories.
Without sufficient protein, the child will not increase in growth. An excess
of protein is no less injurious, as it cannot be stored in the body, but must be
eliminated. Especially injurious is an excess of proteins containing purin-
bodies, which produce urea and uric acid, thereby causing forms of kidney
disease, gout, and rheumatisms. Excess of food, combined with sluggish
elimination, produces putrefaction and fermentation in the intestine,
resulting in auto-intoxication from the poisonous gases and chemicals,
thereby inducing irritability, nervousness, languor, low resistance to germ
diseases, colds.
In childhood and maternity a purin-free diet and one least likely to
produce auto-intoxication is especially important.
A sufficient proportion of minerals is no less essential to life and health,
although these are needed in minute quantities. Research in physiological
chemistry has only recently discovered the vital significance of minerals.
The quantities needed in childhood are not yet exactly known. Not only the
bones and teeth but each cell and fluid requires mineral matter. The
digestion and assimilation of food, the absorption of oxygen and the
elimination of carbonic acid gas by the blood, the normal action of the
heart, the generation of energy, the sensitiveness and reaction of the nerves,
are all dependent upon the mineral supply in the system. There are no less
than twelve, the principal ones being calcium, phosphorus, iron, soda,
potash, sulphur. Calcium (lime) is especially needed for bones and teeth,

phosphorus for growth and for nerve cells, iron for red blood corpuscles,
soda for elimination of carbonic acid gas. The daily requirements for a man
are:
Lime .7 gram; Phosphorus 2.75 grams; Iron .015 gram.
The allowance for a child should probably approximate this, and growing
children probably need more of lime and phosphorus.
Minerals supplied to the body in vegetable and animal tissues or fluids
have in some way been vitalized and made organic, so they are readily
assimilated by the system. Mineral matter as dug from the earth and
purchased at the drugstore is inorganic and is not assimilated either so
thoroughly or readily.
Vitamines are equally essential in the food. These are subtle organic
substances, as yet little understood, but necessary for perfect assimilation.
Cooking, especially at a high temperature or for a long period, usually
diminishes the vitamines in foods. This is one special objection to boiled,
condensed, and powdered milk, patent baby foods, canned vegetables,
canned, dried and salted meats. Children kept exclusively on such foods and
boiled water do not thrive. Such a diet produces scurvy. Some fresh,
uncooked food, such as raw milk, uncooked fruit or fruit juices, uncooked
vegetables, is needed every day.
Laxative elements are also essential. These are (a) cellulose, found in the
husk of whole wheat, and the fibers of vegetables and fruits; (b) water,
found in milk, vegetables, and fresh or stewed fruits; (c) oil, found in
cream, olive oil, and fatty nuts; (d) sugars, found in honey, molasses, dried
fruits; (e) vegetable acids, found in fruits.
Hard foods, requiring work of the jaws, are needed every day, especially
from nine months to seven years of age, while the first and second teeth are
coming. Hard foods exercise and develop the jaws and teeth, and promote a
good circulation through the jaws, mouth, and nose. They may be supplied
by a chicken or chop bone wiped free of the cooked meat, or after nine
months by hard crust, hard toast, zwieback, or educator crackers, given at
one or two meals every day. Soft, mushy foods as a steady diet are
injurious, not only because they fail to supply the needed exercise and

circulation, but also because they cling to the teeth, and by fermenting
produce their early decay.
Foods containing growth-producing principles are needed daily. Little is
yet known of this factor. Some foods that, according to their chemical
composition, would be considered valuable for growth, have been found on
experimentation to be lacking in growth-producing properties; among these
are corn, bacon, gelatine. Other foods have marked growth-producing
results, and among these are milk, butter, eggs, whole wheat.
Foods Permissible for Children at Different Ages. Add each new food
gradually, beginning with a mere taste and observing whether it agrees.
Eggs, especially white, should be added cautiously, and discontinued if they
cause swelling, indigestion, or diarrhea. Raw fruits must be selected with
great care, neither overripe nor underripe, nor swallowed in lumps; they are
prohibited in diarrhea.
10 months:
Milk
Oatmeal or whole wheat jelly
Rice or barley jelly
Zwieback, hard toast
Strained spinach
Prune juice, prune pulp
Orange juice, strained, diluted
Gelatine

12 to 15 months, add:
Baked potato
Junket
Egg yolk hard-boiled, grated
Coddled egg (½)
½ egg (raw) beaten in milk
Vegetable broth with purée of potato, carrot, or spinach
Stale whole wheat bread
Wheatsworth crackers
Olive oil
Cottonseed oil
White grape juice
Chicken bone or chop bone, cooked, meat scraped and wiped off

15 to 18 months, add:
Rice boiled or steamed (cooked 3 to 6 hours)

Oatmeal gruel (cooked 6 to 12 hours)
Butter
Baked apple (pulp)
Date pulp
Custards

18 to 24 months, add:
Purée (strained) of fresh peas, dried peas, celery, onions, corn
Hominy (ground) cooked 12 hours
Tapioca thoroughly cooked
Scraped raw apple
Ripe raw peach
Strained honey
Stewed dried peaches, mashed

2 to 3 years, add:
Young tender peas or lima beans, mashed
Asparagus tips, stringless beans, chopped fine
Tender carrots, beets, celery, minced fine
Mashed potatoes
Whole wheat breakfast cereal, corn meal, corn bread, bran muffins, macaroni
Poached egg
Stewed pear, mashed
Stewed chopped figs
Apple sauce
Oatmeal crackers
Purple grape juice

3 to 4 years, add:
Vegetables, diced
Sweet potatoes, mashed
Raw, grated carrots
Cornflakes
Shredded wheat
Seedless grape pulp
Grape fruit
Ground almonds, pecans, filberts

4 to 6 years, add:
Purée of dried beans, lentils
Heart of tender celery (raw or stewed)
Minced, tender lettuce
Stewed tomatoes
Stewed apricots, strawberries
Whole cooked prunes
Whole dates, figs (sterilized)

Ripe banana, scraped and mashed, or cooked (occasionally)
Peppermints
Ice cream
Gingerbread
Sponge cake, molasses or sugar cookie

6 to 8 years, add:
Eggs scrambled or omelet
American cheese (cooked)
Cottage cheese
Oysters (cooked)
Lentils, dried Lima beans
Raw tomatoes, cress
Peanut butter
Seedless raisins, chopped
Simple preserves, marmalade, jam
Raw pears, strawberries, raspberries
Cantaloupe, watermelon
Simple layer or loaf cake

Foods Injurious to Children. Never to be given under twelve years of
age; not advised for any age.
Stimulants: Coffee, tea, beer, wine. These furnish no food value but
stimulate the heart and leave serious poisons that injure kidneys, liver,
stomach, and nerves.
Condiments: Pepper, mustard, catsup, vinegar, pickles, horseradish.
These are irritating to the delicate lining of the stomach; they overstimulate
the appetite; they have no food value. Excess of acids extracts needed
mineral from the body.
Meats: Pork roast or chops, ham, sausages, canned or dried meats and
fish, corned beef, sweetbreads, kidneys, game. All are difficult of digestion.

Some Foods Especially Dangerous for Children Under Six.
Peanuts, ice-cream cones, soda water, baked beans, raw cucumbers, popcorn.

Poisons for Little Children.
Not for vitality, beauty, clear thinking at any age.

Pastry: Pie, tarts, dumplings, cream puffs. The combination of fat and
starch makes these difficult of digestion.
Rich Foods: Rich cake, puddings, sauces, preserves, and conserves.
Excess of sugar or fat overtaxes the digestion and also spoils the appetite
for simple, wholesome foods.

Fried Foods: Fried meat, potatoes, eggs; fritters, doughnuts, waffles,
pancakes, French toast. Fat so combined with starch or protein delays, even
prevents, digestion. Starch requires longer cooking than is possible in
frying.
Fresh Baked (less than twenty-four hours old): Bread, rolls, muffins,
cake. Rolls or muffins may be served warm by re-heating in oven. Fresh
bread or cake forms a sticky mass, very difficult for the digestive juices to
dissolve or penetrate.
Not permissible for children under six years:
All difficult of digestion.
Popcorn
Soda water
Ice cream cones
Peanuts
Baked beans
Rusks
Grocery cookies
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Whole nuts
Cherries
Berries

(Some physicians also exclude all cake, candy, ice cream, jam.)
Illnesses Produced by Wrong Feeding. Illness may be due to one of
several causes. Wrong feeding is one fundamental cause of ill health and a
direct cause of many forms of illness. An excess or deficiency of any one of
the food elements, wrong combinations of foods, wrong habits of feeding,
lack of cleanliness or purity, improper cooking, may all produce illness.
The general ill health and low vitality from wrong feeding may be due to:
(a) Auto-intoxication, from putrefaction of food in the intestine
because of constipation, or from excess of purins;
(b) Excess of acid in the blood, due to excess of acid-forming
foods or deficiency of alkali-forming foods;
(c) Malnutrition or anemia, due to insufficient food, or to lack of
some food element; frequently due to lack of fats or

minerals.
While the exact relation between wrong feeding and some of the specific
forms of illness is still a moot question, some of the probabilities now
tentatively held by many physicians may be indicated in a general way, as
in the following table:
“Colds”:
Overfeeding, especially of protein or sugar
Colic:
Irregular feeding
Overfeeding
Food taken too rapidly
Constipation:
Lack of fruits and green vegetables
Lack of cellulose
Lack of water
Irregular feeding
Convulsions:
Solid food at too early age
Food difficult to digest
Constipation
Gastric indigestion (nausea):
Indigestible combinations, e.g. fried foods, milk with acids
Excess of sugar or starch
Excess of fat
Irregular feeding
Headaches:
Constipation
Indigestible combinations
Excess of sugar or purins
Intestinal Indigestion:
Excess of protein

Excess of cellulose
Excess of carbohydrates
Kidney Disorders:
Excess of purins
Excess of acid-forming foods
Excess of salt
Excess of sugar
Nervousness:
Irregular feeding
Auto-intoxication
Constipation
Excess of acid-forming foods
Excess of sugar or meat
Insufficient fats
Insufficient minerals
Rheumatism:
Excess of purins
Deficiency of minerals
Rickets:
Lack of vitamines
Lack of minerals
Lack of fats
Scurvy:
Lack of vitamines
Lack of minerals
Summer Diarrhea:
Unclean food, especially milk
Underripe or overripe fruit
Digestion. In the process of digestion, foods are not broken down into
simple chemical elements, as nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, but into simpler
yet still very complex compounds, as organic minerals (lime, phosphorus,

soda), simpler sugars, fatty acids, emulsions, soaps; and the proteins into
their many forms of amino-acids and (if these are inherent) purins and uric
acid. Soluble minerals, simple sugars, and many drugs are quickly absorbed
from the stomach directly into the circulation. Water passes into the small
intestine in five to twenty minutes. The solid portions of mother’s milk
complete their stomach digestion in about two hours, cow’s milk and other
easily digested foods in two and a half to three hours, under favorable
conditions. Digestion is continued in the small intestine, where about four
hours are required for further digestion; the soluble portion is absorbed into
the circulation, and the indigestible remainder, with waste cell material and
bile, passes into the large intestine. There the journey is very irregular and
slow, requiring from ten to twenty hours. The longer the delay, the greater
the fermentation and putrefaction, and the accumulation of putrefactive
bacteria and poisonous gases; the poisons, which are constantly being
absorbed into the system, produce auto-intoxication. About half the solid
waste is bacteria and waste cell tissue.
Food Composition. Every one who is responsible for the feeding of
children should be thoroughly acquainted with the different food substances
and the composition and value of common foods. For practical purposes of
dietetics, foods are analyzed into their content of protein, carbohydrate, fat,
mineral, cellulose, water. Some foods contain only one or two of these
elements; other foods contain them all.
1. Protein foods are those that contain nitrogen; their special use is to
build new body cells (for growth) and to replace waste of tissue; they also
furnish energy. Proteins differ in value according to the number and the
kinds of amino-acids in their composition.
Foods containing high percentage of protein:
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Cereals
Almonds
Peanuts
Peas
Beans

Lentils
Fish
Lean meat
2. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) furnish bodily heat and muscular
energy.
Foods containing high percentage of starch:
Potatoes
Rice
Cereals
Tapioca
Macaroni
Farina
Foods containing high percentage of sugar:
Sweet fruits
Dried fruits
Beets
Carrots
Honey
Maple Syrup
Molasses
Barley sugar
Cane sugar
Starch digestion begins in the mouth by the action of the saliva and is
completed in the intestines. Starches are changed to a form of sugar. Excess
of carbohydrates is stored in the liver or as fat through the body.
3. Fats furnish energy and heat.
Foods containing high percentage of fat:
Cream
Butter
Egg yolk
Olive oil
Cottonseed oil

Nuts (except chestnuts)
Meat fats
4. Minerals are found in grains, in fruit, green vegetables, milk, eggs,
meat.
Calcium and phosphorus are furnished in high percentage by:
Grape juice
Orange juice
Rhubarb
Maple sap
Milk
Calcium, phosphorus, and iron are all supplied in high percentage in:
Spinach
Celery
Peas
Lima beans
String beans
Apples
Prunes
Peaches
Pears
Dates, raisins
Whole wheat
Whole cereals
Egg yolk
Lean meat (except calcium)
While milk contains only a low percentage of iron, it furnishes a high
proportion of the day’s supply in children’s diet, because of the total
quantity used.
Valuable mineral material in many fruits and vegetables is just beneath
the skin. It is dissolved into the water if these foods are boiled. The mineral
matter is conserved by baking, or stewing, or steaming, by cooking without
paring, or by using the water in which they are boiled.
The mineral matter is in the germ and the husks of grains. Refined foods,
such as white flour and sugar, polished or puffed rice, processed barley and

corn meal, cream of wheat, cornstarch, sago, from which the husk has been
removed, have been robbed of their mineral matter. The whole ground
grains and brown sugar retain the minerals.
5. Water, a necessary part of all tissues, constitutes about sixty per cent.
of the body weight. It promotes circulation of the blood and other internal
fluids, dissolves poisons, aids elimination of waste through urine, feces, and
perspiration. Water is best taken half an hour before meals, and at the close.
If taken with the meal, it should be only after food in the mouth has been
swallowed, that it may not interfere with the action of the saliva upon the
food. Ice in water makes it too cold for the stomach, and unless artificial, is
apt to contain dangerous impurities. Water should be sipped, warmed in the
mouth before being swallowed, and not more than one glass taken at a time.
Water is supplied in:
Milk
Cocoa
Broths
Fruit juices
Fruits
Green vegetables
Water constitutes about 65 per cent. of meats, 80 per cent. of fish, 90 per
cent. of fresh fruits and vegetables.
6. Cellulose. The indigestible cellulose and fibers in food furnish a bulk
of waste which stimulates the intestines to muscular action. Supplied in:
Whole wheat
Whole cereals
Prunes, dates
Figs, raisins
Fibrous vegetables as celery, spinach, onions, carrots, beets, peas, beans
Skins of apples, pears
Cellulose is lacking in concentrated foods, as cheese, nuts, sugar, butter;
refined foods, as white flour, cream of wheat, cornstarch; in liquid foods.
Laxative Foods:
Figs
Dates

Prunes
Orange
Apple
Raisins
Peach
Plum
Rhubarb
Grapes
Whole wheat cereals
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat crackers
Corn meal
Bran muffins
Peanut butter
Pecan nuts
Gingerbread
Molasses
Honey
Onions
Spinach
Olive oil
Cottonseed oil
Purin Bodies in Common Foods. Purin bodies are found in some
protein foods. Purins are uric-acid forming. The poisons of purins are
believed to be productive of gout, rheumatism, migraine and periodic
headaches, bilious attacks, catarrhs, neurasthenia, and general ill-health of
an indefinite nature.
Foods Containing High Per Grains Per Foods Containing 2 Grains Purin-free
Cent. Purins[19] Pound or Less
[19] Foods[19]
Sweetbreads 70 Peas Milk
Liver 19 Potatoes Cheese
Kidney Onions Butter
Beef 14-7 Carrots Flour
Pork 8 Turnips Rice
Chicken 9 Parsnips Macaroni
Veal 8 Asparagus Tapioca

Salmon 8 Rhubarb Sugar
Halibut 7 Spinach Cauliflower
Mutton 7 Dates Cabbage
Figs Lettuce
Codfish (4) Strawberries
Flounder

Acid-forming and Alkali-forming Foods. The blood contains some
acids and some alkalies. For physical efficiency, the balance should be
slightly alkaline. In the process of digestion minerals are oxidized into their
chemical constituents of acids or alkalies. An excess of acid interferes with
the normal alkalinity of the blood and secretions, prevents the normal
absorption of oxygen and elimination of carbonic acid gas by the blood,
hinders the work of the white blood corpuscles, irritates the nerves,
lowering, therefore, the resistance and vitality, and irritates the kidneys. In
the dietary, care should be taken to include alkali as Well as acid-forming
foods.

Acid-forming:[20] Alkali-forming:[20]
Meat Milk
Eggs Fruits
Grains Vegetables, especially:
Rice Spinach Lettuce
Tapioca Celery Cress
Sugar Potatoes Radishes
The Question of Meat. Some authorities on dietetics now advise against
giving meat in early childhood. Wiley and Mendel advise waiting until
about four years, Sherman and Lorand until about eight.
The following objections are made to meat in children’s diet:
(1) It has a high percentage of purin bodies, which the child’s organism is
less fitted to dispose of.
(2) It is acid-forming to a high degree.
(3) “Meat proteins are much more susceptible to putrefaction in the
intestine, giving rise to absorption of putrefactive products which are more

or less injurious (producing ‘auto-intoxication’) than are the proteins of
most other foods.”[21]
(4) It is stimulating to the flow of gastric juice, especially the extractives,
which are found particularly in meat juices, meat broths, beef tea. As an
acid-forming food it is stimulating, and easily irritating, to the nerves, and
therefore is disadvantageous with nervous children, or when the nervous
system is yet highly sensitive, as it is in early childhood.
(5) Carnivorous animals, such as the cat and the dog, do not permit their
young to have meat until the teeth are developed. Meat given
experimentally to young kittens produced convulsions.
(6) It is an expensive form of protein. Beef juice contains chiefly the
stimulating extractives, and a slight quantity of iron.
(7) Protein in milk, selected vegetables, and (usually) eggs, is more easily
digested; and iron can be supplied by selected vegetables and fruits.
The following table gives approximately the comparative value of a 100-
calorie portion of beef juice (requiring 3½ pounds of lean beef) and an
equal bulk of milk.

Quantity Calories Protein[22] Fat[22] Carbohydrates[22] Lime[22] Phosphorus[22] Iron[22]
Beef
14.1 oz. 100 19.6 2.4 .015 .46 .003
juice
Milk 14.1 oz. 276 13.1 15.9 20 .649 .832 .0009

The meat at twenty-two cents a pound costs seventy-seven cents; the
milk at ten cents a quart costs five cents. One pound of meat will give little
more than one fourth of this food value; one ordinary serving (2 ounces)
only 3 per cent. of the above values.
Physicians, on the other hand, more often advise meat, especially for the
iron and the stimulation to digestion.
The Question of Sugar. Sugar is a concentrated form of fuel food.
Children need much of fuel foods, but this can be given in the form of fats
and starches as well as sugar. Sweet easily spoils the appetite for plain,
more wholesome foods, and gives a sense of sufficiency before the needs of

the body have been satisfied. Children whose taste has been spoiled by
sweetened food are more likely to show a distaste for wholesome
vegetables. Sugar taken between meals or in excess at meals is irritating to
the sensitive lining of the stomach. Sugar excess causes fermentation in the
stomach and intestines, overtaxes the liver, reduces the normal alkalinity of
the blood, produces nausea, headache, biliousness, irritability, nervousness.
It injures the teeth by causing mouth acidity, which produces tooth decay,
and by causing distaste for simple lime-containing foods. The peevishness
and irritability of children after an overdose of candy is very likely due to
the indigestion and the hyperacidity of the blood, which irritates the nerves.
Cane sugar and candy lack the mineral matter found with sugar in the
natural syrups, fruits, and vegetables. The necessary amount (and it is
small) of sugar should therefore be given to young children in the form of
fruits, at the close of the midday meal. It is advantageous to the child’s
efficiency and contentment not to have candy or ice cream under four years
of age, and he will thrive without them until ten years. When allowed, they
should be given only in slight amount as a dessert at the close of dinner, and
not between meals.

Wholesome Sweets at Suitable Ages.
Homemade peppermints, sweet chocolate, barley sugar, sponge cookies, molasses cake, honey, maple
syrup, prunes, figs, dates, plums, apples, peaches.

Laxative Foods.
To be selected, appropriate to age.

Wholesome Sweets[23]

Honey
Maple syrup
Sweet fruits:
Oranges, Apples
Peaches, Plums
Seedless grapes
Dates, Figs
Seedless raisins
Prunes
Simple, pure candy
Molasses candy
Peppermint wafers
Milk chocolate
Barley sugar
Simple homemade cake
Sponge cake
Gingerbread
Molasses or sugar cookies

Rational Dietary. A rational dietary for children should meet the
following requirements:
1. Total calories per day, computed for the age, weight (normal);
modified by the activity, season, health, of the individual child
2. Balance of protein, fat, carbohydrate: Protein 10-15 per cent; fat 25-35
per cent; carbohydrate 50-60 per cent.
3. Purin-free or low in purins
4. Minerals supplied, especially lime, phosphorus, iron, soda, potash
5. Vitamines supplied by some uncooked or fresh, slightly cooked foods
6. Laxatives furnished by cellulose, water, oils, sugars, vegetable acids
7. Hard foods, requiring gnawing and chewing
8. No irritants or artificial stimulants, e.g. pepper, mustard, vinegar,
condiments, alcohol, beer, tea, coffee
9. Combination of food carefully arranged:
a. Some alkali-forming
b. Milk not served with acids, as tomatoes, oranges, apples, apricots, peaches,
lemon juice
c. Agreeable proportion of liquids and solids
d. Flavors combined that taste well together
e. Variety slight at one meal (3 to 6 items); wider range from day to day

10. Cooking:
a. Albumen (milk, white of egg) slightly coagulated
b. Cereals and starches thoroughly cooked
c. Fats not overheated (below smoking or scorching point)
d. Fats not mixed while hot with starches or sugars (gravies, sauces, fried foods,
pastry), or with protein (fried eggs)
e. Vegetable cellulose removed, or divided, according to the development of the
digestive system of the child

Table for Hours of Feeding
Age No. Feedings Intervals Hours Addenda

12 to 24 months 4-5 4 hours 6, 10 a.m., 2 p.m. Fruit juice 8 a.m.
Dinner 2 p.m.
2 to 3 or 4 years 4 4 hours 6:30, 10 a.m., 2, 5 p.m. Do.
3 or 4 to 9 years 3 4½-5 hours 7:30 a.m., 12, 5 p.m. Fruit juice 6:30 a.m.
Dinner 12 m.
Milk or fruit 3:30 p.m.
After 9 years 3 4½-5½ hours 7:30 a.m., 12, 6 p.m. Do.

Differences of social, economic, and climatic conditions will naturally
lead to differences of usual rising hour and general day’s régime. The above
schedule is consistent with the environment represented in the daily
schedule on pages 124, 125.
A special schedule should be made out for the individual child, according
to his environment and special needs. Certain fundamental principles must
be followed, in varying this schedule. (1) Regular times for meals; (2)
intervals between meals; (3) heaviest meal at midday; (4) interval before
bedtime; (5) interval before bath.
To make out a dietary for a given individual.
1. To compute the total calories required for one day, (a) take the normal
weight for the age, sex, height (see appendix), and (b) multiply this by the
calories required per pound of body weight. (Table, page 160.)
Use the minimum calories for youngest, maximum for oldest in each age
group. A child of active temperament requires more calories than a
phlegmatic child of same age and weight. Factors indicating a liberal
allowance of calories are outdoor life, cold weather, vigorous exercise, or a
child under normal weight. A smaller allowance is indicated by indoor life,
little activity, hot weather, or a child over normal weight.
2. Compute the number of these total calories for protein (15 per cent. of
total calories), fat (25-35 per cent.), carbohydrates (50-60 per cent.).
3. Make out a tentative day’s dietary, in 100-calorie portions, and add or
deduct portions until the total of computed calories is approximated; a
difference not to exceed 10 per cent. is allowable. (Table, page 160.)
4. Analyze these portions (see appendix), and compare with computed
amounts (2 above) for balance of protein, fat, carbohydrate. Differences not

to exceed ten per cent. are allowable. For compound foods, as custard,
purée, analyze each of the ingredients.
5. Analyze for lime, phosphorus, iron.
6. Check for alkali-forming foods, vitamines, laxatives, hard foods.
7. Divide into meals. The heaviest meal should come in the middle of the
day.
8. Note the method of preparation suited to the development and
condition of the individual.
The making of a well-balanced and organized dietary for a day requires
several hours of careful calculating. It is therefore the part of wisdom, as
well as economy of energy, to carefully make out a dietary for six or seven
days, that there may be balance in each day’s ration, and a wide range of
variety from day to day; and to preserve these for reference. By measuring
out 100-calorie portions of common foods for a few days, the student comes
to recognize these quickly, and the assembling of a meal comes to have all
the zest of a game.

Illustration of Method in Making out a Dietary.

Age: 4 years Activity: Out-of-doors
Sex: Boy Season: Winter
Health: Robust Temperament: Active
Height: 39 inches
1. Normal weight: 35 pounds; Calories per pound: 38; Total Calories: 1330
2. Estimated Calories: Protein, 200; Fat, 465; Carbohydrates, 665

3.-5. Analysis of Day’s Food
Food Quantity (Uncooked) Calories Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Cal. Cal. Cal. Grams Grams Grams
Grape juice 5T 75 75 .016 .03
Milk 1½ pt. 500 95 260 145 1.195 1.515 .0017
Oatmeal 1T 25 4 2 19 .007 .054 .0002
Bread (whole wheat) 2 slice 200 30 10 160 .032 .32 .0012
Butter 1½ cube 150 1 149 .004 .006
Crackers (Wheatsworth) 1 25 4 5 16 .004 .061 .0003

Rice 1T 50 5 45 .004 .085 .0004
Potato ½ med. 50 6 44 .009 .083 .0007
Peas (fresh) 2T 50 14 2 34 .016 .12 .0008
Egg 1 74 24 50 0 .044 .175 .0014
Apple sauce 1 apple 100 3 7 90 .022 .05 .0005
Dates 3 50 1 4 45 .01 .01 .0005
1349 187 489 673 1.363 2.509 .0079

6.-7. Feedings, 4. Hours, 7:30, 10:00 a.m., 12:00; 5:00 p.m.
Day’s menu: (See menu for child 2 to 4 years, page 181).
8. Method of preparation: For first teeth; vegetables diced; whole dates, prunes.

Typical Menus For Different Ages[24]
I. Twelve to Fifteen Months
Calculated for 21 pounds at 45 calories = 945 calories
Calories Vita. Alka. Lax. Hard
A.M.
6:00 1½ glass warm milk 150 s s
8:00 orange juice 75 s s s
10:00 oatmeal jelly 25
1½ glass milk 150 s s
½ t top milk 5 s s
P.M.
2:00 ½ potato, baked 25 s
1 t top milk 15 s s
½ slice bread, toasted 50 s s
prune pulp 100 s (?) s
1½ glass milk 150 s s
5:30 oatmeal jelly 25
1½ glass milk 155 s s
small slice zwieback 25 s
Totals as analyzed 950

CALORIES GRAMS
Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Calculated: 142 331 473
Analyzed: 145 333 472 1.622 2.293 .0043

Vitamines may exist in some degree in slightly cooked foods.

II. Fifteen to Twenty-Four Months
Calculated for 26 pounds at 42 calories = 1092 calories

Calories Vita. Alka. Lax. Hard
A.M.
6:00 2 glasses warm milk 200 s s
1 Wheatsworth cracker 25 s
8:00 orange juice 75 s s s
10:00 oatmeal gruel 50
2 glasses milk 200 s s
1-2 slice toast, whole wheat 50 s s
P.M.
2:00 ½ coddled egg 37 s
¼ baked potato 25 s
1 T spinach 10 s s s
¼ slice bread, whole wheat 25 s
¼ T butter 25 s s
5:30 oatmeal gruel 50
½ slice toast, whole wheat 50 s s
1 Wheatsworth cracker 25 s
2 glasses milk 200 s s
Totals as analyzed 1047

CALORIES GRAMS
Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Calculated: 164 382 546
Analyzed: 177 386 484 1.647 2.592 .0068

III. Two to Four Years
Calculated for 35 pounds at 38 calories = 1330 calories

Calories Vita. Alka. Lax. Hard
A.M.
6:30 grape juice 75 s s s
7:30 ¼ serving oatmeal 25
2 glasses milk 200 s s
½ slice toast, whole wheat 50 s s

½ T butter 50 s s
10:00 1 glass milk 100 s s
1 Wheatsworth cracker 25 s
12:00 ½ potato baked 50 s
1 T peas 50 s
1 egg coddled 74 s
1 T butter 100 s s
apple sauce 100 s s
½ slice bread, whole wheat 50 s
P.M.
5:00 rice (unpolished) 50
date pulp 50 s s s
2 glasses milk 200 s s
1 slice zwieback 100 s s
Totals as analyzed 1349

CALORIES GRAMS
Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Calculated: 200 465 665
Analyzed: 187 489 673 1.363 2.509 .0079

IV. Four to Six Years
Calculated for 40 pounds at 37 calories = 1480 calories

Calories Vita. Alka. Lax. Hard
A.M.
6:30 orange juice 100 s s s
7:30 rice 50
chopped figs 50 s s s
2½ glasses milk 250 s s
1 slice toast, whole wheat 100 s s
butter 75 s s
12:00 lima beans, fresh 50 s
2 T spinach 25 s s s
potato, boiled in skin 50 s
chicken 25
1 slice bread, whole wheat 100 s
butter 100 s s
2 plums 50 s (?) s
P.M.

5:00 ½ shredded wheat 50 s
2½ glasses milk 250 s s
molasses cookie, hard 100 s s
Totals as analyzed 1475

CALORIES GRAMS
Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Calculated: 222 518 740
Analyzed: 203 481 791 1.557 2.760 .0109

Day’s Menu for Child Two to Four Years.

Day’s Menu for Child Four to Six Years.

V. Six to Eight Years
Calculated for 47 pounds at 33 calories = 1551 calories

Calories Vita. Alka. Lax. Hard
A.M.
6:30 orange juice 100 s s s
7:30 whole wheat cereal 100 s
1½ glass milk 150 s s
1 slice toast, whole wheat 100 s s
½ T butter 50 s s
soft boiled egg 74 s
½ fig 50 s s s
12:00 ½ portion macaroni 50
1 T cheese, cooked 100
4 T string beans 25 s
lettuce, oil, lemon juice 55 s s s
1 slice bread 100 s
½ T butter 50 s s
raw apple 100 s s s
P.M.
5:00 1 shredded wheat 100 s
1 cup milk 100 s s
1 cup custard 150

1 slice toast, whole wheat 100 s s
½ T butter 50 s s
Totals as analyzed 1604

CALORIES GRAMS
Prot. Fat Cbhy. Lime Phos. Iron
Calculated: 233 543 775
Analyzed: 214 517 873 1.475 1.865 .0099

Care of Food. All food should be kept covered, protected from dust,
bacteria, insects, odors, poisonous gases (from bad drainage in refrigerator
or kitchen). Butter should be kept in oiled paper or covered by a salted
muslin cloth.
Cooked foods should be quickly and thoroughly cooled, and then covered
and kept in a cool place.
Milk requires the most painstaking care, as bacteria multiply in it very
rapidly unless it is kept cool and clean. It should be kept in a seamless, non-
rusting receptacle, covered from dust and insects (preferably with a clean,
double muslin cloth that will admit air but keep out dust); and placed in a
clean, odorless, ventilated place. If a refrigerator or clean, cool cellar,
springhouse, or well is not available, a homemade refrigerator may be
constructed, similar to the fireless cooker, that will require little ice. Or the
bottle may be placed in a basin of cool running water and covered with a
clean muslin cloth the edges of which absorb the water; if thus placed in a
draft, the evaporation will keep the milk cool. In hot weather it should be
pasteurized for children under six years, and at other seasons for children
under four, unless certified.
Milk should preferably be bottled at the dairy for delivery. If delivered
from cans it should be exposed as little as possible to the air and dust, the
measures should be scrupulously clean, and it should be poured at once into
bottles or jars that have been sterilized by boiling and that are covered from
dust until filled. It should be immediately covered.
If milk is delivered in bottles, provision should be made for protecting
these from dust, sun, and animals until they are brought into the kitchen.
The bottles should be well washed in cool water, especially around the top

and cover, before opening. The rim of the bottle should be wiped with a
clean cloth and the cover replaced immediately after pouring.
Milk which has been warmed or which has stood uncovered outside the
bottle should not be poured back or used again for the children to drink, as
bacteria have multiplied in it very rapidly. It may be used for cooking.
Milk. The production of milk requires the greatest cleanliness. If a cow is
kept, the dairy, utensils, methods of milking and caring for the new milk
should conform to the standards set forth in the Federal and State Health
Bulletins. If milk is purchased, inspection should, if possible, be made of
the dairy and the methods of cooling and transportation. In the large cities,
milk is now graded according to the degree of care and the cleanliness as
indicated by the bacteria count. Certified or Grade “A” should be used for
children under three years of age. Grade “A” is preferable, but Grade “B”
can be used for children over two years. Grade “C” and loose milk are fit
only for cooking.
The milk from a herd is more uniform from day to day than from a single
cow. Holstein or Guernsey milk is preferable for children, especially for
infants, as the lower fat content and softer curds make it more easily
digested than Jersey milk.
Sterilized or condensed milk is less easily digested and less nutritious
than raw milk, and is conducive to constipation. The high degree of heat to
which they have been subjected has reduced the vitamines and affected the
protein.
Milk may spoil even before it has soured. Pasteurizing delays souring but
not spoiling. Unscrupulous dealers sometimes add preservatives to prevent
souring. Such milk is dangerous. Clean, freshly soured milk is harmless, but
should not be given to children under three except as buttermilk. With
young children and babies, buttermilk can sometimes be retained and
digested when sweet milk cannot be taken. The special tablets containing
the Bulgarian bacillus should be used, and usually, with the whole milk, in
making buttermilk for young children. These tablets may be obtained from
the druggist.
Skimmed milk has all the value of whole milk except the cream. Whey
contains the minerals, sugar and fats. Bottled commercial cream has a very

high bacteria count and should never be used for children. Ice cream should
be freshly made of fresh, pasteurized milk, with scrupulous cleanliness.
Principles of Cooking. Before food can be utilized by the body, it must
be made soluble—changed into substances that are dissolved so they can
pass readily through the walls of the food tube into the blood. In the
digestive tract fats, carbohydrates, and protein must first be separated, as
different digestive fluids are provided to act upon each of these. Cooking
for children should (1) make foods easily soluble; (2) produce little mixture
of protein, carbohydrates and fats; (3) improve the flavor, and (4) raise the
temperature to about blood heat (98° F.), when served.
The degree of development of the digestive fluids, the stomach, and the
teeth must be considered in preparing food for an individual child. In
infancy the digestive system is undeveloped, lacking in digestive fluids,
stomach small, and there is no provision for chewing.
Until nine months of age babies do not have digestive fluids for starch, or
for protein except the curds of milk; their teeth are not yet serviceable for
chewing, and solid food of any kind is so indigestible that it often causes
convulsions, if given.
After nine months, starches thoroughly cooked and without cellulose
may be given cautiously.
All food must be easily soluble until two years of age, that is, until
enough of the first teeth have developed for adequate chewing of soft
cellulose.
For children under 18 months, cellulose and fibers strained out of
vegetables.
For children 18 months to 3 years (before first teeth are all cut)
vegetables mashed or chopped fine; coarse cellulose removed.
At three years, all the first teeth (20) should be cut, and the child can
chew the cellulose of vegetables and fruits.
For children three years (first teeth all cut) to 8 years (second teeth
partially cut) vegetables diced, whole cooked fruits.
During the first two years of second dentition (from 6 to 8 years) the
missing teeth make chewing less adequate, and care is needed to provide

easily divided food. After eight years enough of the permanent teeth have
been cut to permit fibers of meat in the diet.
Cooking for Children. Before beginning the preparation of food, wash
the hands thoroughly and clean the finger nails. See that all utensils are
scrupulously clean, as well as dish towels with which they are wiped. Use
agate or enamelware for all acid fruits and vegetables, and a double boiler
for milk. Do not use aluminum ware for acids or eggs, or tin for acids, as
poisonous compounds would be formed. Taste food before serving, using a
clean spoon which is not replaced in the food but immediately washed.
Keep food uncovered as little as possible.
Milk. In heating milk always use a double boiler and do not let the milk
reach the boiling point. Boiling hardens the protein and makes it difficult of
digestion.
To pasteurize milk: put in sterilized bottles, stoppered with non-absorbent
cotton. Place bottles in kettle with cold water coming to height of milk in
bottles. Put cloth or paper in bottom of kettle and between bottles, to
prevent breaking. Milk is advisably pasteurized by bringing water to 145° F.
and maintaining at exactly this temperature for thirty minutes, either turning
fire low or removing kettle from fire, leaving bottles in water for half an
hour, or placing the kettle in a fireless cooker, or covering tightly with
newspapers. Cool bottles quickly by placing in lukewarm water, then in
cold water, then on ice, or where temperature of 45° can be maintained.
Toast. Use stale bread. Make in the oven, drying hard throughout, the
outside then lightly browned in gas oven or over coals or an electric toaster.
Dried fruits. Sort carefully, remove blemishes, wash thoroughly in
colander. Soak overnight in water to cover; bring to boil, and let simmer
with low fire or in fireless cooker until soft. Add no sugar to prunes, dates,
figs, seedless raisins, and little to peaches, apples, apricots. California
prunes should be used, as they are sweeter and less acid. Honey may be
used, instead of sugar, for sweetening other fruits. Soda should be added to
tart fruits, as apricots. For children one to three years, make pulp by
removing pits and mashing through fine colander (not tin). For children
over three, dates and figs may be served uncooked, after thorough washing,
or sterilizing for ten minutes in a colander over steam and then drying.

Cereals. Cereals require a high degree of heat for the first five or ten
minutes, to burst the covering of the tiny starch cells, then long cooking at a
moderate temperature. This applies to oatmeal, barley, wheat cereals, corn
meal, samp, rice, tapioca, sago. A double boiler should be used and, unless a
coal fire is available for a long period, a fireless cooker. The latter can be
made in a few hours at a cost of less than half a dollar, by using a wooden
box with a hinged cover, sawdust for packing, and asbestos paper for lining.
In cooking any cereal, have the water boiling in both the upper and lower
parts of the double boiler. Put the upper part directly over the heat and let
the water boil violently for a minute. Add salt in the proportion of 1
tablespoon to one quart of water. Pour in the cereal very slowly, so the
boiling does not stop. Let this boil five minutes, shaking gently, then place
in boiler and put into fireless cooker, or over low fire.
Gruel or porridge:
1 part rolled or flaked oatmeal or wheat to 2 parts water
1 part corn meal or rice to 3 parts water
1 part fine wheat or hominy, coarse oatmeal, tapioca or barley to
4 parts water
Cereal jelly is made by straining the gruel through cheesecloth or finest
wire strainer.
Cereal water is made by using a smaller proportion of cereal—from 1 to
2 tablespoons to 1 pint of water,—and straining. It may be made from the
prepared barley, wheat, oat, or rice flour, using 1 tablespoon of the flour,
blended with 2 tablespoons cold water, and proceeding then as with the
whole cereal, stirring occasionally, and cooking from thirty to sixty
minutes.
Note that cereal water contains little nourishment and, unless made from
the whole grains, little mineral.
The ready-cooked oatmeals and wheat cereals should be cooked not less
than one hour for children.
The dry, ready-to-serve cereals are thoroughly dextrinized and easily
digested if well chewed, and therefore as advantageous for children over
two or three.

Eggs. Eggs are quite easily digested raw, strained through a fine sieve.
Raw egg is usually laxative. They should be cooked merely until the whites
begin to set and are like soft jelly. Or the grated yolk, after boiling twenty
minutes, may be used.
To soft boil. Place in boiling water which is immediately removed from
the fire; let stand eight to ten minutes. Or put into cold water in covered
saucepan; bring to boiling point and remove saucepan from fire.
To poach. Grease the bottom of a small skillet with some fat. Put in
boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt. Drop in egg from saucer, and turn fire
low, or remove skillet. Let stand 2 to 5 minutes, until white is set. Remove
with perforated spoon or ladle. Serve on toast which has been dipped in
boiling salted water and slightly buttered.
Cocoa. For children four to eight years old, make cocoa weak, using only
¼ teaspoon cocoa to a cup of milk. Blend the cocoa with ¼ teaspoon sugar
and 1 tablespoon boiling water. Add ½ cup of boiling water and boil for five
minutes. A larger portion may be made at one time, and kept on ice. Heat
the milk in a double boiler and add the hot cocoa to this. Do not let the milk
boil.
Soups and Purées. For thin soups, take equal parts of milk and the
vegetable water from cooking potatoes, rice, spinach, carrots, celery, corn,
lima or string beans, peas. Heat in double boiler.
Purées are made by mashing and straining any of these vegetables, and
adding milk.
The most nutritious thickening is given by adding cereal gruel, or raw
egg beaten in just before serving, after removing from the stove. Thickening
of flour or cornstarch requires cooking for half an hour. Flour in melted fat
is indigestible.
Vegetables. Use fresh, tender vegetables. Sort carefully, removing bruised
and blemished places. Wash or scrub thoroughly through two or three
waters, using a colander. If canned, remove all immediately from container.
For children under two years, potatoes should be baked, and other
vegetables cooked thoroughly and put through a fine sieve, removing all
cellulose. For children of two and three years, vegetables should be minced;
for those four to eight years, merely diced.

Baked potato. Remove skin from two ends to permit escape of steam in
cooking. Bake in hot oven until mealy—about forty-five minutes. Pierce
with hot fork or break open slightly to permit escape of steam.
Boiled potatoes. Boil in skins to prevent loss of mineral nutrients. Put
into boiling water; add 1 teaspoon of salt to each pint of water, and boil
gently for half an hour. Test with a fork, and when mellow, drain off the
water, remove the cover, and let the moisture evaporate. If very large
potatoes are used, add a cup of cold water when the outside is cooked; this
prevents overcooking of outside portion.
Other vegetables may be baked, steamed (cooked in a steamer), or
stewed. The ordinary method of cooking vegetables by boiling in a large
quantity of water removes the essential minerals and watersoaks the
vegetables.
Dried peas, beans, lentils, should be soaked overnight, salted and boiled
for fifteen minutes, then put into the casserole or fireless cooker and cooked
from six to ten hours.
Young beets, string beans, lima beans, carrots, spinach, peas, asparagus,
summer squash are best steamed until tender (from thirty to sixty minutes).
They may be stewed by putting in a covered saucepan with just enough
salted water to prevent burning, and with the water just boiling.
Onions should be put into boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon
soda, and a piece of charcoal to 1 quart of water. After cooking five
minutes, pour off the water and add freshly boiling, salted water; after ten
minutes drain again and put into salted boiling water. Boil until tender—
forty-five to sixty minutes. Leave the cover off to avoid odors. Spanish or
Bermuda onions are mildest in flavor.
T = Tablespoon t = teaspoon c = cup

3t =1T
16 T =1c
2c = 1 pt.
1t = ½ oz.
1T = 1½ oz.
1c = 8 oz.

16 fluid oz. = 1 pt.
16 oz. by wt. = 1 lb.
1 oz. = 28 grams (metric)
2½ lb. = 1 Kilogram (metric)
Spoonful or cupful means level. Teaspoons vary in size.

In serving vegetables, add a little cream for young children; omit sauces.
Serving. Let the child eat outdoors whenever possible. If indoors, have
the room well ventilated and not above 68° F.
Until six years of age the child preferably should have his meals, at least
dinner and supper, at separate hours from the adults. He will give better
attention to his food, will not be tempted by adult food, and not subjected to
the table conversation which is too often directed at him or not of interest.
A low chair and table is much to be preferred to a high chair, until six
years; then a higher chair, comfortable for the dining table, with a foot rest,
should be provided, to be cut down as the child grows.
Serve milk at blood heat (98° F.) to children under two years of age, and
in cold weather for children to six years. Serve warm milk for cooked
cereal.
The serving plate for children under three should be kept warm during
the mealtime. Special children’s plates are now procurable that have
thermos qualities or that are kept warm by hot water.
Avoid any possibility of infection. For example: Do not return spoon or
fork to child’s food, or give to child, after you have used it yourself, or
another child has used it. Do not blow into child’s food; use some other
means of cooling.
Cereals should be fresh cooked within twelve hours for children under
two, and within twenty-four hours for older children. Baked potatoes and
eggs should be fresh cooked for each meal. Vegetables, soups, and purées
should be cooked within twenty-four hours.
Toast should be buttered when cold. If buttered hot, the fat surrounds the
starch grains and makes their digestion difficult or impossible.

Cereal should be served without sugar or butter, which make digestion
difficult and form a rich combination that spoils the appetite for simple,
wholesome foods. Top milk may be added, and for children two years,
chopped stewed fruit.
The digestive juices in the mouth have an important part in the digestion
of starches, therefore every means should be used for the insalivation of
starchy foods. Dry buttered toast or whole wheat cracker, for instance, eaten
with cereal, necessitates longer chewing of the cereal. The saliva is alkaline,
and its action upon starches is hindered by the presence of an acid; therefore
acid fruits, such as apple sauce, should not be taken into the mouth at the
same time as starchy foods, such as bread, crackers, or cookies. Bread and
milk are more digestible when taken together, as the milk is thus divided
into smaller curds. Milk from a glass should be slowly sipped, in small
swallows; this is a very important habit to cultivate in small children.
The diet should be carefully selected and analyzed, carefully prepared
and daintily served with the minimum portions to meet the child’s needs.
With these conditions a child should be trained to eat what is set before him,
without argument, having a second helping of the simple foods to the limit
of his caloric needs. Do not permit a child to be finicky about his food. The
tastes and food habits are formed in early childhood.
Cultivate a taste for vegetables by giving first in vegetable broths, and
then gradually give a teaspoonful of the mashed vegetable.
If a wholesome food is refused on first offering at one meal, give that
first at a subsequent meal and withhold more desired foods until this is
taken. Keep dessert out of sight until other food is eaten. An occasional
child is not able to digest some special food, as milk, eggs, strawberries,
fish. Some children cannot digest plain milk but can take it in foods, as in
broth, junket, custard, pudding.
Common faults and tendencies in the child to be guarded against are:
Insufficient chewing
Eating too rapidly
Drinking milk rapidly instead of sipping
Dawdling over meals
Eating with fingers

Carelessness about the dropping of food on table and floor
Unwillingness to try new foods
Unwillingness to eat vegetables
Preference for sweets and starches
Overeating of bread
Common faults of adults, in the feeding of children:
Overfeeding
Irregular feeding
Allowing child to choose or refuse food and become finicky
Giving too large a portion of bread and cereal
Too much mushy food
More than one quart of milk a day
Insufficient hard foods
Coaxing child to eat when not hungry or when tired or ill
School children should always have an adequate warm breakfast, with
plenty of time to eat without hurrying, and a warm midday meal. If the
school is too far away for them to return home, some provision should be
made with the teacher, school principal, or near-by home, for one or two
warm dishes.
Children under six years should always have the mother or other
intelligent attendant with them during meals to train in careful chewing and
drinking, neatness, courtesy, conversation. With children under four years a
spirit of play may be brought into the feeding, especially with the less
desired foods; this should gradually be dropped during the fifth year.
Utilize the opportunity for training in motor coördination and self-
reliance. Babies can be given water from a spoon at one month, and can
begin drinking from a cup at six months; thus trained, they will never
acquire the bottle habit, and they can learn to feed themselves during the
second or third year. The motor control and self-reliance thus gained are far
more important than the messing of food during a few months. Let the
children help clear their table (18 months); brush up any crumbs (2 years);
bring in their own dishes and food (3 years); wash dishes (3 years); help
with the cooking (4 years).

Use enamel cups, sauce dishes, and plates until at about three years the
child can confidently handle dishes without breaking them.
The serving of food has the value of a religious ceremony and a social
banquet, as well as the satisfying of physical needs. With intelligence and
forethought it can be made of such significance, and a means of teaching
reverence, courtesy, self-control of physical appetites, pleasant
conversation.

FOOTNOTES:
[17] See Preface, page xiii.
[18] The large calorie is herein always meant.
[19] S. I. Hall: “Purin Bodies.”
[20] H. C. Sherman: “Food Products.”
[21] H. C. Sherman: “Food Products.”
[22] Grams.
[23] Adapted to age. See pages 163-5.
[24]
t = teaspoonful
T = tablespoonful
s = supplied

CHAPTER X
THE EDUCATION OF THE LITTLE CHILD[25]

“Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself and in
himself, to peace with nature, and to unity with God; hence, it should lift him to a
knowledge of himself and of mankind, to a knowledge of God and of nature, and to
the pure and holy life to which this knowledge leads.”
—F. Froebel.
“Between educator and pupil, between request and obedience, there should
invisibly rule a third something to which educator and pupil are equally subject. This
third something is the right, the best, necessarily conditioned and expressed without
arbitrariness in the circumstances.”
—F. Froebel.
“The mother, with her monotonous daily round of cares and tasks, wishes that she
could give more time to instructing her children. She forgets that her industry, fidelity,
cheerfulness, hope, courage, faith, reverence, calmness, kindliness, and courtesy, are
all reproducing themselves in the minds of her children. This is education for health,
vigor, power, and efficiency, not merely for learning. It builds up instead of puffing
up.”
—J. M. Tyler.

The Purposes of Education. Education is as comprehensive as life
itself. The education of the child begins as soon as he is born. Every
moment thereafter is bringing influences that are shaping his character and
his mental life. The educator is the person who acts as a mediator between
life and the child, selecting the environment and influences that will give
the largest values, helping him utilize, discriminate, and interpret his own
forces and those of the universe. The work of the educator is analogous to
that of the physician or hygienist, who cannot give or increase life, but can
help the individual find the conditions that will increase his own organic
efficiency. Education by trial and error, which is the method by which the
race has had to learn, is a slow, painful process. The purpose of education is
to reduce the wastage of life through errors and to give all-around
efficiency, valuable habits, vision (ideals, ambitions, perspective), and
command of methods for continued learning. It should be a preparation for
larger living, not merely for intellectual examinations or artificial tests.

Froebel, Hall, Dewey, Montessori. The following foundation principles
are emphasized by these educational leaders:
1. The function of education, serving to meet vital problems
and to increase both efficiency and richness of life
2. The comprehensiveness of education, dealing with the
whole life of the child—his thinking, feeling, doing—during
every moment of his life
3. The moral purpose of life and therefore of education
4. The self-activity of the child as the method of education
5. The daily life of the child in the home and family and with
nature as the natural environment for his education
6. The interest of the child as the basis of the curriculum
7. The study of the child as furnishing the key to his interests,
his development, his ways of thinking, feeling, doing; and
therefore the key to the methods of education
8. The development of the child as an evolution, progressing
through a series of ascending stages which, in the main, follow
the same general order in all individuals
9. Adaptation of education for the individual child, according
to his nature and needs
The stages of development, the study of the individual child, the outlines
of the curriculum, and special methods in selected phases of education, are
discussed in other chapters. The present discussion therefore is devoted to
the principles of educational psychology and of pedagogy,—how to conduct
the process of education.
Education, Instruction, and Training. Education, in the large sense in
which the term is here used, includes three pedagogical processes: (1)
instruction;[26] (2) training; and (3) education[27] in its narrower meaning,—
the developing of the child’s innate powers. Instruction is the easiest, but
the most superficial and least valuable; development is the most vital and
most difficult. Instruction is static; education is dynamic. Training is the
method for habit-formation (which is a most essential phase of education

through infancy and childhood), the method for drill and technical skill. The
teacher must be able to discern when each of these phases should be
utilized. In general, training should begin at birth, and habit-formation
should be continued unremittingly until about the teens, although habits are
fairly well fixed by seven years. During youth and adolescence, training is
needed for acquiring of finer muscular and motor skill. Instruction, directly,
is easily overdone, and the best general principle is not to give information
that the child could obtain directly for himself by a reasonable amount of
searching, use of his own observation, experimentation, or reasoning; and
not to overload the child with a superfluity of unrelated information.
Certainly he should not be crammed with a mass of facts in which he has no
interest, much less those for which he has actual distaste. There is danger
that the book will come between the child and the realities of life. Such
instruction as is given should be in response to a real hunger or interest.
Education, the developing of the self-activity of the child, should begin in
the first few days of life, and should be naturally fostered through the
careful selection of every factor in his environment as well as through
consistent cultivation adapted to his stage of development.
The Biological Basis of Education. Education is possible only because
the baby is born so helpless and plastic, with many instincts, with the
nervous system great in its possibilities but incomplete in its development,
and with few habits formed.
Every stimulus that comes to the child is carried by an incoming (sensory
or afferent) nerve to the brain, either directly or by way of the spinal cord.
The stimulus may come from an object, from an organic sensation within
the body, or from a thought. That sensation or nerve impulse is carried to a
nerve center in the brain or the spinal cord, and there is transferred to some
one of the many outgoing (motor or efferent) nerves, which conveys the
impulse to some muscle, producing a muscular action. For example: the
rays of light from a shining, moving object are the stimulus to the child’s
eye, and the optic nerve carries this stimulus to a center in the brain. The
little baby must receive this stimulus many times before he begins to
interpret it. At a few weeks of age he will simply stare, attempting to
coördinate both eyes, or later, to follow it with the movement of his eyes;
later still, to grasp for it with his hand. The optic nerve is here the sensory
or afferent nerve, bearing the sensation; the nerve to the eye muscle or the

hand is the efferent or motor nerve. This circuit is what is meant by a
sensory-motor coördination, also called by some authors a neuro-muscular
coördination, or the reflex arc. Many hundreds of these coördinations are to
be made in the course of each day.
The first time a specific sensation is conveyed to a center, it is
problematic which efferent or motor nerve will carry the outgoing impulse,
but the choice is of great significance, for a habit is thereby begun. The
second time the same sensation is conveyed, it will be easier for the same
outgoing path to be followed. Thus habits are formed. Each repetition fixes
it more firmly and makes more difficult the forming of a new manner of
reaction to that stimulus.
Every sensation and thought tends thus to express itself in action. The
little child is therefore especially susceptible to suggestion. Inhibition is the
intervention of a second thought or stimulus which sends a counter impulse
that prevents the action. If the expression of the action is continually
prevented, or if through weakness of will or low vitality the expression is
deferred, or not made, the power to express may become weak, and the
individual thus degenerate into a mere dreamer. In extreme cases this
becomes a condition known as dementia praecox.
Nerves completely developed (and therefore efficient for functioning) are
covered by a sheath of tissue which may be compared to the insulation
cover of an electric wire. At birth, few, if any nerves involved in voluntary
action or thought are completely sheathed. This process requires many
years, some nerves becoming sheathed earlier, others later. A regular
evolutionary order is apparently followed, those nerves that control the
racially older sensations or movements becoming sheathed and mature
before the racially younger. This is the biological basis of the stages of
development, and of the manifestations of different interests. It is useless,
often injurious, to attempt to train a muscle or an interest before the nerves
are ready. When they are ready, ample exercise must be permitted; this is
the nascent stage of that interest. If exercise is now neglected, the golden
opportunity for its education is passed. For instance, there is a stage, from
about ten months to six years, when the special senses, as hearing, touch,
sight are ripening. This is the time for training in sense accuracy and
discrimination. The child’s spontaneous interests and activities furnish the

best clue we now have to this development of nascent interests and the time
for their exercise.
In the brain there are apparently special centers which receive the
sensations from any one part of the body and which send back to that part
the motor impulse. Thus there is a center for the arm, the hand, the fingers,
another for the ear, another for the eye. Language has its special centers.
This is the localization of functions in the brain. At birth these centers are
undeveloped. In a right-handed child the language centers develop in the
left hemisphere, and in the left-handed child in the right hemisphere.
Ambidexterity is frequently found with stuttering and with low-grade
mentality, and is not considered advantageous to foster.
At birth, also, there is little or no development of association fibers
between the centers in the brain, or between related centers in the brain and
in the spinal cord. These centers and the association fibers develop through
attempted use, as the baby receives stimuli from without and attempts to
respond. As a matter of experience, the child learns to associate the several
qualities that are found together in one object, as the taste, odor, color,
“feel”, shape, of a piece of bread. He also associates with an object his
emotional states at the time, as bread with the comfort of feeding, a hot iron
with the smart of pain, a ball with playful moods, a church with awe or
reverence, a thunderstorm with fear or confidence. These early associations
become ingrained and remain with him throughout life or with great
difficulty are supplanted; they form his prejudices, his basis of morals and
religion, his subconscious self.
The reference of a stimulus from a spinal nerve center to a brain center,
and its transference in the brain to a motor nerve, requires thought. Thought
is necessary for mental development, but it would be very exhausting if
every sensation had thus to be consciously responded to. Nature is always
working out short cuts. When a response is uniformly through one motor
nerve, and a sensation is therefore uniformly followed by the same action,
the stimulus, instead of journeying to the brain, transfers to the efferent
nerve directly from the center in the spinal cord,—that is, the action
becomes automatic. Not only thought but time and nervous energy are
thereby economized.

The time required between stimulus and response is the reaction time. In
an individual of phlegmatic temperament the reaction time is slow; in the
active temperament it is quick, often impulsive. By a tonic régime
(involving cold baths, laxative diet, vigorous physical exercise) the too
phlegmatic may be developed into more alert responsiveness. By a quieting,
sedative physical régime (increased sleep, rhythmic exercises, freedom
from stress) the too active temperament may be toned down. Other
temperamental changes may be developed, especially during infancy and
early childhood, while the nervous system is still plastic.
The nervous system needs the stimulus of environment for its
development. If the eyes of a normal baby were bandaged and his ears
stuffed with cotton, so he could receive neither sight nor sound stimuli, and
his arms and legs were kept bound tight so he could not move, his mental
development would be hindered. If too many or too severe stimuli are
presented, the nervous system is irritated, confused, overworked, and
development is retarded. The child himself will select from a normal
environment the stimuli that he needs. Others should not be forced upon
him.
Whatever stimulus is exerting the strongest impression will hold the
child’s attention and direct his emotions and action. If a child is himself
absorbed with some normal object or interest, it is tactless to attempt to
divert this to some imposed academic interest. If he is in physical
discomfort, it is a waste of time to attempt to give him instruction until the
discomfort is removed. On the other hand, if a discomfort cannot be
removed, or if the object of his attention is morbid or unworthy, the
supplying of a more attractive counter-stimulus (as the telling of an
absorbing story or the observation of activities out of the window, or doing
some other work with his hands) is the natural and constructive method.
The Psychological Basis of Education. Self-activity is the natural
method of education. This is Froebel’s term. Rousseau called it learning to
do by doing; Dewey calls it education by development; Montessori’s term is
auto-education. Free play is the child’s self-activity, when he chooses what
he shall play, how, and with what implements. Montessori calls this work,
when it is doing something useful or intellectually educative.

The chief guide in the child’s self-activity is his interest. In this
connection interest signifies not a passing whim or fancy but the child’s
needs, the inner urgings of his instincts, his nerves, and muscles. Probably
no one can know so well as the individual child exactly what his needs and
interests are at any given time. The best the teacher can do is to know the
typical interests of children at the same stage of development, and then to
supply an environment that will provide stimulus and the most valuable
means for exercise. For instance, at the noise-loving stage, providing a great
range of instruments, suited to his muscular development, that will give
good qualities and range of sound, and accustom his ear to melodious
sounds.
Liberty, as Montessori means it, is freedom for self-activity. Her meaning
is often misinterpreted and distorted, as will be noted from the following
statement, quoted directly from her “Method”: “The liberty of the child
should have as its limit the collective interest; as its form, what we
universally consider good breeding. We must, therefore, check in the child
whatever offends or annoys others, or whatever tends toward rough or ill-
bred acts. But all the rest,—every manifestation having a useful scope,—
whatever it may be, and under whatever form it expresses itself, must not
only be permitted, but must be observed by the teacher.... If any educational
act is to be efficacious, it will be only that which tends to help toward the
complete unfolding of this life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously
to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of
arbitrary tasks. It is, of course, understood that here we do not speak of
useless or dangerous acts, for these must be suppressed, destroyed.”
The child’s life is a constant unity of physical-mental-spiritual, of
thinking-feeling-willing-living-doing. Only for purposes of discussion
should we attempt to separate these. In education there is danger of
overemphasizing some one, especially the thinking, of neglecting the
spiritual, the feeling and willing, and of ignoring the doing, the motor
expression of the thought.
In teaching anything new, build on what the child already knows or is
interested in or can do. Begin with simple processes and proceed by gradual
steps to the more complex and difficult. The child thinks in concrete terms,
therefore let his instruction and education be chiefly in concrete terms, at
least up to nine years. Let his learning come through living experience, at

first hand, so far as possible. Especially avoid mere forms of words, without
meaning and appreciation. Cultivate initiative by following the child’s
problems, rather than by substituting your problems for his and thus leading
him to depend upon others for such initiative.
It is a great responsibility of early education to cultivate and plant many
centers of normal interest, both of thought and feelings. The wider the range
of the child’s normal interests and feelings, the greater the scope of richness
in his life. Intensive development of interests has its period in youth and in
later adolescence.
Any effort to force an interest is likely to result in a reaction against the
subject; an effort to force any motor activity, as speech, walking, dancing, is
likely to result in strain of muscles and nerves, and ultimate retardation. Too
early an intellectual interest, of a bookish sort, needs careful watching, to
see that it does not result in overstrain and later mediocrity. Such a child,
especially of the nervous, slender type, may need to be diverted to wholly
motor and outdoor interests, for the sake of his future good. Genius
develops early, especially artistic genius, and needs much physical life to
maintain a balance. Mental precocity often is not genius but a morbid
development. Infant prodigies are not the ideal, and it is a false ambition to
attempt to produce one. The mental powers should not atrophy, but they
should be exercised in personal exploration, experimentation, construction,
getting acquainted with the natural world, learning how to do motor work,
and thinking leisurely on the countless problems that present themselves to
the child’s own mind.
Sensory and Motor Training. These begin almost at birth and should
proceed much together. The sense of touch should be cultivated by having a
variety of shapes and sizes to handle from infancy; sound by a variety of
musical toys and agreeable noise-producing implements; color and form by
varieties of color in toys and fabrics. Sense discrimination begins
consciously in the second and third year, and the child should then have
graded series of sizes, shapes, colors, and sounds, to compare, match,
discriminate between, and arrange in order. The child should learn to
discriminate direction of sound, to judge of distances and relative weights.
Every possible advantage should be taken of material about the house and
in everyday life; many simple games should be invented for testing of sense
discrimination and accuracy. Taste and smell deserve but little attention.

With a very sensitive child a limited amount of sense-discrimination work
should be done; with a phlegmatic child much of such training may increase
his sensitiveness. Sensation should never be stimulated as an end in itself
but as a means to perception and action.
Opportunity for exercise, and the simple exercises given elsewhere, are
all the child needs for motor training during the first year. During the
second year he should be taught how to go up and down stairs, to feed
himself; and in the next year to dress himself, the fastenings of clothing
being in front or on the shoulder, and the apparatus adapted to his fingers,
using snappers or buttons that he can manage. By teaching rhythm, as
elsewhere directed, marching and skipping can be done as soon as the
necessary muscles and nerves are sufficiently developed. Swimming can be
learned at about four years. Muscles of trunk, limbs, and hands (the
fundamental muscles) should be trained early; the accessory muscles—
fingers, eyes—are not ready for fine adjustments and training until about
seven years. Space and apparatus are the chief needs in motor education,
with occasional help in technique.
Language. After the babblings of the first year, with their natural voice
gymnastics, language becomes a matter of observation and imitation.
Provide all through childhood accurate examples of articulation, grammar,
and accent. The first impressions and speech habits are relatively fixed.
“Baby talk” to the child, as incorrect articulation and pronunciation, may
retard normal speech a year or more, and give incorrect words that will be a
cause of embarrassment and cost great effort to eradicate later. At one year
the vocabulary will include about four words. The child who hears a wide
range of vocabulary and who has his share of stories, will naturally acquire
a vocabulary of several hundred words in the second year and about a
thousand in each succeeding year. Sentence formation begins in the second
year and should be cultivated in the third. Sounds incorrectly given by four
years should receive special attention through brief imitation games, or
have the attention of a specialist. The simplest rudiments of grammar may
be given in youth, but correct grammatical speech is chiefly a matter of
good examples in childhood. A large store of good adjectives and
exclamations will be the surest preventive of slang. It is considered wiser to
wait until about five years, when the child has mastered the accent, practical
grammar, idioms and feeling for his native tongue, before cultivating

intensive acquaintance with a foreign language. Such additional language
teaching should, of course, be by conversation, songs, stories, games,
following as closely as possible the natural method of learning the mother
tongue. A few conversational phrases from a number of different languages
will broaden the child’s horizon. They should be given by some one who
speaks the language with native accent.
Reading and writing are further use of language through symbols. They
are slower forms of expression than speech, and their acquisition at too
early an age impedes the freedom of thought and may retard the natural
growth of thought and language powers. The eyes and fingers are not ready
for fine work until about eight years of age. The child needs the outdoor life
and first-hand experiences. As a matter of general observation, normal
children with a natural environment, who do not enter the traditional school
until about nine years, are able to proceed with children of their own age
who have spent three years in school. The former children pick up reading
at home, and have acquired the physical development, power of initiative,
and expression, which enable them to cope fully as well as, if not better
than the earlier entering children, with the problems of the school
curriculum and of life.
Attention. This is chiefly voluntary during the first six years. The child is
capable of intense and long voluntary concentration. Avoid, so far as
practicable, interrupting the baby’s staring or the child’s absorption in his
play. The power of concentration thus developed will remain to be utilized
with any interest. For necessary situations later, instead of attempting to
force involuntary attention in an uninteresting problem, the more
pedagogical way is to find the phase of interest in the problem; then
concentration will follow automatically. To divert attention, provide some
more absorbing interest. The child whose attention is absorbed should be
spoken to only when his attention is required. From babyhood he should be
trained to look directly at the person who is speaking to him, to obey the
first time spoken to, and to follow a direction or command promptly
without its repetition.
Observation. Children naturally observe action and striking or unusual
characteristics. The range of objects and qualities they observe may be
greatly increased by suggestion and by increasing their range of interests.
Definiteness and accuracy of observation are increased by drawing,

painting, modeling, and by any creative work, whether making a wagon or
telling a story, particularly after six years of age. Alertness of observation is
increased by games requiring quick action for defense, protection, or to win
a point, as in “Drop the Handkerchief.” Observation of a larger number of
details, as well as quickness and accuracy, are increased by asking for a
description of persons or objects, of articles in a store window or on a table,
or the imitation of a complex movement or series of movements seen only
once.
Memory. Vividness of impression, variety of associations, and repetition
are the factors in memorizing. The object or incident therefore must be
clearly defined and must have the child’s full attention. Fewer repetitions
will then be required. Obviously the child’s interest is a chief factor in
attention. Energy is therefore economized by presenting data for
memorizing when the child is interested and consequently ready for it. This
applies very practically to formulæ, such as the alphabet, new words,
mathematical tables. Rhythm and rhyme are easily memorized in childhood,
and valuable facts put in this form will be retained longer. Such verbal
memory is especially strong from two to seven years. This period should be
utilized for teaching great thoughts, in poems and songs, especially those
with emotional value, great songs and stories, chiefly in terms the child
understands. The facts will be forgotten, but the emotions and ideals will
remain with him through life. The period from nine to twelve is the time for
much rote learning.
The greater the number of senses on which an impression is made, the
greater will be the number of associations, and the more tenacious the
memory of an object or incident. Different senses vary in the degree of
retentiveness. Things heard about are forgotten soonest; things seen are
remembered longer; things repeated or actions done remain longest in
memory. A few repetitions on successive days are more effective than many
repetitions on one day. Repeat as wholes, in units of stanzas or paragraphs,
instead of lines or phrases.
Imagination. Develop vividness and wide range through exercise. In
stories, put in colors and sounds. Ask questions about a story, to bring clear
pictures of details. Encourage drawing, painting, and modeling of
illustrations, and the dramatizing of stories. This is better training of
imagination than to have stories already illustrated. Fanciful imagination is

poetic, and some types of children are lacking in this. The child should be
trained not only in visual, but also in auditory and motor imagery. Creation,
whether of a story, song, building, picture, or game, requires and therefore
trains imagination. Emotional imagination can be trained in part through
dramatic play, in part through story-telling with this purpose. To be able to
put one’s self in another’s place is a basis for sympathy, justice, and
altruism. Between three and six years, when imagery is vivid and exact
knowledge of the world is limited, many marvelous tales are told, with no
intention of deception. This is normal and to be treated as fiction, in dealing
with the child. Care should be taken that it does not develop into intentional
deception for self-protection or vanity.
Reasoning. A regular and consistent régime is an early training in
reasoning by association. Irregular or inconsistent régime brings confusion
of thought. At five or six years of age, reason can be exercised by the
allowing of choice, in situations where the child has some basis for passing
judgment. Catering to the child’s choice in food or clothing, on the other
hand, tends to develop whimsicality and dissatisfaction; asking him what he
would like, or if he wouldn’t like, in any phase of his régime or play, has
the same unfortunate result. If his choice is to be served, ask him directly to
choose, and thereby let him use his own initiative in thought.
Experimenting, taking things apart, are natural exercises in analysis, and
therefore to be given widest possible opportunity. Building and constructing
require synthetic reasoning, and finding the reasons for failures. Classifying
of collections is an exercise in reasoning. The brain centers of abstract
thought and reasoning are not developed until the adolescent period.
Frequent exercises in judging what would be the best thing to do, or the best
way to do, should be made a training in practical judgment in later
childhood and youth.
Moral. Precepts and laws can be taught through stories, proverbs, and
authoritative quotations. The child needs some of these, as a part of worldly
wisdom. Much of this should be given during childhood. Every story and
situation should be analyzed to see what will be its effect on the moral
standards of the child. Moral action, however, further requires the training
of the emotions, which are the springs of action, and the will, which holds
emotions within the dictates of reason. The child’s moral ideals will be
gathered more from the character he sees about him, and the stories told

him, than from precepts. Good examples and daily practice are the chief
methods of teaching morals and developing strong character. Respect for
property and law can be taught by providing the child with property of his
own, and regulating his life by an orderly régime. The care of his own
property and responsibility for its orderliness will augment this.
Social virtues should be inculcated from infancy. The baby’s cry for
attention is a deep-seated individualism. If encouraged, it makes later
altruism more difficult. Self-reliance and self-dependence, for physical care
and for amusement, should be systematically developed, instead of constant
care, waiting upon, and amusement from others. Thoughtfulness for others
can begin when the baby bites and slaps, though in play, by showing him
how it feels; in the little child, by encouraging him to make little gifts or
surprises as daily events. Courtesy, kindly criticism, loyalty to friends,
freedom from gossip, he will learn by imitation of those about him. For
training in generosity, he needs two or three other children about his own
age, from the time he is three years old. Quarreling, which is an effort
toward social adjustment, is to be expected throughout childhood, and many
quarrels should be ignored, left to the children’s sense of fairness and
generosity to adjust. Tattling, bullying, and resentful criticism should be
shown in their own ugly light and thus discouraged. Group games, which
the children naturally begin to play at six years, are a good schooling in the
practice of justice, fairness, and social coöperation. Civic responsibility
should be cultivated from early childhood by the practice of things that the
children can do, such as keeping the sidewalks clear of litter instead of
scattering that about. Patriotism should be taught chiefly as a responsibility,
rather than a form of excitement or vanity. International sympathy can be
cultivated through sympathetic acquaintance with children of other
countries, through pictures and stories, dramatizing of their ways, through
personal acquaintance, either directly or by correspondence. The roots of
international peace, or of strife and militarism, are planted in the nursery.

Learning Self-Reliance and Regularity.
At the School of Mothercraft Summer Camp.

Emotions need training in expression, control, depth, and genuineness.
Submission and easy contentment are not a virtue in childhood but a
weakness. In a strong character, emotions are strong, and their expression
strong, but needing guidance and poise. Any emotion,—for instance, love
of country, of friends or parents,—should not be permitted to stop merely
with the pleasurable sensation of excitement and emotional glow, but the
child’s attention should be called directly and also by stories to the
necessity for putting a generous emotion into active expression, by doing
some helpful deed, or by carrying responsibility. This is the completion of
the reflex arc. Tantrums and temper should be prevented whenever possible
by forewarning the child, for instance, that play must end when the next
block house has been finished. The new adjustment of emotions and
expectations is slower in the child than in the adult, and needs forewarning.
Some children develop an unpleasant forwardness or gushing, the former an
overdeveloped individualism, the latter a childish sensualism, both

superficial. Meeting these with indifference and inattention will usually
reduce them automatically. The child of very intense or poorly controlled
emotions needs careful attention in a regular, outdoor physical régime, the
daily nap, rhythmic exercises and games which train in relaxation, and
constant examples of even-tempered, well-poised character. The fear that
commonly develops in the third or fourth year may be somewhat forestalled
by teaching confidence through walking in the dark, acquaintance with
living creatures, trust in a kindly Providence. Many stories of bravery
should be told in the fearsome period, and poetry or verses taught that
inspire courage and confidence. Fearsome stories are a crime against
childhood, although later childhood and youth may thrive upon them.
Control of emotions is gained in part through determination of will, in part
through change of attention; the latter is the more natural and pedagogical
method. Sense of humor should be cultivated for its moral value in relieving
tension and carrying the individual through emotional stress, as well as for
giving a clearer view of comparative values.
Will-training includes exercise of free choice in matters not of mere taste
or whim but of reasoning and moral choice; and of continued effort against
the call of inclination. Stubbornness is a refusal to yield, notwithstanding
the evident reasonableness or the greater moral value, and is evidence of a
weak will. It is now recognized as immoral to attempt to “break a child’s
will”, compelling him to yield without attempting to show him the
reasonableness. The burden of reasoning and moral choices in daily life
should be placed upon the child as rapidly as he is able to exercise this
wisely and with firmness, and he should be praised for his good will and
shown the weakness of failure. Confidence expressed in his good will,
especially when he is on his own honor, will strengthen this ability. Training
in control of appetite for food, by regularity of meals, no eating between
meals (especially of sweetmeats when on pleasure trips), the waiting at
meals for the saying of grace and the serving of others, all strengthen the
will for greater demands upon it in later years. Development of
concentration in play and games is a training of will-power. Special
exercises in motor balance and equilibrium, in endurance, in self-denial, can
be devised as further will-training.
Eugenics and Sex Education. This is an education in social ideals and
relations. Consideration for the child’s own future children is an instinctive

ideal that can be naturally fostered in early childhood, and thereafter
accepted as matter of course. Modesty, self-respect, respect for his or her
own person, needs to be cultivated from infancy, in all the details of
physical care and régime. As childhood develops into youth, the expression
of affection needs to be increasingly circuited into thoughtful deeds of
service, and away from mere direct sense pleasure and expression. Social
relations between boys and girls at all ages should be treated sensibly,
without silliness, emphasis of class distinctions, or morbidness. In both
boys and girls should be cultivated a spirit of reserve, of chivalry and
helpfulness. With youth, this may naturally be based on the ideal (which
needs the merest suggestion) of worthy preparation for the future home, and
the treating of other boys and girls as the child would have his or her future
mate meantime treated by others. The significance of real monogamic
marriage should be made clear, in its greater confidence and happiness
between parents, and especially in the better care and training of the
children. The child needs to be provided with inhibiting and controlling
ideals before the stress of adolescence.
The child’s natural biological questions, which begin about three years,
should be answered naturally, both poetically and scientifically. Through
the study of plants, gardening, the care of birds and pets, enough of the
principles of heredity, anatomy, and physiology should be given the child
before seven years to satisfy his curiosity, to give him a scientific attitude
toward reproduction before the development of sex-consciousness, and to
enable him to classify the development of a new generation among the
natural processes of nature, instead of overemphasizing and distorting its
perspective. Emphasis should be placed upon the care of the young and
forethought for their protection, rather than upon organs and processes.
Scientific knowledge of biology gives necessary clearness of thought, but
only training of emotions and will are effective for assuring conduct.
Economics. Thrift is taught by the toy bank, by the orderly care and
repair of toys and clothing, the orderly saving of possibly useful odds and
ends; in early childhood by a weekly allowance, even of a few pennies, with
freedom in use, and with occasional discussions of what might be obtained
with a stated sum. Promptness, accuracy, and thoroughness in obeying or in
performing the tasks assigned in childhood, are preparation for industrial
efficiency. In early childhood action is necessarily slower and movement

awkward because of incomplete motor development. In later childhood a
vision of engineering efficiency, a habit of working for reduction of time
and energy cost, can be developed through competitions, direct reduction
games or problems, discussions of the value of time and energy and of
simple, fundamental ways for economizing. Through tracing the source of
his own food and clothing, as well as through his own manual efforts, can
be fostered respect for all labor and the ambition to work efficiently.
Respect and appreciation for workers, especially those who serve his needs
in the household, are developed chiefly through example of his elders.
Obedience. Commands and prohibitions should be the fewest necessary
and chosen carefully. Given as a request or suggestion rather than a direct
command, the form carries a sense of courtesy that develops sympathy, self-
respect and more ready, whole-hearted compliance. Commands, when
necessity requires, then have greater force. Any request or command should
be given distinctly, definitely, kindly, firmly, with the requirement of the
full attention of the child and complete, prompt obedience. Repetition of a
command fosters inattention and disrespect for authority. Indifference to
disobedience, yielding to teasing, permitting petty arguing, all foster
evasion, falsehood, carelessness, disrespect for authority. Unnecessary,
unreasonable, or inconsiderate commands develop contrariness,
stubbornness, contempt, and weaken the child’s sympathy and comradeship.
Inconsistency in commands, discipline, or punishment, or dogmatic
stubbornness that will not consider the possibility of a change in the
command or allow any discussion, brings contempt. Use positive,
affirmative suggestions, telling the child what to do. Studiously avoid
negative discipline, prohibitions, don’ts.
Discipline. The purpose of discipline should not be revenge or a
cultivation of humiliation, or breaking the will of the child. It should be
devised to lead the child to prefer the right; to think before he acts instead
of acting merely upon impulse; to exercise his will-power and courage in
obeying his conscience instead of following the line of least resistance by
yielding to his whim, his appetites, or even to his instincts out of due
season. Therefore a rational, consistent discipline must be well thought out
for different typical situations before these arise, that it may be administered
wisely, not impetuously or in anger. It must be just, firm, kindly,
foresighted. As nearly as circumstances will permit, the child should learn

through his personal experience and observation the consequences of
action; and punishment should be, as far as practicable, a natural
consequence of the act. Artificial rewards, especially in the form of material
things as money, toys, candy, are demoralizing, developing a spirit of graft
and discontent, dulling the moral and spiritual sense, and having the effects
common to any artificial stimulants. Nagging, scolding, threats of
punishment without its execution, cultivate a disrespect for all law and
authority, as well as for the person thus weakly failing to exercise poise and
authority. There is also a type of sentiment that easily becomes
sentimentality, which is no less repugnant to the child. Cultivate the child’s
self-respect, self-confidence and ambition. Avoid calling him bad or
naughty.
Discipline should be adapted to the child’s temperament, to his stage of
development, and to the particular offense. A sensitive, high-strung,
imaginative child must be dealt with gently though firmly, with special care
that his self-respect, his confiding, his expressiveness are not weakened. A
sturdy, matter-of-fact, phlegmatic realist usually needs more concrete,
vigorous, physical form of punishment to make him perceive the
significance of events. The stubborn child may be benefited most by being
given opportunity to prescribe his own punishment.
Some Natural Consequences as Punishments. Quarreling,
disagreeableness, selfishness: being removed from play with other children.
Temper: put quietly to bed, or left alone, or placed in bed with a cold cloth
on the head; with some children, spanking, calmly administered. Biting,
slapping or other personal injury: doing same to the offender, to
demonstrate how it hurts. Impudence, vulgar words: mouth washed with
soap and clean cloth. Lack of promptness: loss of consequent pleasure.
Neglect in care of toys: temporary deprivation of toys. Careless work:
repetition until satisfactory. Wanton injury of property: work, or giving of
some valued personal property to pay for loss. Disobedience: putting to
bed; deprivation of consequent pleasure.
Reprehensible and unnatural forms of punishment include putting child
into dark closet; striking on head or hands; punishing in presence of others;
social humiliation or other needless mental suffering; depriving of a meal
(although bread and water may be substituted). Punishing without definite
cause, or if the justice is not clear to the child, is immoral. Punishment

should never be administered in anger but calmly, firmly, with a spirit of
regret but inevitableness.
To be effective, punishment should follow promptly on the misdeed.
Bedtime should not be a time for scolding or discussion of faults but of
happiness and inculcating of ideals. To maintain due respect and sympathy
for father, as well as for the mother’s own self and authority, there should be
no threats of telling father of misdeeds, or leaving punishment for him to
administer.
The problem of discipline is reduced to a minimum when children have a
regular, healthful physical régime and diet, freedom from unnatural
excitement, abundant play space and material, consistent moral training
from infancy. Many little pranks and minor misdemeanors should be
overlooked. When, however, the child has committed a serious wrong, or
when one form of misdemeanor (as lack of promptness) is becoming
frequent, or when the child has evidently done something which he knows
to be wrong, discipline should be prompt and definite.
Habits. Habits are formed by repetition of the same action, in the same
way. The first time the response is made it makes a deep impression on the
nervous system, and change from the first doing is most difficult. Every
exception allowed or permitted causes a hesitation or doubt that delays
complete formation of the habit. To prevent the formation of a habit,
prevent the first doing. The first time not only establishes a path in the
nervous system; it establishes a mental attitude of familiarity and ease with
the action and its environment. To break a habit, break it off abruptly and
completely. Every time the action is done, it is harder not to repeat it; if it is
a moral problem the moral fiber is weakened by each yielding against
conscience. A complete change of environment, calling for a new
adjustment of action, is the greatest help in breaking an old habit. Some
constructive outlet for the energy should be provided. The child’s sense of
humor or disgust are moral avenues of appeal in the formation of habits.
Habits of mental activity, of method of work, of attitude toward life and
people, of moral action, as well as of motor action, are being formed from
birth. Life is conserved by training in good habits from the start.
Religious. No phase of education is more important. Religion is a matter
primarily of emotions and conduct, rather than of philosophical thought.

Little children are religious, but their religion is naturally very different
from that of the adult; they have much religious feeling and thought, but
little respect for ecclesiasticism, creeds, rites, which mean nothing to them.
The child’s ideas of God are concrete, personal, related to himself, as is all
his thinking. He naturally thinks of every object as being like himself,
having power to think, feel, and do; therefore he is easily a nature-
worshipper. Training of the religious feelings can begin in infancy, in the
development of sympathy between parents and child, in confidence and
trust in his parents (who represent Providence to him), in gratitude for their
care, in obedience and respect for their authority, and in wonder and awe for
natural phenomena. The child from four to nine years of age responds
readily to examples and suggestion of reverence.
Training in the performance of religious rites, such as the saying of grace
before meals, prayers, attendance at religious services, participating in
religious worship, are motor habits readily acquired at about the same age,
which then remain as lifelong tendencies. If neglected in this period, they
are less likely to be formed later. Even the motor attitudes of worship bring
some feeling of reverence and worship. Religious worship, however, is not
to be forced. To compel a child to say a prayer or participate in any form of
religious worship against his inclination will foster a revolt against all
religion. When religious worship is a natural and sincere part of the family
life, the child will naturally ask for a prayer to say, or for the privilege of
attending a service, when this interest is ready for exercise. To allow a child
to rattle off a prayer, or say it inattentively, flippantly, or to show off, or to
permit him to treat any sacred place, objects, or rites flippantly, is to foster
irreverence and weaken the religious sense. Service to God, to an ideal, to
people, as an integral part of religion, is an association that is not
instinctive, but one that the child needs to be taught by example, precept,
and training.
The child’s natural questions about the cause of natural phenomena, the
purposes and meaning of life, the possibility and nature of death and
immortality, the nature of God, provide opportunity in due season for the
parent to answer these according to his own conscience. The child demands
definite, positive answers, and has absolute confidence in the omniscience
of the person who answers his questions. How to answer these so as to give
the child a constructive basis for thought and action, and yet not to be so

dogmatic that he will revolt when the questioning years of adolescence
arrive, is a problem requiring tact and careful preparation.
Stories from Bible history, acquaintance with the geography, customs,
individuals of the Bible, are of religious value because they develop centers
of interest and a personal acquaintance with the Bible, the textbook of
western religion, thus making it a living book which he will naturally read
for its moral and religious content. Many Bible verses and hymns should be
taught during childhood and youth. These should be very carefully selected
to have some interest and content of meaning for the child at his given stage
of development, although the depths of their meaning he can only
appreciate after more life experience. There may be real danger of giving
too early such significant quotations as The Lord’s Prayer, the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, so that the words are memorized but the
child never receives the impress of their full significance. Somewhere
between six and twelve years they are probably most appreciated. Doctor
Hall considers that to teach the child that there is a power which makes for
righteousness at the helm of the universe, and that therefore right and wrong
eventually have their own deserts, is one of the most valuable factors in
moral training. Certainly the stimulus of religious inspiration, the inhibiting
power of religious commandments, motives, and ideals, the fortifying of
will-power by religious discipline and sources of strength, are foundations
for strong, efficient, well-poised living.
Education, like Christianity, is a spiritual process with physical forms of
expression. Just as church rites, ceremonies, and equipment are meaningless
and wooden without the inner life, so are educational “systems”, rules, and
apparatus, without the spiritual vision and understanding of education.
There is no virtue, for instance, in Froebel’s gifts or Montessori’s didactic
material, or any other mechanical devices, merely as apparatus. The
mechanical bringing together of the child and the apparatus, without skill or
knowledge in their interpretation, is not educational; and such irrational
though well-intentioned effort is unfair both to the child and to the inventor.
No less unfair and superficial is the seizing upon some one principle and
emphasizing it out of proportion to other principles; or misinterpreting,
through lack of careful study, the significance of some principle, or the
author’s intent, as is so often done, for example, with Froebel’s statement of
play, Dewey’s statement of interest, or Montessori’s statement of liberty.

The preparation of the child’s educators must begin many years before
his birth, that they may be ready to meet this responsibility as soon as it
comes. An adequate preparation should include: (1) careful study of the
principles and purposes of education, that these may be discerned clearly
and applied with consistency and discretion; (2) long schooling in habits
which will fit them to be worthy examples in character, in social and mental
traits, in tastes and languages; (3) some experience with little children in
daily life, in order to learn to interpret and sympathize with child nature, to
acquire some facility in their education and discipline, and to collect some
fund of nursery lore.

FOOTNOTES:
[25] See Preface, page xiii.
[26] Literally “to put into” from the Latin in and struo.
[27] Literally “to lead out of” from the Latin e and duco.

CHAPTER XI
STUDYING THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD

“Would you know how to lead the child? See and observe the child; he will teach
you what to do.”
—F. Froebel.
“The ideal which has animated all my own feeble educational endeavor, and
without which I should be without hope in the world of pedagogy, is the
reconstruction of education based not so much on existing conditions in society as on
child-nature. It is one thing to fit the child for a preëxisting social condition, and a
very different thing to develop all his own latent powers to their uttermost and trust to
their development for all future reforms. Holding, then, as I do, that childhood has in
it indefinite possibilities that are some realized, some repressed or crippled, nipped in
the bud in a way for which home, school, and church must share responsibility, and
that if every spring of possible knowledge and power were touched, even by the
lightest suggestion at its nascent psychological hour, we should in a few generations
develop a superior race of men, we have in this faith in the possibilities of childhood
and youth the most central and impregnable of all the fortresses of optimism.”
—G. Stanley Hall.

How to Study a Child. A complete study of the child includes his
physical and psychological characteristics, personality, gifts, deficiencies,
his heredity, environment, training. In studying a child it is of first
importance to avoid carefully any stirring of his self-consciousness, which
might lead to either morbidness, introspection, priggishness, or vanity. The
necessary physical measurements should be made as naturally and
impersonally as possible, without discussion. The physical inspections
should be made incidentally, during the processes of the daily life, without
comment. Recording, except of measurements, should be done without
attracting the attention of the child,—preferably not in his presence, and
filed without his knowledge. The child’s traits or characteristics should not
be discussed in his presence. Psychological characteristics can best be
studied under natural, usual conditions:
(1) in the child’s play: what he plays; how he plays
(2) his stories: what he prefers or tells
(3) his handiwork, especially his drawing

(4) what he observes
(5) his questions

A Score Card for Home Use. The following score card has been
especially prepared to meet the practical needs of the untrained layman and
amateur in the intelligent observation and better understanding of normal
young children. It does not attempt to include marked abnormalities. It is
merely preliminary to a more detailed and scientific analysis by the
specialist. Such a general score card is necessarily applicable only for
certain ages. The following outline does not attempt to cover special
development beyond ten years of age.
Physical Measurements and Inspection. During the first year the
weight should be taken weekly, at the same hour, in order to bear the same
relation to feeding, bath, elimination; other physical measurements and
inspections should be recorded at least quarterly. In the succeeding years
records should be made at least semi-annually and preferably quarterly. The
person in charge of young children should observe daily the physical
conditions, and be able to detect at once the special danger signals, or
deviations from the normal.
Any person careful in details and accuracy can make these measurements
and inspections, at least as preliminary to the specialist. Detailed directions
are given in Pamphlet V, American Medical Association Press, and in “The
Health Index of Children” (Hoag). For ordinary household use, the
apparatus required includes a new, firm tape measure, yardstick, accurate
beam scales, and cards for testing vision. For school or institutional work it
is desirable to have also calipers, laboratory apparatus for taking heights,
instruments for taking blood pressure, and a dynamometer for testing
strength of muscles. Economic and social conditions, differences of race
and heredity, will cause considerable variation among children of the same
age.
Psychological Analysis. No generally accepted standards or tests have
yet been devised for measuring psychological development. The standards
developed by Binet and Simon for mental ability as one phase of
psychological age, have been widely tested in this country but have not
proven wholly satisfactory. American revisions are now being worked out.

The outline here given does not provide standards for measurement, but
depends entirely upon the judgment of the person making the analysis.
During the first year a chronological record can profitably be kept of the
psychological development, noting particularly each gain in motor control,
every indication of increasing recognition of sense impressions, the
development of speech.
Standards of normal and average conditions and development can be
learned by:
(1) observations of numbers of children of the same age.
(2) the study of published tables of measurements.
(3) published records, studies, and stories of children.
The Tables of Indications and Summaries have been added to assist in
gaining a clear picture of the child’s condition and the factors calling for
special constructive measures, elimination, treatment, improvement, or
development.

Physical Measurements[28]
Name_____________________ Age: Years_____ Months_____
Weeks_____
Height standing[29]_____ In._____ Under Average_____ Over
Height sitting_____ In._____ Under Average_____ Over
Weight_____ Lb._____ O—z._____ Under Average_____ Over
Circumferences: Head_____ Chest_____ Abdomen_____
Diameter of Chest: Anterior-posterior_____ Lateral_____
Chest Expansion__________ Lengths: Arm_____ Leg_____

Physical Inspections
General Appearance: Robust Anemic
Vigorous Languid
Posture, standing: (2) Erect Stooping
Chest sunken
Head forward

Abdomen forward
Posture, sitting: (1) Erect Chest sunken
Back curved
On hips On curve of spine
Gait: (4) Normal Waddling
Elastic Heavy
Toe forward Toe in
Toe slightly outward Toe outward
Head: Shape normal Box shaped
Not symmetrical
Fontanel closed Fontanel not closed (after 18 months)
Hair: Color Scant
Abundant Rough
Even Brittle
Fine
Coarse
Scalp: Clear Scurf
Pink Dandruff
Eruptions
Vermin

Figures at right in parentheses indicate age at which observation may normally or profitably begin,
if not applicable during first year.
Features: Regular Unsymmetrical
Eyes:[30] Color
Clear Muddy
Sparkling Dull
Intelligent Staring
Normal Crossed
Protruding
Squint
Good condition Inflamed
Watery
Discharge
Frown
Work held near
Farsighted
Nearsighted
Headaches

Eyelids: Normal Swollen
Inflamed
Sore
Discharge
Styes
Granulated
Drooping
Nose: Large Small
Pinched
Bridge normal Bridge sunken (normal during first year)
Discharge
Obstructions, e.g. adenoids
Snuffles
Mouth: Well-shaped Ugly shape
Large Held open
Small Deformed by pacifiers or thumb sucking
Breathes through mouth
Canker sores
Breath sweet Offensive
Tongue: Clear Coated
Normal Protruding
Swollen
Tied
Teeth: Number Delayed first teeth
Delayed second teeth
Prolonged retention first teeth
Extra teeth
Regular Irregular
Projecting
Good condition Discolored
Tartar deposits
Decayed
Gums: Healthy Pale
Bleeding
Spongy
Swollen
Receding
Throat: Clear Swollen
Enlarged tonsils
Strong Subject to sore throat

Coughs
Lips: Full Thin
Swollen
Ruddy Pale
Good condition Sore
Chapped
Fissured
Chin: (2) Normal Receding
Projecting
Firm Weak
Jaw: (2) Firm Weak
Strong
Ears: Large Small
Projecting
Normal Misshaped
Good condition Sore behind ears
Discharge
Earache
Hearing normal Defective
Neck: Normal size Small
Swollen glands
Scars
Skin: Free from blemishes Rough
Scaly
Pimples
Eczema (where located)
Ringworm
Clear Muddy
Ruddy Pale
Tanned
Freckled
Firm Soft
Puffiness under eyes
Muscles: Firm (½) Flabby
Well developed (1) Weak
Especially
Back
Trunk
Grip
Leg

Complementary pairs Unequal in balance
balanced (1)
Back and chest
Right and left of trunk
Right and left of neck
Right and left of back
Back: Straight Curvature; anterior-posterior
Curvature; lateral, to right
Curvature; lateral, to left
Shoulders: Erect Stooped
Square Sloping
Equal Unequal (which lower)
Blades flat Projecting
Chest: Expanded Sunken
Deep Flat
Shallow
Barrel-shaped (after 1 year)
Funnel-shape (breast bone sunken)
Pigeon-breast (breast bone prominent)
Symmetrical Unsymmetrical
Beaded ribs
Good expansion (3) Poor expansion
Abdomen: Firm Flabby
Hard
Normal Distention
Rupture at navel
Inflammation at navel
Rupture at groin
Arms and Hands: Equal length Unsymmetrical
Normal Enlarged Joints
Clubbed fingers
Ambidextrous
Right-handed (1) Nails discolored
Left-handed Nail defects
Legs: Equal length Unequal
Straight Bowed
Knock-knee
Enlarged joints
Ankles strong Weak
Feet: Arch normal Flat foot (1½)

Stands squarely (2) Shoes run over:
outer edge
inner edge
heels
Well shaped Toes pinched
Swollen
Unblemished Callouses
Corns
Bunions
Defective nails
Excessive perspiration
Chafed toes
Genitalia: Normal Inflamed
Discharge
Protruding of rectum
Itching
Buttocks chafed
Nerves: Steady Explosive
Dull
Fears: (specify objects)
Irritable
Restless
Endurance Easily fatigued
Normal General misbehavior
Tantrums, hysteria
Malicious destruction
Bed-wetting
Nail-biting
Masturbation
Headaches
Convulsions
Motor Coördinations: Steady (for age) Retarded
Sits alone (½) Stumbling (3)
Creeps (9 mo.) Dropping things (3)
Stands (1 year) Speech defects (3)
Walks alone (1½) Spasmodic movements
Controls eliminations Twitching of eyes, face, muscles
Urine (1) Chorea (St. Vitus’ Dance)
Feces (2) Paralysis (what muscles)
Holds own cup (1)

Holds own spoon (1)
Runs (2)
Marches (3)
Claps to rhythm (3)
Feeds self neatly (3)
Dresses self (3)
Skips (4)
Uses scissors (5)
Normal Other abnormalities
Nutrition: Appetite good Poor
Hungry between meals
Gluttonous
Simple food relished Overfastidious
Abnormal appetites, e.g., dirt, chalk
Good digestion Colic
Regurgitation, eructations
Gas in stomach
Intestinal gas
Nausea
Elimination: Urine: Clear Cloudy
Straw color Dark
Bloody
Odor slight Strong
Painless Painful
Irritating
Normal quantity Scant
Excessive
Retained
Stools: Smooth (infancy)
Well-formed Watery
Mustard color (infancy) Green
Black
Bloody
Undigested curds
Slight mucus Much mucus
Odor slight Strong, offensive
1 to 3 passages daily Constipation (less than 1)
Diarrhea
Perspiration:
Slight Excessive: head, under arms, cold sweats