irst
recognition of the light, etc. The wise mother cat never disturbs her
sleeping kittens.

SLEEP REQUIREMENTS

Sleeping, eating, and growing occupy the whole time of young babies.
Until they are two months old they need from eighteen to twenty hours
sleep out of each twenty-four; and not less than sixteen hours up to
the end of the first year.

At six months, baby should sleep right through the night from six in
the evening until six in the morning, with a ten o'clock feed, which
should be given quietly, in a darkened room, the babe being
immediately returned to his bed.

At two or three years of age, twelve to fourteen hours of sleep is
required; while at four to five years, eleven to twelve hours are
needed; when they attain the age of thirteen years they should still
have ten hours of unbroken sleep each night.

As a general rule, children should sleep alone; even in the case of
two brothers or two sisters, separate beds are far better than a
double bed for both hygienic and moral reasons.

Baby should have a separate bed. The temptation to nurse him on the
least provocation, as well as the danger of overlying, are reasons
enough for such an arrangement.

PUTTING BABY TO SLEEP

At five-thirty in the afternoon, baby should be undressed, rubbed or
bathed, made perfectly comfortable, and fed; then, my mother reader,
he should be laid down in his little bed and allowed to go to sleep,
without any coaxing, singing, rocking, or even holding his hand.
Babies will do this very thing and continue to do it if you never
begin to rock, jolt, bounce, or sing to them; and, mind you, if you do
sing to them or rock them, or even sit near without doing anything but
"just hold their tiny hands," there will come a time when you greatly
desire to do something else--you have many urgent duties awaiting
you--and baby not being old enough to understand the circumstances,
begins to wail out his feeling of neglect and abuse. It is nothing
short of wicked thus to spoil a child.

We have seen so many beautiful babies go to sleep by themselves
without any patting, dangling, or rocking, that we encourage and urge
every mother to begin right, for if the little one never knows
anything about rocking and pattings he will never miss them; and even
if the baby is spoiled through extra attention which sickness often
makes necessary, then at the first observance of the tendency on the
part of the child to insist on the rocking, or t