urces from which these apparently
inexplicable colds may come.
A. Sitting on the Floor.--Children should not be allowed to sit or
crawl upon the floor at any season of the year, but especially during
the winter months. There is always a draught of cold air near the floor.
It is a bad habit to begin allowing a child to play with its toys on the
floor. Use the bed or a sofa or a platform raised a foot from the
floor.
B. Kicking the Bed Clothes Off During the Night.--The bed
clothes should be securely pinned to the mattress by large safety pins.
When it is established as a habit a child who kicks off the bed clothes
should wear a combination night suit with "feet," made of flannel during
the winter and of cotton during the summer.
C. Inadequate Head Covering.--Professor Kerley states that this is one
of the "most frequent causes of disease of the respiratory tract in the
young." He calls attention to the fact that "mothers carefully clothe
the baby with ample coats, blankets, leggings, etc., before they take
him out for the daily walk. They dress him in a warm room taking plenty
of time to put on the extra clothes, during which time the baby frets
and perspires. When all is ready they place upon the hot, almost bald
head of the baby a light artistically decorated airy creation which is
sold in the shops as children's caps. The child is then taken out of
doors and because of the inadequate covering of the hot perspiring head,
catches cold and the mother never knows how it came." Every baby and
child should wear under such caps a skull cap of thin flannel,
especially in cold weather. In summer or windy day a light silk
handkerchief folded under the cap is a very excellent protection.
D. Subjecting a Baby to Different Temperatures Suddenly, is liable to
be followed by a cold--for example, taking the child from a warm room to
a cold room, or through a cold hall, holding the child at an open window
for a few moments.
E. The Practice of Wearing Rubbers Needs Some Consideration.--They
should never be worn indoors for even five minutes. They should not
therefore be kept on in school, nor should they be worn by women in
stores when they go shopping. When it is actually raining, or snowing,
or when there is slush or wet mud they are needful; but they should not
be worn simply because the weather is threatening or damp. Children
should not put them on to play--worn for any length of time when active
they are harmful. If wo
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