Page:The physical training of children (IA 39002011126464.med.yale.edu).pdf/31

 very useful—that is to say, to use with the soap, and to loosen the dirt and the perspiration; but for the finishing-up process, a sponge—a large sponge—is superior to flannel, to wash all away, and to complete the bathing. A sponge cleanses and gets into all the nooks, corners, and crevices of the skin. Besides, sponge, to finish up with, is softer and more agreeable to the tender skin of a child than flannel. Moreover, a sponge holds more water than flannel, and thus enables you to stream the water more effectually over him. A large sponge will act like a miniature shower-bath, and will thus brace and strengthen him.

6. To prevent a new-born babe from catching cold, is it necessary to wash his head with brandy?

It is not necessary. The idea that it will prevent cold is erroneous, as the rapid evaporation of heat which the brandy causes is more likely to give than to prevent cold? 7. Ought that tenacious, paste-like substance, adhering to the skin of a new-born babe, to be washed off at the first dressing?

It should, provided it be done with a soft sponge and with care. If there be any difficulty in removing the substance, gently rub it, by means of a flannel, either with a little lard, or fresh-butter, or sweet oil. After the parts have been well smeared and gently rubbed with the lard, or oil, or butter, let all be washed off together, and be thoroughly cleansed away, by means of a sponge and soap and warm water, and then, to complete the process, gently put him for a minute or two in his tub. If this paste-like substance be allowed to remain on the skin, it might produce either an excoriation or a "breaking-out." Besides, it is impossible, if that tenacious substance be allowed to remain on it, for the skin to perform its proper functions.

Mrs. Baines (who has written so much and so well on the Management of Children), in a Letter to the Author,