Most of the deformities of children are occasioned by improprieties in their dress. An attempt to give neatness to the form renders pressure necessary ; and where a part is weak, and the pressure greater than on the neighbouring parts, such part tvill naturally yield to the impulse, and deformity will ensue. Without entering therefore into any criticism on the parti. cular kinds of dress, all that is required is, that the child be kept warm, and the dress sit easy on 'every part.
Sleep is at all times necessary to health ; in infancy it is particularly so ; for the stimuli of air and light alone are sufficient to exhaust the system in an hour or two. Yet order is one of the first laws of na ture; and habit is its best foundation. After' the first few days, therefore, of mere introduction to a new world, and a new mode of existence, the periods of sleep should submit to some degree of regulation. An infant thatisallowed to sleep through nearly the whole of the:clay, will usually be a very troublesome companion to its mother through the whole of the night. It. has had more than a sufficiency of rest, and cannot be made to sleep, till it again becomes tired and exhausted. Then comes the nurse, with her nostrums and her lullabies ; het cradle, her cordi als, and her anodynes. The whole are useless in a state of health, and many of them most pernicious. The fault is all her own; proceeds alone from a want of reguar periods of sleep and wakefulness.
The situation of children requires at first air of a moderately warm tempera ture; after which they may be gradually inured to a colder atmosphere, without any danger to their health. Too much warmth, however, is as prejudicial as the opposite extreme, and the more to be dreaded, as every time they are brought to the open air they are exposed to the danger of catching cold. But it is not merely a cold air that is to be avoided, it is air that is confined, and at the same time loaded with moisture. A confined damp air is the cause of many of the dis eases by which children are afflicted ; and to this state of the atmosphere the children of the poorer classes are parti cularly exposed. Too much caution can not be used by parents in superintending this part of the treatment of their oft spring. When sent abroad, under the care of servants, they are often kept too long exposed to the inclemencies of the wea ther, and frequently allowed to sit or lie on the damp ground ; or they Are kept carelessly in the arms of a servant, ex posed to a current of air, the consequnce of which, when brought from the confine ment of a warm room, must be mischiev ous. To avoid the danger of cold, then,
much attention should be paid to the dress, and not allow the period of their exposure to be too long at a time. They should, however, be carried out at least once a day, when the weather permits, and that generally about mid-day, and, if possible, into fields, or squares, or other exposed situations.
The same caution that is necessary in carrying them out should be applied to the conduct within doors. The nursery should be the largest and best aired room in the hobse. When children sleep in a cradle, they should not be wrapped up too closely, particularly so, as they are usually laid in with their clothes on. Neither when they are further grown should more than one child sleep in the same bed. In short, the proper regula tion is, to keep the child as much as pos sible in one pure, equal temperature, avoiding every thing that is damp and unwholesome ; and, if this equality of at mosphere cannot be preserved in our own country, to take care at least, that the transitions from heat to cold be not made -too suddenly ; by which attention, all the evils arising from this source will be avoided.
Exercise is natural to man, and the de sire of it is coeval with existence ; nay, it may he said to precede it ; for the mo tions of the child in the womb show, that it is with difficulty retained in a passive state. Infants, therefore, ought never to be at rest but when alseep, and this mo tion is of the first importance; it will atone for several defects in nursing, and is absolutely necessary for the health, strength, and growth of children.
The first exercise that children usually receive, and which they ought to receive, is that of being dandled in the arm, or moved gently up and down, which tends much to assist digestion. Rubbing them with the hand is also highly useful at thi'e period of life, particularly along the back bone, which occasions the child to stretch itself, and to exhibit different signs of muscular exertion, expressive of the sa tisfaction it receives.