Should a baby cry while passing urine?  No; it may be too acid, alkaline, too little of it or too concentrated, or have sand in it.  Examine the diapers.

How about bands for the baby?  Straight pieces of flannel, twenty-two by five inches or wider.  They may be knitted.

How long should they be worn?  The snug bands, flannel or knitted should be worn, not tight, three months; then if one is worn it should be loose.  It may prevent rupture and bowel trouble.

Do you approve of rubber diapers as an outside covering?  No, because they confine the dampness cause more sweating of the parts and may thus cause chafing, etc.

How large should a diaper be?  A diaper should be twice as long as wide.  They may be different sizes, eighteen by thirty-six inches, twenty-two by forty-four, or twenty-seven by fifty-four.

CHAFING.

Chafing is a very common trouble in infants.  What causes chafing?  A wet diaper left on too long; not drying the folds of the flesh properly; too much and too strong soap in the bath, or in the diapers when they are washed, or failure to wash the child clean.

Where are the places where baby is most likely to chafe?  The buttocks, in the folds of the neck and in the groins.

How can you prevent chafing?  Use very little soap; no strong soap; rinse the body carefully; dry thoroughly after rinsing; use clean diapers; use dusting powder in the folds of the flesh, especially in fat babies.

If the skin is very sensitive, what then?  Do not use any soap, but use bran or salt baths.

How can you prepare a bran bath?  Place one pint of wheat bran in coarse muslin or cheese-cloth bag and put this in the bath water.  It should then be squeezed for five minutes until the water looks like porridge.

How is a salt bath prepared?  One teaspoonful of common salt to each two gallons of water.

If the parts are chafed what should we do?  Do not use any soap, and give only bran or salt baths or use pure olive oil and no water at all on the chafed parts.  Dry the parts carefully with old, soft linen and dust them with a powder made of starch and talcum—­equal part—­with one-fourth as much boric acid, all carefully mixed together.  Or use starch two parts and boric acid one part.  Pure stearate of zinc powder is also good.  Keep a little piece of soft linen between the folds of the flesh, so they will not be irritated by rubbing together.

[Illustration:  Portait of Ardis]

[All about baby 553]

Mothers’ remedy.—­1.  Chafing in Infants, Mutton Tallow for.—­“Five cents’ worth of mutton tallow, melted.  Apply at night.”  If there is a tendency to chafe during the day, use talcum powder, putting the mutton tallow on at night when the child will be quiet, giving it an opportunity to heal.

How shall I take care of the buttocks to prevent chafing?  This is the most common place for chafing, as it is so frequently wet and soiled; hence all napkins should be renewed as soon as wet and soiled and the parts always kept perfectly clean.