Pale pink and blue are also used for baby jackets, sweaters and bootees, and for afghans, blankets, shawls, etc. But the actual dresses, slips, caps and coats, petticoats, etc., are always white.
The layette given below is absolutely complete and large enough to keep a baby fresh and dainty if one can have constant laundry work done. It is, however, the smallest possible layette that is safe to start with, and if possible it would be desirable to enlarge it especially in the matter of diapers, bands and shirts. With as small a layette as this you might be tempted to put on a band or shirt twice without washing them first, or put on a diaper that had not dried entirely. A little baby must be kept absolutely clean, warm and dry. You must have:
4 abdominal bands, soft flannel strips unhemmed.
4 knitted bands with shoulder straps
4 shirts size 2, wool and cotton, or wool and silk, not all wool
4 dozen diapers
4 flannel petticoats or 4 barriecoats
4 cotton or lawn petticoats
6 simple slips of thin cambric or nainsook
2 dresses
2 wrappers
3 pairs of bootees
4 pairs of stockings, silk and wool or cotton and wool
4 nightslips, or nightgowns of flannel
1 coat and cap, and 1 veil
2 cashmere sacks
2 blankets
1 bath apron
1 rubber sheet
6 soft towels
3 knitted wash-cloths
6 piqué bibs
The baby's basket should contain:
Ill. 115. A Flannel Band
An old, soft clean shawl or blanket to receive the baby at birth
4 dozen safety-pins, different sizes
A roll of sterile gauze
Squares of old linen to be thrown away after using
Absorbent cotton
2 ounces of boracic acid
4-ounce bottle of olive-oil or sweet-oil
Talcum powder
Hot-water bag with flannel cover
Infants' soft hair-brush; jar of vaseline; small pair of scissors
Cake of Castile soap
You will need a bath thermometer, bath scales and an enamel tub. Tubs are quite expensive unless you get a tin one and enamel it white inside and pink or blue outside.
BANDS—The flannel bands are worn to protect the navel-cord dressing until the baby is six weeks old. If they are tight they will prevent digestion and cause hernia. They must be smooth and firm, but not tight. You can make the flannel bands with raw edges or turn the edges on the right side and catstitch them. (Ill. 115.)
Ill. 116. Flannel Shirt with Crocheted Edges
When the baby is six weeks old he begins to wear the knitted bands with shoulder-straps. They protect him from cold and colic. The tabs at the front and back are pinned to the diapers to keep them in place.
SHIRTS—If you buy the baby shifts, get the second size, for they outgrow the first size almost immediately. It is much less expensive to make them yourself from fine white flannel. Every stitch should be made by hand with great care in finishing all of the seams, hems and turnings as flatly as possible, as otherwise they are likely to make the child uncomfortable. The shoulder and underarm seams should be pressed open, after stitching, and both seam edges catstitched on the inside of the garment.
Double turned hems are frequently dispensed
