lator the child's head was apt to hang in bad positions during sleep, and I have often seen a poor baby sleeping with its head hanging over one side of the machine, and observed the nurse or mother shake it with the remark, "Stay awake, can't you ?" But the more hours a day a baby sleeps the better, and the more it is in the open air the better also, and so it is well, if possible, to combine the two.
Unless the temperature of the air is damp and chilly—as at night, for example—good rather than harm will result from the little one's sleeping out of doors, if it is lying in a comfortable position and is properly clothed. It is necessary to clothe the child more warmly during sleep than when awake, for the temperature of the body falls during sleep.
If there is a garden or square to which access can be obtained in warm summer weather, it is a good plan to carry out a plain wicker bassinet with a blanket folded in the bottom, and let the baby lie in that instead of in the nurse's arms; or it may be laid on a rug on the grass, and allowed to kick to its heart's delight, which will do it a very great deal of good. The same thing may be done if there is a safe balcony or leads attached to the house. The hood of the bassinet will keep the sun off the child, and if a rug is used, an umbrella or a towel over two chairs should be carefully fixed up to serve the same purpose. A child can lie thus for hours on a warm day, drinking in the air and sunshine, and gaining a store of health for its future life.
It is irksome for the nurse, and injurious to the
