Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1893 — Nursery Hygiene. [ARTICLE]

Nursery Hygiene.

The room especially set part for the children of the family should be the best-aired, the sunniest and driest in the house. At the same time it should be so situated as to be kept at a temperature as nearly uniform as possible. As a'general thing it should be on the south side of the house. Any excess of sunlight, if such exists, can be easily controlled by shades. Since the nursery is, as a rule, occupied both night and day, it should he as large as possible, to facilitate a thorough supply of afresh air. Considerations of air, sunlight and cleanliness should be paramount, and all questions of decoration should be entirely subservient. this end everything should be simple in construction. In all but exceptional cases the nursery is the scene, at some time or other, of one or more of the diseases incident to childhood. On this account all materials that might serve as a lurking-place for dust and disease organisms should be excluded. The furniture should be plain, so as to he easily kept clean. It should also he light, or else furnished with strong castors, so that it can be easily moved about. Pictures on the walls were better omitted. The nursery floor should have particular attention. While the ideal floor may not be always attainable, the ideal should be approached as nearly as possible. A floor of closely joined hard wood is the best, since it is most easily kept free from dust. Over this should be laid rugs or carpets, which should be frequently taken up and beaten. Nursery closets, too, should he carefully looked after. They should he always open to inspection, and no accumulation of soiled clothing should he permitted. Open shelves are recommended, since, while clean linen and other necessaries are easily keDt upon them, they are less apt to be made the receptacles of “tuckedaway” neatness than are shelves inclosed by doors. The habitual use of disinfectants should have no part in the care of the nursery. The necessity for their use should be avoided by means of scrupulous cleanliness. A room in which disinfectants are needed should be inhabited by no one, least of all by children. The ventilation of the nursery is an important matter. The essential thing to be secured is a frequent change of air without draughts along the floor.—Youth’s Companion.