CLOTHING FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
By Good Health
MUCH is said in these days concerning the rights of children, but there is certainly no right to which every child is more surely entitled than that of good, sound physical health. It should be one of the first considerations of every mother to secure such conditions for her children as will insure them sound bodies and good health, not only because health will bring them the greatest range of comfort, but because it is the means through which the highest and best possibilities of life are developed and maintained. It is a well-established fact that proper clothing is one of the basic factors in the promotion of health, not only in adult life, but through all the years from childhood up; in fact, at no time in life is there greater need of care respecting the proper clothing of the body, than during its period of growth and development. Childhood is the time to establish the foundation for future health and strength; for in matters pertaining to health, as well as in those of mental growth, the principle holds true that "the farther we begin, the more momentum we gain." Many mothers are slow to recognize this fact, and while they often dress themselves so as to secure warmth and ease, their little ones are made to suffer from the injurious constraint of such clothing as will make the tiny creatures appear the most charming and dainty, regardless of health and comfort. One of the first requirements of healthful clothing is that it allow unrestrained action of every organ of the body. This is absolutely essential for perfect development, so long as the body is undergoing the process of growth. We believe that mothers often unwillingly violate this principle in the dressing of their children, by compelling them to wear clothing which they have partially outgrown, but which is not sufficiently worn to be discarded. Tight sleeves, tight bands, tight waists, etc., which have become such from the child's increased size, are certainly quite as harmful as are those purposely so constructed; and added to this is the fact that the bones and muscles of the tender little ones are far more susceptible to the construction of tight clothing than are those of persons of older growth. The clothing of children should always be so made that it can readily be enlarged to accommodate the growing form, and should never fit so snugly as not to allow perfect freedom of movement to every organ. Whatever garments are worn about the chest and waist should always permit of an unrestrained, full inspiration, and it would be an excellent plan if mothers would frequently test the child's breathing capacity, by placing a tape-measure around its waist when in its night-clothing, and allowing it to take a full inspiration, noting the number of inches' expansion, and then adjusting its clothing to correspond with the measure of the full inspiration, allowing one inch or two more for growth. The foot covering of the little ones should likewise be carefully looked to in this connection. Much suffering is entailed upon children by cramping their little feet into shoes too small or too narrow for them; and cold feet are not infrequently the result of having the shoes buttoned tightly about the ankle, under the mistaken notion that the ankles are really supported by being thus tightly incased in leather.—Good Health.