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Due to reading The Uplift publication I was interested in learning about this book. Now being a single guy I have no idea how to raise children although I do note it's a lot of work!
However, as I read a wee bit of this book it was going into great detail on how to look after babies and then develop them into good boys and girls. It certainly tweaked my interest and so thought I'd make the book available on the web site somewhere.
As it happens in my Canadian Experience journal I had a page entitled Baby Shower and so thought that might be a suitable page on which to make it available and so added a link to the book at the foot of that page.
Here is a wee introduction...
What of the human instincts?
By observing critically for a few days the conduct of an infant child, one may notice two or three pronounced instincts at work producing helpful results in the little life.
1. There is the instinct to nurse, which is so fundamental in securing the food with which to sustain and build up the body.
2. There is the accessory instinct of crying, also often necessary as nature's signal for another intake of the food supply. Associated with these two instincts are a number of reflexes which take care of the important organic processes, such as digestion, assimilation, and excretion. Now, we have practically all there is to the "character" of the human infant. He has, as yet, no instinct for fighting, for sexual love, or for business. And any effort to arouse and make use of the last-named dormant qualities would be futile as well as ridiculous. In respect to a vast majority of the things to be learned, the child is a mere bundle of potentialities, all of which must bide their time for an awakening. In short, wise parents soon learn that the center of life in the infant child is in the stomach, and that if he be fed rightly, kept much in the open air, clothed comfortably, and bathed frequently, the body-building processes will usually go on in a satisfactory manner.
3. Although the little life seems so tiny and the daily round of infantile activities so simple and monotonous, the character-developing processes are al- ready making their subtle beginnings. For example, the first lessons in habit are being inculcated through the comparative rhythm in the infant's life. It will be found both conducive to good health and helpful to character-development to attend to all the infant's needs with strict regularity. Let us follow the newborn child around his little cycle and see what happens. First, he is given a hearty meal, which is followed at once by perhaps two hours of profound sleep. Then, there is a gradual waking, the body writhes and wiggles slightly, and then more, and then still more, until a loud cry is set up. Under healthy conditions the crying should go on for a very few minutes, as it helps to send the good blood through every part of the body, purifying and building up the parts and carrying out the effete matter. The function of excretion is not only thus much aided, but the nervous equilibrium is completely restored.
The little life has now swung completely round to the beginning point of two hours previously and it is ready to start on another journey with the intake of another hearty meal. It will be found that the life circle described above continues with slight variations for the first few weeks, the child sleeping probably twenty to twenty-two hours out of twenty-four, if it be in a natural state of health. But slowly the conduct of the infant will become more complex, and that in response to the growths and changes taking place within his body.
It will be found that he can take a heartier meal, can stay awake longer, kick harder, wriggle more, and cry louder as the days multiply. In a month or so his eyes will be seen following some brilliant or attractive moving body, while the impulsive movements of the hands will begin to suggest some slight definition of their conduct. Not long thereafter, the baby instincts and smile will break out in a reflex fashion and the hands will likewise grasp objects placed in the little palms. Coordinate with these new activities, nature is at work storing up new nerve structures and cells, es- pecially in the region of the spinal cord and the cranial centers.
4. The child is all the while learning. As yet, there is little for the caretaker to do other than to feed the infant with exceeding care and regularity, and to enjoy the awakening of the new infant activities. In four to six months, the young learner will lead a much more complex life, — sitting alone, holding things in his hands, and looking about the room. But it must be understood that he still hears and sees very few things in a definite way. Then, in the next two or three months he will first creep, he should in time be induced to do so if possible for the sake of his health, —at length he will stand upright, and finally walk. None of these processes must be hastened, although they may be aided when the inner prompting and strength warrant such conduct.
You can get to this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_23.htm
Alastair
However, as I read a wee bit of this book it was going into great detail on how to look after babies and then develop them into good boys and girls. It certainly tweaked my interest and so thought I'd make the book available on the web site somewhere.
As it happens in my Canadian Experience journal I had a page entitled Baby Shower and so thought that might be a suitable page on which to make it available and so added a link to the book at the foot of that page.
Here is a wee introduction...
What of the human instincts?
By observing critically for a few days the conduct of an infant child, one may notice two or three pronounced instincts at work producing helpful results in the little life.
1. There is the instinct to nurse, which is so fundamental in securing the food with which to sustain and build up the body.
2. There is the accessory instinct of crying, also often necessary as nature's signal for another intake of the food supply. Associated with these two instincts are a number of reflexes which take care of the important organic processes, such as digestion, assimilation, and excretion. Now, we have practically all there is to the "character" of the human infant. He has, as yet, no instinct for fighting, for sexual love, or for business. And any effort to arouse and make use of the last-named dormant qualities would be futile as well as ridiculous. In respect to a vast majority of the things to be learned, the child is a mere bundle of potentialities, all of which must bide their time for an awakening. In short, wise parents soon learn that the center of life in the infant child is in the stomach, and that if he be fed rightly, kept much in the open air, clothed comfortably, and bathed frequently, the body-building processes will usually go on in a satisfactory manner.
3. Although the little life seems so tiny and the daily round of infantile activities so simple and monotonous, the character-developing processes are al- ready making their subtle beginnings. For example, the first lessons in habit are being inculcated through the comparative rhythm in the infant's life. It will be found both conducive to good health and helpful to character-development to attend to all the infant's needs with strict regularity. Let us follow the newborn child around his little cycle and see what happens. First, he is given a hearty meal, which is followed at once by perhaps two hours of profound sleep. Then, there is a gradual waking, the body writhes and wiggles slightly, and then more, and then still more, until a loud cry is set up. Under healthy conditions the crying should go on for a very few minutes, as it helps to send the good blood through every part of the body, purifying and building up the parts and carrying out the effete matter. The function of excretion is not only thus much aided, but the nervous equilibrium is completely restored.
The little life has now swung completely round to the beginning point of two hours previously and it is ready to start on another journey with the intake of another hearty meal. It will be found that the life circle described above continues with slight variations for the first few weeks, the child sleeping probably twenty to twenty-two hours out of twenty-four, if it be in a natural state of health. But slowly the conduct of the infant will become more complex, and that in response to the growths and changes taking place within his body.
It will be found that he can take a heartier meal, can stay awake longer, kick harder, wriggle more, and cry louder as the days multiply. In a month or so his eyes will be seen following some brilliant or attractive moving body, while the impulsive movements of the hands will begin to suggest some slight definition of their conduct. Not long thereafter, the baby instincts and smile will break out in a reflex fashion and the hands will likewise grasp objects placed in the little palms. Coordinate with these new activities, nature is at work storing up new nerve structures and cells, es- pecially in the region of the spinal cord and the cranial centers.
4. The child is all the while learning. As yet, there is little for the caretaker to do other than to feed the infant with exceeding care and regularity, and to enjoy the awakening of the new infant activities. In four to six months, the young learner will lead a much more complex life, — sitting alone, holding things in his hands, and looking about the room. But it must be understood that he still hears and sees very few things in a definite way. Then, in the next two or three months he will first creep, he should in time be induced to do so if possible for the sake of his health, —at length he will stand upright, and finally walk. None of these processes must be hastened, although they may be aided when the inner prompting and strength warrant such conduct.
You can get to this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_23.htm
Alastair