You will notice that I have not spoken of washing out the baby’s mouth. Many of the best baby specialists claim that Nature has supplied a cleansing element in the saliva and that washing the mouth is unnecessary; that it may cause thrush or other affections of the mucous membrane. Other equally good authorities hold that the mouth may be cleaned with a swab made by wrapping absorbent cotton around a wooden toothpick; this is dipped in cool water that has been boiled, and the folds between the gums, lips and cheeks are gently cleaned out at the time of the morning bath and also before the baby is put to bed for the night. Both medical factions agree that the old custom of wrapping a bit of soft linen around the mother’s forefinger and using that to cleanse the baby’s mouth is dangerous, as it is too large and apt to injure the delicate mucous membrane. If the mouth is washed at all it must be done with great care. In case of thrush or sprue, which consists of tiny white threads or flakes on the inner side of the lips and cheeks, and even on the tongue, the mouth must be washed carefully, after every feeding or nursing, with a solution of borax—one even teaspoonful to three ounces of water. Thrush or sprue may come from other causes than washing the mouth, and it is wise to call a physician if it appears and spreads. The system of bathing and cleansing so far described is suited for the normal baby only. Some children should not have a daily tub bath. This includes anemic or very delicate infants, and babies suffering from acute illness, when the exposure and fatigue of a bath might drain the already depleted system too heavily. In case of eczema and certain other skin affections, bathing with soap would increase the trouble. Your family physician will prescribe a method of cleansing the baby’s body in case it suffers from eczema or any other serious eruption. The very feeble child may be rubbed with sweet-oil when too weak to stand a tub bath, and common cooking salt or sea salt has been found useful in giving a bath to a delicate child. The water is prepared by adding a cupful of cooking salt or sea salt, which can be purchased at any druggist’s, to each two gallons of water. When a child is suffering seriously from prickly heat, soap should not be used. Instead tie a cupful of bran-meal in a bag of muslin or cheese-cloth and squeeze this in the water until the latter takes on a milky color; this bath is particularly soothing to infants with very delicate skins. When a child chafes easily, particularly at the buttocks, a soda or a starch bath is soothing. One tablespoonful of bicarbonate of soda should be added to the water in the usual infant’s tub, or half a cupful of laundry starch, powdered very fine, to the same quantity of water.