In lifting an infant, never grasp him around the chest or abdomen. Slip the palm of your left hand under his back, with the fingers stretched out to support the neck and head. Then, with the right hand, grip the clothing just below the feet. Never lift the baby without making sure that the spine and head are supported. And never allow the little head to hang unsupported over your knee or arm. In lifting older children grasp the body firmly under the armpits. Never under any circumstances raise the child from his feet by his wrists or hands. This strains the arm and the elbow sockets. There is a way of making the baby comfortable even at play. I have spoken of undressing the baby for a daily period of exercise on a bed in a warm room. Here he first learns to amuse himself, and his first toys are his own fists and feet. At six months of age he may be given toys made of firm rubber—dolls, animals, or rattles; the rattle should not be noisy enough to make him nervous. Rubber is good because it can be thoroughly cleansed. His instinct will be to put everything into his mouth; so that he must be given nothing that will break off easily, as he would surely swallow the loose pieces. He must have no Teddy bears or woolly dogs or other fabric toys. Bits of wool or hair will get into his throat, and they also carry germs. Neither should he have any toys with sharp points with which he can hurt himself, nor those which are painted. Many a child has been made seriously ill from sucking cheaply painted toys. Never approach a child suddenly with a toy which makes a loud noise. I have seen a six months’ baby jump and turn ashen white at the explosion of a toy pop-gun held close to his face, or at the shaking of a large and noisy rattle. Small babies are very sensitive to loud noises and abrupt movements; many of those unfortunate individuals, “women with nerves,” could trace their present ailment to carelessness and thoughtlessness on the part of those who loved them best during their babyhood. CHAPTER XII DEFECTS AND HABITS TAKING DEFECTS IN TIME—HABITS THAT MAKE CHILDREN UGLY—FINGER-SUCKING AND NAIL-BITING—BED-WETTING—VICIOUS HABITS AND THEIR CURE—NERVOUSNESS AND ITS TREATMENT—THE HABIT OF HAPPINESS Physically, mentally, and spiritually, the baby laid in the young mother’s arm is a creature to be molded by the intelligence and wisdom of the woman who has borne it. Some women do not stop to define the wonderful, mysterious thrill which passes over them as they hold the precious gift close to their hearts for the first time. With other women a sense of responsibility, beautiful and almost divine, comes even before the child is born.