The care of the baby’s =teeth= is a part of the bath and should begin when the first tooth appears. It should be wiped front and back with a piece of gauze or cotton dipped in boracic acid or soda solution or some other weak alkaline wash, to neutralize the acid secretions of the mouth as these favor decay. After the baby has five or six teeth, the use of a very soft brush with tooth paste is often advised, the teeth being brushed with a circular motion or from the gums toward their edges. The teeth should be wiped, or brushed, morning and evening and after feedings. The reason for such close care of the temporary teeth is that they serve as a mold or brace to hold the jaws in proper shape for the permanent teeth which appear later. If the “milk” or first teeth decay or crumble away before the jaws are developed to the point when the permanent teeth appear, these second teeth are likely to be crowded, crooked and uneven. After all of these details have been attended to and the entire body, including creases and folds, has been patted quite dry, it may be dusted with an unscented talcum powder, but this powdering must not be resorted to as an aid in drying the skin. In order to prevent chafing, the buttocks and thighs should be wiped clean with oil, or bathed with warm water, no soap, patted dry and powdered or oiled each time that the diaper is changed. The =cord= has dropped off, in all probability, by the time you begin to bathe your baby, and the navel so well healed that you need do nothing to it, but you may be interested to know what painstaking care the nurse has given to this important detail of the baby’s toilet. The form and method of cord dressings vary somewhat with different doctors but in practically all cases the dressings are sterile, to prevent infection, and porous in order that air may gain access to the cord and promote the drying process. The dressing itself may consist of dry, sterile gauze or gauze wet with alcohol wrapped about the cord, as shown in Fig. 52; or it may consist of squares of sterile gauze or muslin with holes in the centers to fit around the cord, and dusted with some such powder as boric acid, bismuth or salicylic acid and starch. The dressed cord is laid flat on the abdomen and directed upward to prevent its being wet with urine; a gauze sponge is placed over the dressing and the flannel binder applied, being sewed on or held in place with safety-pins, as shown in Fig. 53. [Illustration: FIG. 52.—Cord dressed with dry sterile gauze. (From photograph taken at Johns Hopkins Hospital.) ] [Illustration: FIG. 53.—Straight flannel binder applied over cord dressing. ]