If a babe does not wear a cap in the day, it is not at all necessary
that he should wear one at night. He will sleep more comfortably
without one, and it will be better for his health. Moreover,
night-caps injure both the thickness and beauty of the hair.

27. _Have you any remarks to make on the clothing of an infant, when,
in the winter time, he is sent out for exercise_?

Be sure that he is well wrapped up. He ought to have under his cloak a
knitted worsted spencer, which should button behind, and if the
weather be very cold, a shawl over all, and, provided it be dry above,
and the wind be not in the east or in the north-east, he may then
brave the weather. He will then come from his walk refreshed and
strengthened, for cold air is an invigorating tonic. In a subsequent
Conversation I will indicate the proper age at which a child should be
first sent out to take exercise in the open air.

28. _At what age ought an infant "to be shortened?"_

This, of course, will depend upon the season. In the summer, the right
time "for shortening a babe," as it is called, is at the end of two
months, in the winter, at the end of three months. But if the right
time for "shortening" a child should happen to be in the spring, let
it be deferred until the end of May. The English springs are very
trying and treacherous, and sometimes, in April the weather is almost
as cold, and the wind as biting as in winter. It is treacherous, for
the sun is hot, and the wind, which is at this time of the year
frequently easterly, is keen and cutting I should far prefer "to
shorten" a child in the winter than in the early spring.