Caring for Infants

CARE OF INFANT CHILD For years the Orientals of Bible lands have cared for an infant child much as it was done when JESUS was born. Instead of allowing the young baby the free use of its limbs, it is bound hand and foot by swaddling bands, and thus made into a helpless bundle like a mummy. At birth the child is washed and rubbed with salt, and then with its legs together, and its arms at its side, it is wound around tightly with linen or cotton bandages, four to five inches wide, and five to six yards long. The band is also placed under the chin and over the forehead.4 The prophet Ezekiel indicated that these same customs at a child's birth were practiced in his day. "And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all" (Ezekiel 16:4). And we are all familiar with the words of Luke, as to how they cared for the baby JESUS: "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]

Read More about Caring for Infants