A baby in The Yellow Wallpaper

Recently in class, we discussed the nursery in which the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" was confined to. The fact that she was in a nursery, seemed very odd to me. A nursery in my mind is visualized as a secluded place for young children to be cared for. But for an adult to be cast aside into a nursery, seems it would be a bit degrading for the narrator. Oddly enough, the narrator's husband, John, is portrayed the wiser, caring, adult. Caring for another while they are ill is expected. But wouldn't they be cared for as an adult patient and not placed in a bared nursery like an infant?
The bars on the windows of the nursery are strange but I find John's language towards his wife infantilizing. According to the narrator, he calls her pet names. John refers to call his wife as a "little girl (4)." The adjective "little" makes the narrator seem small and inferior. Furthermore the word "girl," makes narrator appear helpless and almost in need of help. John is treating her as if she were a powerless, irrational being because she is a little girl. It is odd that the narrator is the mother of John's child and is never ferered to by her name.
Why does John have the power over his wife? John chose the room and location for his wife to recover from an illness that he declared she had. He chose how she should interact with others and how she would recover. He also made clear that he knew best when it came to her own health; "Of course if you were in any danger, I could and would [take you away from the house], but you really are better dear, whether you can see it or not" (4).
It's strange that he seems to believe he knows she needs help his help, while she often ask for his help and is disregarded. She asked him to take down the nursery wallpaper, to let her see her family or even to take her away from the house. Each time she reached out for help, John knew better. Yet, he was not denaying her requests out of spit. But simply because he feels she is foolish, nieve, and only a "little girl." He talks down to her perhaps to make himself feel stronger. I begin to think about Virgina Wolf's, Room of One's Own. Wolf describes that degrading women isn't about making the women feel bad about herself but empower the man. John does not want his wife to have anymore power than himself. He then refers to his wife as a "little girl," so he can veiw himself as a "big man" and still have control oveer her.