p. 7 | The Fallacy of Soothing Sirups

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 25, 1910

The Fallacy of Soothing Sirups

By Mrs. E. S. Richards, M. D.

MRS. E. S. RICHARDS, M. D.

No greater mistake can be made by the young mother than that of giving soothing sirups or powders to her infant. It matters not that the advertisement states, “This preparation contains no harmful drugs.” The public should have learned by this time that the advertisers of patent medicines can not be relied upon to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The principal ingredients in the average soothing sirup are alcohol and some form of opium, as laudanum, paregoric, morphin, etc.; and no drugs are more injurious to infants and young children than these.

That such sirups are soothing there can be no doubt, but they can soothe only by stupefying the nerves and delicate brain cells of the little patient. No drug is more poisonous, none more quickly works irreparable damage to the user, than opium and its preparations. It destroys the nerve-cell substance; it weakens the tissue of the brain; it sends out into the world the poor, helpless beings who later fill our reform schools, insane asylums, and drunkards’ graves.

Mothers may not at first see the connection between soothing sirups and drunkenness, but unfortunately it is often a short, straight road that connects the two. The delicate nervous system, so seriously unbalanced by soothing sirups in infancy, may not regain its equilibrium in childhood. As the boy approaches manhood, he may become a slave to cigarette-smoking, and later to alcohol. The girl may become an inveterate tea-drinker, and later a victim of that form of drunkenness which begins with the use of patent-medicine tonics and bitters. And all because the delicate nerve-cells—drugged in infancy—never ceased to cry out for artificial stimulation or stupefaction.

To soothe a baby with anything but pure water, good food, fresh air, and loving arms, is to send it out into the world an unbalanced, helpless being. Much of the fretfulness and irritability of infancy and early childhood are due to errors in feeding and general management. The mistakes most commonly made by the mother or the nurse may be summed up as follows:—

Failure to give the baby frequent drinks of pure water.
Too frequent and irregular feeding, causing indigestion and colic.
Lack of fresh air both night and day.
Irregular and disturbed sleep.
Neglect of constipation.
Clothing the baby too warmly.
Insufficient clothing of the extremities in cold weather.
Lack of personal cleanliness.
Failure to protect the little one from mosquito and other insect bites.

It is unnecessary to consider at length these various causes of fretfulness in infants. However, the first one mentioned deserves special attention, as it is so generally ignored by even thoughtful mothers. Some years ago a mother came to us in great distress about her ten-months-old baby. Until a few days prior to the mother’s visit, the child had been under the care of a nurse, but was at the time under the sole care of the mother. The baby had become more and more fretful, until at the time of the consultation he seemed to be possessed with a very demon. He would scold and fret and scream by turns, though the screaming predominated. When offered food, he rejected it with the utmost scorn. We examined the child carefully, but found nothing wrong with him. Then suddenly the thought came, Perhaps the child is thirsty. A glass of water was brought, which was taken by the babe in one long, eager draught. At last his longing was satisfied, and he was soon in a peaceful sleep. Poor mite! he was reduced to a condition of almost mania simply because this thoughtless mother had failed to supply his natural craving for water.

Babies are ofttimes more uncomfortable than we realize. Is it any wonder that they fret, when they have no other way of expressing their discomfort? How unwise to soothe a baby with stupefying drugs when so simple a thing as a drink of water, a clean, dry napkin, or a warming of the feet may make the little one blissfully happy.

Wahroonga, N. S. W.