Establishing the Health of the Child
By Maria L. Edwards
By Maria L. Edwards, M.D. This phase of the subject may sound a little strange when applied to babies; but fresh air and exercise are as essential to them as to older people. A baby needs to be kept warm, but it also needs fresh air. The out-of-door life should be introduced to the child as early as possible. It may be kept warm by wool wraps, a kind of Eskimo hood, and a hot water-bottle, and then allowed to remain out most of the time. One babe in Chicago I recall, not yet six months old, whose parents were both physicians. One of those December days when the air is filled with light snow, I observed the baby buggy on the walk in front of the building, right in the snow. I stepped nearer and saw the happiest baby face — wide awake — apparently enjoying the snow as much as other people. He was well wrapped, and perfectly comfortable and happy, too. He spent almost the entire winter out-of-doors. And, by the way, he loved his cold morning bath so much that he would call for that before he could talk. Exercise in children is one of the manifestations of health and growth. They begin very early to keep the arms and legs in vigorous motion, and this opportunity to squirm and kick should not be interfered with by unnecessarily long and heavy clothing. As they grow older they seem to be little machines of perpetual motion. That is right and normal, altho the life of many a child is made miserable by expressions of this style: “Now, Johnnie, do go away and sit down and keep still. You are always wiggling!” These growing muscles must be exercised; and if the parents will plan to turn that energy into useful, helpful channels, and allow it to be vented out-of-doors whenever possible, the child will be happier and the mother less nervous. Add to all this a jealous, persistent care that the body maintains an erect position, with the chest forward and hips well back, and the effort will be rewarded with a child of good physique as well as good health. In closing, let us enumerate briefly the thoughts presented in this series of articles. 1. A child deserves to be well born, with a strong and clean ancestry. 2. Begin as soon as it is born to plan for the little helpless, dependent creature a life of vigor and usefulness. 3. That plan must include a careful; simple, regular diet; quiet and rest for the sensitive, developing nervous system; regular use of water both internally and externally for the benefit of the elimination organs, chief of which are the skin, kidneys, and bowels; warm, loose, comfortable clothing, that will admit of growth and free movements; fresh air nights as well as days; and exercise in proportion to the development of muscles. With this carefulness, we have the Scriptural assurance that if we “train up a child in the way he should go: . . . when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I believe that promise. Don’t you?