THE CHILD by Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 25.

THE CHILD

By Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D.

II. HEALTH.

WITHOUT physical health, or wholesomeness as the word primarily means, the individual is hampered in all his efforts. The foundations of health should be laid in early infancy. The very first requisite is the preservation of vital heat. In its prenatal life, the child has been in an unvarying temperature of about 98° F. It has been protected from jars and concussions, from pressure or cutaneous irritations. It is suddenly transported to a varying temperature that at its best must seem raw and disturbing. It is subjected to sudden jars, to turnings and tossings, to pressure and roughness of clothing, in fact to a multitude of conditions, all of which are unusual and many actually painful. How to avoid all possible causes of disturbance of body, and consequently of mental conditions, is the first requisite.

It not infrequently happens that jaundice, catarrh, and bowel affections result from exposure during the first care of the new-born infant, and these objectionable conditions may remain as permanent diseases. The dyspepsia of maturity may have originated in the first substances introduced into the baby's stomach. The future efficiency of the adult may depend upon the care received during the very first hours of life. It is, then, worthy of our attention to discuss the question of this care.

The new-born child should not at once be plunged into a water bath and put through the torture of an introduction to clothes; but after being wiped off quickly with a soft cloth, and the eyes washed carefully with old linen and cool water that has previously been boiled, he should be swaddled in soft, light-weight wrappings, and laid away in a warm place to rest after his tiresome journey.

The baby incubator exhibited at the Pan-American plainly showed how premature babies with low vitality may be kept alive by their bodily temperature being kept up to normal. While with the vigorous child this is not so absolutely essential, it is nevertheless important.

It is well to secure these conditions, if need be by the use of a hot-water bag placed near enough to keep the surrounding air comfortably warm, yet not near enough to produce discomfort. In such soft swathings, unhampered by weight or pressure of clothing, except shirt and diaper, the child may be kept for days, or even weeks, to his advantage and comfort.

His first cleansings may be with oil rubs, and these given in a room over 80° F. The most comfortable place in which to wash and dress a baby is the kitchen, close to a glowing stove, with the oven door open, and the genial warmth pouring out in a comforting flood. When the time for the first water bath arrives, the nurse or caretaker can don a large apron of flannel or Turkish toweling. The bath should be about blood heat (98°), and the body, wrapped loosely in a towel, should be lowered gently into the tub. This is a new and strange experience to him, and should be made as easy for him as possible. When he is enveloped by the warm water, the towel may be removed, and the nurse, holding the head with the left hand, can use the right hand in gently rubbing the little body. When the washing process is completed, the child should be quickly lifted to the lap, and wrapped in the large apron. Then one part of the body at a time can be exposed for the drying, which should be expeditiously done by gentle patting with a soft towel.

The clothing should be arranged so as to be put on with as few turnings of the baby as possible. Slips of different sizes can be placed one inside the other, and all slipped on at the same time. The Marguerite or the Gertrude patterns are practical guides for first clothing for infants.

And now comes the question of food. If the child can have the food which nature supplies, the problem is a simple one, needing only a regulation of times of feeding; but if art must be brought in to supply nature's deficiency, we may well be concerned as to the outcome. True, the problem seems to have been lessened by the manufacture of a great variety of infant foods; yet no food as yet has been found equal to milk, and after mother's milk, diluted cow's milk has the pre-eminence. No cast-iron rules can be laid down as to artificial feeding of babies. It will possibly need the combined wisdom, care, watchfulness, and patient experimentation of a competent physician, a careful nurse, and a judicious mother, to discover just what food suits the individual child. A few general laws may be stated. Every vessel in which food is kept, prepared, or served, should be cleansed and sterilized with most scrupulous care, and boiling is the surest method of sterilization.

The vessels should not be wiped, but allowed to dry by evaporation. It is well to have two bottles and belongings, that one may be cleansed while the other is in use.

Greatly to be pitied are both child and mother when artificial feeding must supplant that of nature; but the mother may still claim for herself the privilege of supplying the adjuncts to each meal. If she comprehends the value that her personal care and love will be both to herself and the little one, she will not put the baby off in his crib with his bottle, nor allow him to be fed by some one else; but she will hold him in her own arms, will cuddle and talk to him; will make him feel, as far as lies in her power, that from her he is supplied with food, and so she will in a measure maintain that sweet relation between her and the babe who—

“Finds in his mother's breast The cup of his life and couch of his rest.”