OUR BABIES.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLII, Issue 89, 16 May 1916, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

.—■*»» [By Hygeia.]

|'ubli-li'''l under the auspices of the «; ~[,.( v for the Health of Women and Ghil'l'-"''"-~|t is wif.fr to put up a fence at the »t a precipice than to maintain an ainbulaiicc at the bottom.

RABIES SLEEPING IN BED WITH b THEIR MOTHERS. \t tho last monthly meeting of the Diuit'fl'H branch of the society the p'uiiket nurse rei'orted that in Wine instances babies still slept in bed with dicif uarciit*. It MMiiis «lmost incredible that .such ~ irrov, injustice can be meted out to helpless inland alter the dangers to life and health nhich result from the practice Ikivc been explained and brought before the public so frequently, not only i n ' New Zealand, '■but throughout the ~n li l v civilised world. Only a. few years ago several healthy babies in the Dunodin, district were killed bv being overlain, and at one of the inipie-ts the coroner asked the mother .1' she had not read in the papers of the dangers of taking a baby into bed. and .sho explained that the nurse had ivcoinmended her to do so becxiuse the child was not sufficiently warm by t->'t. 'f|if verdict wat> that the child was decider' tally suffocated through being overlain by the mother during sleep. Cltl'El/l'Y OF IGNORANCE. Seeing how great a wrong is done to overy child who is allowed to breathe j thrt'ivarni, damp, vitiated atr of the parent*' bed. it is amazing that any mother can now be found in our midst *> calbm.s and so indifferent to her child's health and fitness as to indm'ge ItPi- own mere whim or inclination in this direction. Rut besides tho inevitable nightly half-suffocation, otie must take into account also the risk of oomph t>. stifling and the sudden violent dtath of the infant. QUESTION. How is it that, the vice of taking the baby into bed beside tho i a rents still persists in spito of modern facilities for the diffusion of knowledge and the dispelling of prejudice and ignorance? ANSWER. 1. Many adults are well-nigh unleachablc, and are so prejudiced and self-satisfied that nothing will induce thcni to abandon the errors of the past. One hears daily the same unreasoning: "What Has good enough for our mothers is good enough for lis!" A primary necessity of our education .system is to ingrain thoroughly into the children in the school the need of plenty of pure, cool, fresh air day and night, and tho fact that there is no harm but infinite good iiv pure air, however cool it may be, if only proper clothing be supplied. 2. Some .monthly nurses (even more prejudiced than the mothers them- ] wives), speaking as if with authority, are most ni'sguided and misguiding in the matter of fresh air. and actually ! tell the mother to keep her baby in bed with her in cold weatk-er. There can hn no doubt whatever on this .point. The evidence of parents is 100 clear to admit of ami doubt, and 'bears out what was said by the mother in regard to the killing of the infant referred to .'t'bove. Tito mother acted on the nurse's advice, and the nurse was the more guilty of the two. Next week F shall publish details of the case of a baby who was sent to the Runtime Harris Hospital in which precisely similar advice had been given by the imr>e—namely, that as it was winter tittle the baby should be kept in bed, alongside the mother for the sake of warmth. Why on earth should a bahvj need the animal warmth of the mother for eight hours when it must do without it for the other 1(5? Of course, such advice is sheer nonsense. WHAT IS VICE? Il any question should arise as to the "so of the term "vice" or "vicious" as applied to persons who .practise or countenance the taking of babies into bed with adults, we have only to remind the reader thnt the* word "vice" means the indulging of the whim, caprice, or inclination of the moment, regardless of wtnre pains and penalties that may he cxpeceted to outweigh entirely the pleasure or satisfaction derived from the immediate indulgence. In the case »« are considering, the mother not onlv .Viekls to a tempting vice herself, but s w imposes a. vicious habit on the s acrwl charge entrusted to Iter care, 'Heritably damaging her babv's present and future health and strength, while «t the same time taking utxm herself the risk of killing it outright. If this is uot "vice, ' what is? If such people are not vicious, who are? If the plea, of "not knowing any betwf' and "good intentions" be set up, *« can only reply that half the vice of we world i s the outcome of ignorance; m rest is mainly the outcome of ill—-iiealth-lxxjjly, mental and moral. In an? case thor 0 is a "Duty of Inquiry' prdmg the needs of babyhood before »e responsibility of parenthood is Waken. As for the "good intenlo'ls toad, ne all know where that leads to,

UUXO nv\\A)*i BOX ME BABIES. f-laxo i« use) the world over in the r'uinpal hospitals for ohil.lron, ami is fefoinim.ii.l,.,l by leading dorters. Write •° 'i->laxo" iVpt.'jn, Palmerstoi) North, r °f« }m> eoi.y of the Gla.xo Baby Book f Oiitaimnjr 7L' pages of advice on'infant e,,,|| i'!l hii.l on the me ana training of the chiirl. b