OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 51, 23 November 1929, Page 22

OUR BABIES

(By “Hygeia.”) Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." Sunlight. Now Is the time to begin sun-bathing, whilst the sun has not yet reached its full summer heat. On the first warm, clear day start exposing babies, and older children. too, to gradually increasing doses of . direct sunshine. Skin-Sensitiveness. It is difficult to give definite directions as to the extent of surface to expose or the best time allowance. These will vary not only with the age and general health and strength of the particular child, but also with the sensitiveness of his skin to solar radiation. In babies, even more than in the case of adults, there are very great differences in the sensitiveness of the skin to the direction action of the sun’s rays. Taking two normal healthy babies who (up to, say, three months of age), have been reared side by side on precisely the same lines, it might be found that in the course of a month the one would benefit by duly graduated exposure of the limbs and part of the body up to five or ten minutes twice a day. while in the case of the other baby undue reddening and irritation would have indicated that only a half or even a quarter of this rate of progress could be tolerated. The safest and best procedure in this, as in other matters affecting the baby, is to go cautiously and to err on the side of advancing too slowly rather than risk going too quickly. When a normal baby is about a week old he may be taken out iuto the sunshine for a short time if the weather is mild and genial. His eyes can be shaded from the glare by turning him on his side In his cot and shading his head, without putting any covering near his face. The leather hood of an ordinary perambulator affords a very unhealthy shelter for the baby. (See “Feeding and Care of Baby,” page 72.) Yet many infants live in a leather-lined perambulator dutlng the greater part of their first year. Sun Baths. When the temperature of the day is not under about 60 degrees Fahrenheit a healthy baby who has been properly reared should have become accustomed towards the end of the second month to having his arms and legs and part of the adjacent skin surface of his body bared to the sun for, say, five or ten minutes before the 10 a..m. feeding, and in the course of another week or two before the 2 p.m, feeding also. The mother should hold the baby on her knee, if possible, so that while he is being sunrayed she can give him stimulation and passive exercise by stroking his legs and arms gently but firmly, starting at the hands and feet and working systematically towards the trunk, so as to drive the blood in the right direction, and thus promote increased activity of the circulation. As the baby grows older his legs and arms may be bared to the sunshine for, say, 10 minutes or a quarter of an hour before his 10 a..m and 2 p.m. feedings. Even longer exposure may prove beneficial on specially favourable days. If the weather is warm a healthy baby iu his second month may have his morning bath on the open veranda, where the sunshine can play on his body. Later, when he can crawl and run about, exposure of the whole body In the open sunlight for from 10 to 15 minutes or more may be allowable. Beacli Play. If baby lives by the seaside the mother may safely let him run about on the beach for a time on a warm summer’s day with little, if any, covering for the body—provided, of course, that he has been reared sensibly and not coddled and spoiled. Babies habituated to daily exposure of the skin to opgp air and sunshine do not catch cold easily and do not feel the changes of weather—they become practically “weather-proof” and almost)disease-

proof. Such children are a joy to themselves and to everyone connected with them: they radiate happiness as the sun radiates light, heat, and health. Their circulation will be good, and their feet and hands will glow with warmth even on cold days. Of course, if a baby has not been habituated to exposure to sunshine, the mother must proceed very cautiously, accustoming him gradually, little by little, to fuller exposure of the skin surface. Sunlight Essential. Parents and nurses should be brought to realise that, during the last five or ten years, a scries of highly important and very striking investigations have proved conclusively that deficiency of exposure of the skin surface to direct sunlight is one of the leading causes of delicacy, debility, and disease. The first practical discoveries were mainly in the direction ot proving that children suffering from various forms of tuberculosis could be cured and made strong and healthy by gradually habituating them to spend some hours every day in the open air. clad with nothing but a loin cloth—the other factors of healthy living (suitable food, adequate exercise, rest, and sleep) being also provided. Seeing what wonders direct sunlight can do for young children in general, it is becoming more and more apparent that we have all of us been too sparing of sunlight for babies; practice is proving that they benefit as much as the older children of the family from a more liberal exposure of the skin to direct solar radiation. Warning. While it is highly beneficial to the normal baby to be gradually habituated to the moderate exposure of the arms and legs, anil later Lo more or less exposure of part at least of the body to sunlight, parents ought to realise that, like other beneficial agencies, the sun's rays are liable to do far more harm than good if any attempt is made to proceed quickly, especially if sun baths are begun in hot weather. In this, as in other matters affecting the baby, the golden rule is to advance slowly and watch results. In some babies tendencies of “solarisation,” as in the case of some older children. Is to cause irritation and freckling instead of the rich, ruddy brown which may be regarded as the normal and healthy reaction we aim at inducing. In all cases it is safest and best to expose the limbs and outlying parts of the body first, and to only resort to exposure of the trunk itself later, and for a shorter period. Special care should be exercised with regard to the protection of the head and eyes, especially in hot weather. The best head covering in summer is a loose white perforated soft linen hat or a similar cap with brim all round, such as bovs sometimes wear when playing cricket. This keeps the head reasonably cool, and the brim shades the eyes and the back of the neck, which is a danger point in connection with sunstroke. Bear in mind that the “golden mean” is always best. It is possible to have too much of a good thing, even sunlight. Dr. Saleeby says: “The so-called sun cure sounds simple and fool-proof. It is nothing of the sort. Great care should be exercised, beginning with only a few minutes and increasing very gradually.”