OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 103, 25 January 1930, Page 20

OUR BABIES

<By Hygela.) Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It la wiser to put up a fence at the top of * precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” TEETHING. The Plunket nurses are constantly finding that teething is a subject about which parents are apt to make serious mistakes. All sorts of upsets, including serious or even fatal illnesses, are put down to teething if they happen to occur any time after the baby has turned six months of age. This is a most erroneous and dangerous belief, and has led to many tragedies. We would warn mothers very seriously against attributing any sort of illness to teething, and allowing the trouble to go on unchecked on that account. Babies may, and do, die of pneumonia or other disease just because medical advice is not obtained in time, the parents buoying themselves up with a sense of false security, believing the trouble to be due only to “teething.” We have even met mothers who were reluctant to. allow any treatment for diarrhoea, fearing that, if the diarrhoea were cured,, the “teething trouble” would break out in some other form. One of the greatest modern authorities on children’s diseases says, in discussing the subject of teething: “Teething used to be regarded as a frequent cause of serious and fatal disease. This Is a dangerous belief, because there is usually associated with It the idea that as teething is a natural process the diseases accompanying it are to be tolerated and not checked, as they would be under other circumstances. Consequently we have often met with children exhausted with diarrhoea which has been allowed to go on untreated for weeks because it was held to be "only from the teeth.” The diagnosis of teething as a cause of any illness will always be a popular one, because it casts no blame on the parents, as exposure to cold, Improper feeding, and rickets are apt to do.” It would be difficult to put the matter more soundly or more briefly than In this quotation. We would not suggest that teething will never upset a baby, but the occasions when teething is really to blame for a serious illness are exceedingly rare. A Natural Process. Teething is a natural process, and in a normal, healthy child it usually produces little or no general effect; certainly fully half the number of healthy babies show no symptoms of any . kind. At the same time, even in normal, healthy babies teething Is sometimes accompanied by more or less distress, both, locally in the gums and generally, and it may occasionally produce a tendency or liability to digestive upset or to disease not present at other times. The authority from whom we have just, quoted goes on to say that “the effect of teething on a child’s health varies with his strength, and especially with the state of his nervous system. While most children cut their teeth with but a slight passing indisposition; If even that, others who are rickety, neurotic, or otherwise weakly may. show signs of more or less severe reflex as well as local Irritation.” We would specially wish to stress the point of nervous instability. Over-stimulation, irregularity, and mismanagement generally tend to produce the type of baby who is specially prone to serious disturbance at teeth-ing-tlme. The Signs of Teething.

The symptoms of slight nervous irritation which are commonly seen even In normal babies are usually as follows;— Some disturbance of sleep, restlessness at night, and fretfulness by day; some loss of appetite: increase In the quantity of saliva; some tenderness of the gums, and a constant tendency for the child to put

the Angers into the mouth. The weight often remains stationary for a week or two. Overfeeding or forcing food against the Inclination of the child may excite an attack of mild indigestion and diarrhcea. Symptoms actually due to teething more severe than these are rare In healthy children, but occasionally the gums are very sore, or the temperature may rise above normal for a few days with a complete loss of appetite. A cold In the head or cough is more easily contracted than usual, and may be very persistent. Babies with a tendency to eczema often get worse or have a definite outbreak of the rash when each tooth or group of teeth is coming through. Occasionally there is a convulsion before the , tooth comes through. If a baby Is obviously 11l at teethingtime, get medical advice and proper treatment at once. Though teething may predispose the child to illness, it Is not the cause of the Illness. The cause must be found and treated just as promptly as at any other time. Delay may be dangerous. So great an authority on children's diseases as the late Dr. Holt, of New York, considered the common tendency to attribute disease in the baby to teething to be a dangerous delusion. What to do for a Teething Baby.

The majority of babies, properly fed. handled, and cared for, show no marked symptoms and require no .treatment. However, it l is equally true that many babies show slight signs of nervous irritation and lowered resistance, and for these a few commensense precautions will prevent the possibility of any serious trouble or complications. Remember that lack of appetite is usually Nature's warning; it means that the ability to deal with food is lowered. If the warning is regarded all will be well; if it is disregarded a serious digestive upset may be caused. Also remember that increase in the number of motions Is Nature’s method of getting rid of food material with which the digestion is temporarily unable to deal, and is a signal for decrease in the strength of the food. Consequently it is wise to dilute the food for a few days by taking out a few ounces of milk mixture and substituting boiled water. It is just as well, also, to boll the mixture for three to five minutes for a few days unless the baby is constipated. If this last Is the case, see that the bowels move properly every day: give an enema If necessary. Never force food on the child, but see that extra drinks of water and diluted fruit or vegetable juice are given between meals. Even a few sips of water taken frequently may be a great comfort and help to the baby, especially if a little feverish. Take extra care just at this time that baby does not lie on the outside of his bed in wet napkins, does not get lifted straight from sleep in a warm bed on to cold linoleum, and so on. Be specially careful about draughts and chilis. Shun teething powders and soothing syrups of all kinds. Do not allow anyone to persuade you to give your baby patent medicines.

So we come back to the simple Incontrovertible fact that prevention is better than cure and that the way to’ prevent teething troubles is to make and keep the child healthy and well.

A new fashion in quick lunches has been set in London by Lady Harcourt, a smart American hostess very interested in charities, who is a personal friend of the Queen. Anxious to meet the members of her committee, which is arranging a “Lucky Ball,” she invited them to a “fork luncheon,” at the Hyde Park Hotel, which was got through in about half the time that an ordinary luncheon would take. A buffet was sef up at one end of the room, and dishes containing hors d’oeuvre of every kind, numerous patties and sandwiches, individual cups of fruit salad, and petit fours placed upon it. Guests helped themselves to plates and forks, selected the food which appealed to them most, and carried it to their own tables. Only one waiter, in charge of trays of cocktails, was on duty, and not only was precious time saved, but the atmosphere was much more free and informal.