For Home and Duty. INFANTILE HYGIENE.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 98, 22 October 1904, Page 10

For Home and Duty. INFANTILE HYGIENE.

IV. (By "Una," in the Sydney Matt.) The elder girls, with a look 'of pleased expectancy in their eyes, eat awaiting the arrival of the woman doctor who was coming to instruct them in the care of infant life. This is a novel departure, and the head mistress, whose aim falls nothing short of the development of"The perfect woman: nobly planned"welcomes it as a valuable addition to the subjects connected with woman's special walk in the home, which form bo important a part of the new syllabus. And could any study be more truly feminine than the care of a little child? This is woman's true kingdom— the supreme end of her existence. Rightly considered, the function of maternity eclipses all other vocations, and is the focus upon which must converge the weal or woe of a nation. Every girl in the class was % potential mother, and many of them nad little brothers and sisters who would benefit actually by the teaching ; but the good resulting from this wise instruction will be fully realised only by posterity. The lamentable loss of infant life in this country from dietetic errors can only be met by the diffusion of sound knowledge. Nine lessons on this vital subject have been delivered in most of the public schools, and about fifty in the Hurlstone College, where pupils are trained for the important office of teachers. When one reflects thai many of these educated women will by the missionaries of civilisation in distant* back blocks — the friends and confidents ol mothers as well as of children — we realise how vitally important is this skilled teaching on the preaervatiok nf infant life. PUBLIC HEALTH ACT. The lessons opened with an acknowledg. ment of the good work done by u he Government in providing a pure water supply, ' watering the streets to keep down the germ-laden dust, carting away rubbish, supplying proper garbage tins, and inspecting meat and milk. The personal efEort of the housewife is necessary to keep sinks and drains in good working order, and prevent the accumulation of vegetable matter. Dirty corners are the happy hunting grounds of the deadly fever germ, and an infant's first right was shown to be a clean and healthful en vironment. A jug of milK standing un covered on the kitchen table, a thick cream rising, and, on top of that, a light peppering of dust, was proved to be v potent engine of destruction. MILK The necessity for absolute purity in what should be— in the absence of breast milk — the nursling's sole food supply was strongly urged. Quite recently a British medical journal described a dairy farm which had offered to supply a children's hospital as "deplorably filthy" — the cowo huddled together in pitch-dark buildings with a toul atmosphere, and the environs "a sea of filth." "One batch of dirty men, with dirty hands and coarse, dirty aprons, was milking these cows in sheds which were plunged in Cimmerian darkness. As the lecturer described a proper' dairy farm for babies, tenanted by thejbest and most healthy cows, served by milkers of spotless cleanliness, and employing vessels absolutely free from the presence of any haunting germ — just euch a dairy, in fact, as a trenchant Russian critic lately in oux midst declares to be the only possible dairy for the handling of so delicate and easily tainted an article of diet as milk — there arose before the eyes of the listener the vision of the dairies any globe-trotter can see at a mid-summer fete in the Swiss highlands — the floor and ceilings spotless, the wooden vessels white and shining from incessant scrubbing, and the herdsmen in their picturesque sleeveless coats, so cut that only sleeves of snowy linen can coma in contact with the cow. Vf&cp

sucb precautions used in New South Wales the terrible figures representing infantile mortality would be considerably reduced. So alarming is the preponderance of gastrointestinal disorders among the bottle-fed nurslings that the inauguration of milk dispensaries as part of a hospital equipment is being seriously considered. THE FEEDING OF INFANTS. The reason why cows' milk should be the sole substitute for breast milk formed part of a lesson on the digestive system It was shown that Nature accords teeth and saliva to children at certain stages of their development, and that until the necessary secretions are formed infants cannot possibly digest starch foods. The only substitute then for the natural food is cows' milk, which most authorities recommend should be diluted with barley water. But the best way must ever be Nature's way, and mothers are recommended to nurse their children till they are old enough to digest starch foods. When one considers the terrible risks that are run by the bottle-fed baby, the difficulty in keeping tne feeding bottle absolutely clean and free from the haunting disease germ, one marvels that any motive short of dire necessity should induce a mother to substitute artificial for natural feeding. THE HEALTHY BABY. But the lecturer did not seek to dwell on the morbid side of the subject, but rather to show the conditions favourable to the development of the healthy infant. Early life was shown to be divided into two parts : Infancy (from birth to the end of the first dentition, which is about the end of the second year) ; and childhood, from this period till about the fourteenth year. A pretty picture was presented of the healthy baby wnen asleep — an image of perfect repose. The eyelids should be completely closed, the lips slightly parted, and there should be no movement of the nostrils. ' When awake, the baby has a look of placid wonder in its face, which gradually gives way to the dawning intelligence and becomes responsive to feelings. During the first few days of life the skin is of a reddish colour, which fades to a yellowish white, and later becomes the beautifully white soft skin of babyhood. The soles of the feet and the palms of the hand have a delicate rosy colour, which quickly becomes more brilliant still. The head of the new-born baby is comparatively large, a quarter of the total length. The cnest looks cramped, the abdomen prominent. The average weight is 7£lb It should double its weight in five months, and treble it in twelve. If the baby's weight does not progress at this ratio, the cause, especially the diet, should be investigated, a few days' sickness wUI materially affect the weight. A healthy baby holds its head up generally at three months, tries to sit up at about four months, crawls at about eight months, is able to drag itself up in standing positions at about nine months, and can walk alone at about fourteen months. I The infant should be weighed every fortnight, and if it does not grow in height and weight, if the teeth are delayed, the_ bones do not grow strong and straight, if there ie a tendency to bow legs, and the child is peevish, something must be wrong. These are the 'indications of disease. Tears are secreted between the third and fourth month, and the saliva between the fifth and sixth month. THE BABY'S BATH. T.his is one of the pleasures of its little life, and should be carried out in & leisurely way with plenty of time for talk and play. If hurriedly performed the baby's temper is ruffled and it grows nervous. Ten o'clock was indicated as a favourable hour for a leisurely bath, as by that time the mother's duties towards husband and elder children would be over. Ihey^nr ouiu hare departed to business and school, and the mother would be left free to bath, .and fondle her Jjttle one. - She should be provided^ with two aprons or with a large soft towel and a big sponge. The baby loves the sponge to be squeezed on its little chest. Care of this sponge forms a most important item. After the bath it should be carefully washed with clean water and hung up to dry. It was recommended that a nail high above the reacu of inquisitive or grimy little fingers should be used for this purpose, and the sponge kept jealously for the baby alone. Although the baby loves its bath it is important it should not be frightened at the outset by too much water. Let it make acquaintance with its new element gradually; everything connected with a baby is a work of time, and early impressions are of vast importance. There is a moral side to a baby's bath, and the nurse has it largely in her power to evolve a nervous, fretful, irritable, or a calm, sunny, good-tempered baby. After the bath, great, care must be taken to prevent a chill. The baby must be wrapped at once in one of the aprons, and carefully dried, or the damp will make the skin irritable. All the little crevices and rolla oi fat must be thoroughly dealt with, and then baby's bath is complete. In this climate it seems that the favourite prescription of a Part doctor — the bathing of children in the open air and in tubs of water warmed by the sun-r-might be practised without difficulty. It is no uncommon thing, when calling early on a French friend, to meet on th< lawn some tiny. Cupid toddling from his sun-kissed bath. Other lessons— all bearing directly or indirectly on infantile hygiene — dealt with sueh 1 important subjects as ventilation, the chemistry, of food, the preparation of a bedroom before sickness, the disinfection after sickness, germs, infectious fevers and their initial symptoms, and th' duty of notifying to the sanitary authorities such diseases as typhoid, scarlet fever, and plague.