OUR BABIES

Grey River Argus, 1 August 1940, Page 8

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.” MAKING THE MOST OF THE AIR. Prams and Pram Hoods. Our attention has lately been called, or, rather, recalled, to the matter of pram hoods and the wrong use that is made of them. Hoods are meant as a protection against the weather. I They are made adjustable, but how I often they are used as a fixture! DurI ing the most beautiful weather one sees pram after pram go by with the hood right up. One of the most pitiful and exasperating sights of modern babyhood, is the spectacle of an unfortunate infant sweltering and sweating under a hood lined witn American leather. Here surely is human ignorance at the worst —a glorious sunny day intended to give life ana strength to all young creatures converted into an agency of debility and sickness for the baby. Often a baby is put to sleep outside in the glaring sunshine in a pram with the hood up, mother fondly imagining she is doing her best for the baby because he is “outside.” I have seen a young baby “sweltering” under this treatment, and because he was cross mother trying to pacify him by giving him some water, when all that he needed was the hood down and the pram pushed to the shelter of a tree or hedge. The ordinary unventilated leather-lined pram hood is most injurious, as there is no current of pure air passing over the baby’s head. It is especially harmful in warm weather, when the baby’s breath stagnates round the mouth and nose, so that he breathes his own breath over and over again, thus poisoning the system. The enfeebling effect is increased by the fact that the hot air causes sweating and limpness of the whole body. Fortunately the barbarous old custom of hanging a curtain or shawl over the front of the hood is dying out, also the practice of covering the baby’s face with a veil or handkerchief, but one still sees both occasionally. If a shawl is thrown over Ihe opening of the hood it is converted into a veritable “Black Hole of Calcutta,” in the atmosphere of which, with the sun beating on the leather hood, most mothers would quickly faint.

The baby out in the middle of a green field under a close, leather-lin-ed pram hood on a warm, sunny day is actually far worse off for air and healthy stimulation than if indoors in a well-ventilated room. Everyone knows how bad it is for baby to be kept indoors, but few realise he may be worse off under a leather-lined pram hood in the open air and sunlight The ideal sunshade is a tree, shrub or hedge, such as animals instinctively seek on bright days. Next best is a veranda or wall. Failing thesb, and for use when being wheele.i about, there should be a small canopy or blind or an umbrella-like shade sufficing to keep off the wind and direct rays of the sun from particular directions, but not causing heating up of air and stagnation round the baby’s head.

Selecting a Pram.

Although a great many prams are now made of seagrass, unfortunately a great majority of the hoods are Spoiled by being lined throughout

with American leather. If you are. buying a new pram be sure and study “Feeding and Care” (pages 54-57) before deciding which you will buy. If you are choosing a seagrass one, choose a green linen or cotton-lined hood, as these are definitely preferable to the leather-lined ones. A white lining is too glaring for the baby.

Do not have a ball fringe round the edge of the hood, as this may harm the baby’s sight by its constant movement. Ventilating holes can be bored in the floor underneath the mattress to prevent stuffiness and condensation of perspiration. The lining of American cloth in prams is washable. Never make a pram serve the purpose of a baby’s cot, because there is bound to be constraint and cramping to baby’s limbs and body, and as his sleeping hours are so long a proper cot should be used. Further, a cot is more clean and free from stuffiness. Do not make a fetish of taking laby out in his pram. Little babies are' really better sleeping quietly under the shelter of a veranda or tree. In this way they have the benefit of more restful, quiet sleep withcut the jolting incidental to being wheeled over uneven roads.