NERVOUS CHILDREN.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 106, 3 May 1909, Page 3

NERVOUS CHILDREN.

A TWENTIETH CENTURY AFFLICTION.

(By H. H. Riddle, M.8.) The nervous baby grows up into the nervous child. Unfortunately, vca-y few mothers have ever realised the possibility' of nervousness in babies. They seem to think that the nervousness which is &0' common in children or the present generation is simply a \ causeless affliction which has suddenly, .for .no reason, chosen that particular child for its attention. Even when a baby goes to the length of having convulsions the knowing mother, though she may be terrified for the moment, is very apt io say, "It's only indigestion, and will .pass off at once, leaving him none the worse afterwards." She never stops to think why it is that a slight attack of indigestion which would have no effect on a- grown parson is sufficient cause for the serious nervous upset seen in a. baby's convulsions. The convulsioms of the baby with indigestion are the answers to nerve messages sent to the brain from the stomach; indigestion presumably sends similar messages to an adult's brain, but a<s the full-grown brain has greater stability than the infantile one, these messages are resisted, and no convulsive movements result.

MUST NOT MAKE BABY LAUGH

As a matter of fact, just at _ this time, wlien. no one is taking tie slightest notice of the infant's brain, the nervous issues which compose it are in theiir most critical i&tate.

To begin with, the brain grows more in the first two years than in all the Test of life, and during this period should be carefully shielded from anything which leads to ■fiinctioaial activity—i.e., .thinking or noticing or otherwise using its intelligence. The habit of playing with the baby, making it laugh and crow to show off its intelligence may delight the mother, but if repeated with any frequency is simply paving the way for a normal baby to grow up into a -nervous child. The best treatment for baby during its first year is to attend carefully to its physical wants <and to absolutely neglect the fact that it has a mind at all. There should be no rompitng or playing, or, in fact, anything which can interest or excite its mind. .

Next in importance com© proper feeding and copect training in sleeping. Bad nutrition is the great cause of the nerves getting into that state which easily leads up to nervousness, .stammering, St. Vitus's Dance, and even convulsions. If the nerve centres and the brain get insufficient food and sleep they become exhausted -acrid overstrained.

To be well nourished the baby must not only have suitable food, but must be fed at regular intervals. During the day the infant of a few months.of age should be wakened regularly every two and a half hours for its meals; during the night if it waken® it may bo fed, but the feeding times should be at least three hours a.pa>rt. After (the sixth month the baby should not be fed between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. When, it wakes up at night do not light up the ircom or i-eward its awakening by rocking or feeding it, for if this is done the child will never learn healthy sleeping habits during the time when its nervous mechanism most demands healthy sleep. The baby's nap should be continued until he is four; at this time he should be having fully twelve hours' isleep. Between six and ten, ten and eleven hours are required; from ten to sixteen, iiine hours. My readers may ask how many children between, say, thirteen, and fifteen, get regularly nine houa-s' sleep? My answer is .that -the city life of to-day, which violates these laws, is one of the great causes of the marked and. steady increase in nervous diseases among children,-

VALUE OF THE COLD BATH

Suppose cur. child has learned •healthy sleeping habits in. babyhood and has reached the age of five with a normal nervous system. What can be done, then, to further protect him ftrom the numerous nervous diseases of childhood? The cold bath, properly administered, comes next after correct nourishment and sufficiency of sleep as an encourager of a .sound and stable nervous system. It may be begun with advantage as early as the third year. ' The bath should be given before breakfast in a well-warmed room. The child should stand upright in a, foot bath, containing three or four inches of warm water, .then a large sponge dipped in water between 40deg. .and 60deg. of temperature should be squeezed over the chest and shoulders and spine three or four times. At the same time the skin of those parts should be rubbed vigorously by the nurse with, her free hand. Such a bath should not take more than half a minute a,nd should instantly be fol-

lowed by a brisk rub down with a rough towel. . . With the great majority or children a bath of this kind will be found a valuable nerve tonic. Of course, it cannot be continued if the child has a poor circulation and does not react and get thoroughly warm immediately after the 'rub down.

DIET OF THE NERVOUS

CHILD

i The younger the child the stronger i will be'its dislike to the sudden shock iof the cold water. However, the full expansion of the lungs following *js crying is not without its own good effect."at a time when the circulation is stimulated by the cold, and so requires a full amount of oxygen in the lungs. Tho diet of the nervous child should be full and nourishing, but should place as little strain as possible on the digestive system. Plenty of green vegetables and fresh •fruit should bo given, and at tear-time and in the middle of the morning the child should be encouraged to drink a glass of inch milk. Excessively istaa-chy food, such as potatoes and oatmeal are by some authorities considered harmful for .nervous children, since their tendency to fermentation _ (df ,nat thoroughly cooked) may give .rise to nervous stimuli from the stomach, specially to be avoided in such cases. If a child appears to be nervous, has muscular twitchiaigs, or is "jumpy," the throat a.nd nose should be examined at once for 'adenoids and enlarged tonsils. Chronic constipation is another cause of nervousness.

OVER PRESSURE AT SCHOOL

Nervous children between the ages of seven and fourteen years should be watched particularly carefully during the spring months for symptoms of St. Vifcu's'is Dance. This disease 4 which is twice as common in girls as in. boys, is often the result of over pressure at school. Anaemia and eye uefects are also possible causes, the presence of which should be looked for on, the first 'appearance of the disease.

The nervous child, paavfcicula<rly if nervous and jerky movements are present, should be kept away from school -indefinitely. Never laughed art or punished, special attention should be paid, to aiourishing and building up the body. In such oases the child's outdoor exercise must be carefully watched, and all bodily fatigue should b© avoided, as this only weakens the already abnormal condition of the nervous system.—Daily Mail.