OUR BABIES

Northern Advocate, 28 July 1934, Page 4

OUR BABIES

(By Hygeia.)

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). THE NORMAL CHILD. i. (Continued.) Last week we printed our talk about “Baby’s Milestones of Physical, Mental, and Moral Progress,” which arc likened to a highway. The embodiment of all that arithmetic is just an average healthy baby—a normal child —but one who would satisfy any mother and be welcome-wherever he went. We can all name—we .can all see —bonny babies setting out bravely on life’s highway. I am sure we would all do our utmost to help them keep up with their milestones as the time goes on.

But what has gone to make our normal baby? Is it by accident he possesses. all these qualities? Is he just one of the lucky ones? I must tell you that our normal baby is the centre of a magic circle, which, so long as it remains unbroken and no enemies are lying hidden within, will protect him from all harm. The circle is kept by 12 good fairies, and every baby, rich or poor, in town or country, in ay have these guardians if only his mother wills and works for them. We all know that the centre of a circle is the safest place if: one has to be constantly on guard against attack. We are familiar with pictures of fortified towns in the middle ages and fortified pah . of old Maori days. Provided the circling walls remained intact and no traitors arose from within, the inhabitants were safe from their foes, but one breach in the walls or treachery Avithin and the enemy had direct access. The same here Avith our baby here in the circle. The influence of his forefathers and his father’s life and his mother’s oaaui life during the nine months prior to his birth may haA r e handicapped Avith Aveak spots Avithin. The past avc cannot alter, but here in the present lies our golden opportunity, and the baby Avith a handicap needs the 12 good fairies eA’eu more than his stronger brother.

Essential No, 3. Air: We may continue to exist for some weeks without food, but without air avc can live for three minutes only. Fresh air is one of the greatest of .Nature’s bounties, but, being invisible, intangible, free, it is unappreciated. The great preventives of coughs, cold, and bronchitis are fresh air, cool air, moving air.

-. Water, which, like air, we don’t appreciate because we have it in abundance. The chief point to emphasise with regard to baby’s supply is to ensure its purity. His inside is more vulnerable than his outside, so his drinking water is boiled. The fact that more than two-thirds of baby’s body consists of water .may help us to realise that he may be .grateful for a drink of water more often than we think.

f>. Food: Baby’s natural food, his own mother’s milk, is his birthright. Nothing can ever replace it, If he cannot have the best, lie is entitled to the next beat made and graded humanised milk; and in his second and third years and onwards good, sensil.de food, with, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables; throe meals a day and no pieces. 4. Clothing’ comes next, and should be light as well as warm and nonirritaliiig. n.. Bathing: The fairy knight of the bath is usually a great favourite. He stands in a cosy corner, well equipped with soap,* towels, warm clothes, etc. We should not be tempted to prolong ..baby’s b&t.hing ceremonies unduly lest he catch cold. (i. Muscular Exercise and Sensory Stimulation: These are powerful allies. Baby’s first act, that of'crying, is ex-

ereise, Avhich expands his linigs and brings many muscles into play. Since baby cannot at once aspire to a daily dozen, don’t begrudge him 15 to 20 minutes' hearty howling. Within a few days of birth he begins to take pleasure in stretching in the freedom of his bath, and as his mind, develops his activities increase, until liis little body is a hive of industry. The law of exercise applies to mail and all members of the animal kingdom. Every part of the body and the mind is strengthened by exercise and weakened by inactivity. Exercise means-pro-gress. The daily exercise of a five dr six-month-old baby should include at least an hour’s vigorous muscular work in the form of kicking (say anything lip to two hours in a kicking-peh or other safe place, protected from draughts); 15 to 20 minutes' vigorous suckling every four hours, with the rubbing and handling given almost unseiously by his mother; exposure to open moving air and sunlight. . . .'7. Warmth comes next; • more helpful' at the feet than at the,.head—a good thing of which we may have tpd much.

8. Regularity of all habits is a very important factor in the normal baby’s life from bis very first day. What a difference healthy habits can make! And with an infant we start with a clean sheet —no old bad habits to overcome. So important is the. value of early training in "ood habits that one might almost, say, “Take cafe of the first two years and the rest will take care of themselves/’

f). Cleanliness in everything protects baby from many dangers. ■ 10 and 11. Mothering and Management: Does it seem superfluous .to mention this to mothers? All us loa'o babies, but through our very 1oa t o and care avc may cause them to suffer in the end. For spoiling a child is a 'serious thing. But if management is combined Avith mothering the baby is

happy. / 12. Rest and sleep'follow naturally in the cycle. They are of vital iih- . portanee. Why does baby heed. soP much sleep? Because his machinery . runs at high pressure, . All engines made by man are finished, before they’ ■ are used, but the human body is/worked '■•while it is growing. At first baby should sleep nine-tenths of his time.' ‘ At six months he needs It) to IS hours out of 24, at a, year he needs 15 hours, and at four years old 32 or 13 hours. It is terrible to read that grave adult diseases, such as insomnia,"’ hysteria, and insanity, can be traced back to over-stimulation and Jack of rest in infancy. Socrates says that “in every work the beginning is the most important j. part, especially in dealing' with anything young and tender.” Healthy manhood and healthy womanhood arc the purest and best wealth of the ■world, and it is only possible to produce them from healthy babyhood, and healthy childhood.