SILLY SUPERSTITIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21266, 21 February 1931, Page 16

SILLY SUPERSTITIONS.

The many silly superstitions which still exist in regard to babies are a danger to their health and development. For instance, the senseless belief that a baby must not have its finger nails cut or it will grow up a thief. One has only to yalk through a clinic or hospital to see the mischief caused by babies dirty finger nails. A child develops pimples, due probably to wrong feeding; it scratches them with its dirty nails and septic sores are the result. The number of babies covered with septic sores brought about by dirty fingers nails is a disgrace. Then there is the ridiculous superstition that a baby must not be weighed at birth, or it will die. No doubt this had its origin in the dim and dark past when people were afraid to let air and water touch their bodies; but even to-day there are hundreds of mothers who will not allow their babies to be weighed, and for the first few months of their lives muffle them up in such a way that the poor mites can scarcely breathe. When this is done, their lungs fail to expand properly, and they develop chronic complaints which cripple them in later life. A baby must have a “ taste ” of everything or it will grow up with an inability to earn enough to buy such things for itself! How many babies’ digestions are ruined and stomachs permanently injured by giving them “ tastes ” of the family dinner at a time when they should be having nothing but their natural food? People fail to realise that a baby’s stomach is a delicate and sensitive thing, and that to load it with all sorts of things the child docs not want instinctively gives the nerves of the stomach such a tremendous shock that the illeffects are carried to all parts of the body, with disastrous results.

Some mothers believe that a child will not rise in the world if it goes down first, and a nurse who deliberately mounts a chair with a new-born baby in her arms before she takes it downstairs makes herself ridiculous. When people persist in making a child go “Up! Up! Up! ” and throw it into the air, it is too much for the infant’s nerves. A small child is often terrified as it finds itself tossed into the air, and its nerves are strung to a fearful tension. One has only to watch a baby’s face to see it. Observe the look in the eyes; the strained appearance of the mouth, even although it may laugh afterwards. Treat your child naturally. Let it develop on natural lines. Forget old superstitions and give your baby a chance to grow up unhampered by old Victorian customs and traditions.