OUR BABIES

Otago Witness, Issue 3098, 30 July 1913, Page 62

OUR BABIES

Bi Hygkia..

Published under the auspice* of the Society for the Health of Women and Children. " ft is wiser to put up a fenco at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” ADDRESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES A N D SEC it ETA it lES. Dunedin. —Piunket Nurse Laing. Id. Ilc6. Plunket Nurse APLaron. Tel. 2814. Office of the Society, Poet Office Building. Liverpool street, Dunedin. Office Hours, daily (except Saturday and Sunday), from 3 to 4 p.mi. lion. Secretary, Mrs Joseph M‘George, 54 London street. Tel. 1737. Christchurch.—Plunket Nurses Ellis, Hansard, and Kilgour. Office of the Society, Chancery Lane. Office hours, 2 to 3 p.rn. daily (except Sunday). Hon Secretary, Airs' H. Pync, Beaiey avenue, i el. 235. Wellington. —Plunket Nurse Morgan; assistant, Nurse Mackintosh. Society s Room, 86 Vivian street, i el. 2125. Hon, Secretary, Airs Al‘Vicar, 27 Brougham street, City. Tel. 26t2. Auckland. —Plunket Nurses Chappell and Morgan. Tel. 851. Office of the Society, 2 Chancery street. Tel. 829. Office hours, Tuesdays and Fridays, a. 30 to 4 n.m. Hon. Secretary, Airs \V. 11. Burkes, Alarinoto, Symonds street. Id. 240. Napier.—Plunkrt Nurse Donald, Marine Parade. Hon. Secretary, Airs Hector Smith. . f Timaru.—Plunket Nurse Bowie. Office of tho Society, Sophia, street. lei. 514-. Office Fours. 3.30 to 4.30 p.in. ; featuxoay. 2.30 to 4 p.m. Hon. Secretary, Air Ernest Howdcn. .... Invercargill.—Plunkrt Nurse O Shea, Alwn s Hall. Kelvin street. Hon. Secretary, Mrs Cruickshank, Gala street. Hastings (ll;iv.ke\s T>a.y). Phmkot iSuise Purcell. Office of the Society at Mr Bates’s Pharmacy. Hon. Secretary, Airs T. W. Lewis. Tel. 285. Wanganui District*— Travelling Pumuct. Nurse Wanganui, Alarton. Patea, Nurse 1 lursthonse. ’ Tel. 849. St ere tary and Treasured, Miss IS. Cummins. leh 3/7. Oamaru District.—'Travelling Plunket Nurse Denniston. Hon. Secretary. Airs Haines, Bank of New Zealand. Dunnevirke. —Plunket Nurse Wright. Hon. Secretary, Airs Bickford, Bank of New Zealand. Ashburton.—Plunket Nurse Kilgour. Hon. Secretary. Miss M. Moore, corner of Cass and Peter streets. Society’s Babv 110.-unt-'d, Karitane Hospital. Anderson's Bay. Dunedin. I el. 1985’. Alatron. Aliss Campbell. Tho Matron lias begun a systematic course of talks to mothers and others, to bo continued every Wednesday afternoon between 2.30 and 3.30. At these talks the Alatron will bo glad to answer questions. All interested are invited to attend. AIAisTK 'ATION. Last week wo published three letters from parents referring to ihe difficulty of getting children to chew their food > properly. We then pointed out that a baby s natural instinct to bite at something must be satisfied by giving him a bone to munch at when six or seven months old. and later, at 10 or 12 months, some hard or tough food as part of his meal. We now indicate how tho training may be pursued and the habit of thoroughly masticating food built into tho organ sm. How To Eosilit: Healthy Instincts. The best way to set about teaching a young child to cat sufficiently is to invoke the imitative or mimicking faculty which is so strong in oisr’y childhood. The parents should make the mastication of food interesting by setting the example themselves, and turnhig the process into a kind of game. In the case of a young baby to whom speech is just beginning to appeal the words “bitoy-bite.” illustrated bv the action, soon induce active mimicry; while a somewhat older child may bo interested by comparing the action of tho mouth and jaws in eating to the grinding of corn between miil-stonos. “Is the little grist-mill in good order? ’ at once evokes a show of white teeth, i hus, impelled by a keen desire to prove that in one thing at least it can keep pace with its elders, there follows on the part of the child an active demonstration that the “grist-mill’’ is all right. By just such means are young animals taught the simple and necessary habits by the motiiCT—witmss the education of a kitten in cleanliness (from tho washing of its face to the burying of excrement), or in the catching of mice and birds. iScton Thompson and Long have shown us that all tlije so-called instincts are more or less fortified or fostered in similar ways, and it is strange indeed that tho human mother should usually Imj so negligent as the is in regard to the training of her offspring in simple habits which are of Fitch importance throughout I lie battle of life. Instead of lagging behind, our human reason should carry us further than the instinct of the beasts jn the hygienic training of offspring. With the advance of understanding and imagination there should be no difficulty in thoroughly interesting a fivo-year-o d child in what is needed for preserving its health, provide d only that tho parents are willing to take ns much personal trouble with their offspring as a mother cat does with a young kitten. By means of mere planted advice it is almost impossible to convey exactly how to go about such matters, but parents of reasonable intelligence, gifted with ordinary powers of story-telling, should have no difficulty in gradually enlisting the child's hearty ce-operalinn In the establishment of healthy habits if liny will provide themselves. for instance. with CWman's admirable little “Health Primer.'' published by Alacrnillan. The following extract is a fair Bamp'o of us teaching:— WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UNGRATE. PCI.. There is no pint of the body that is ns*'less. Every part has its duly to perform. (suppose youi father gave yon o knife, and you laid i; on a shelf and did not use it. Suppose you did not even keep the dust and rust off. Do you not think it would be right for him to take the knife away and give it to your brother, who would make good use of i; and keep it clean and bright? The hair is given to us to protect the head from cold and to keep off the hot rays of the sun. Some boys wear fur caps so thick ihat their hair is useloss. Some nr n even seem to think the hair is

of no use. They wear hate everywhere.They wear hats that are as hard as wood and tit so tight tiiat neither air nor fresh blood can get to the scalp. These people are not thankful for their hair, but act as if they think it is of no use whatever. So the hair on the part of the head covered by the hat is taken away from them. Koine children will not eat anything hard. They do not like hard crusts of bread or tough bread, made without Sard. You would almost think they had false teeth, and were afraid of breaking them by rating anything hard or tough. Gums would do as well as teeth for the food they eat. They do not use their teeth, so tlie teeth decay, and arc taken away from them.