OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3160, 7 October 1914, Page 70

OUR BABIES.

By llygeia.

Published under the auspices of ths Society for the Health of Women and Children. •' ft is wiser to put up a fence at the • top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” DUMMY OR COMFORTER. There is no subject on which more protests reach me from Branches of the Society, mothers a?id Plunket Nurses, than the continued use of the Dummy, in spite of its injurious effects on the child. Of course, one sees less of the dummy than formerly; but it is not disappearing anything like as rapidly as another allied abomination — namely, the “long-tube feeder,” though it is hard to say which is the more injurious. The Society has been asked to prepare an illustrated leaflet showing the damage done by the Dummy to mouth, jaws, and developing teeth; also the spoiling of the airway above the roof of the mouth, etc. It is contended that an authoritative leaflet would be a more effective deterrent in many quarters than personal argument. We are urged to force home the part played by the Dummy, not only in disfiguring the child for life and giving it a tendency to prominent upper front teeth, and a weak, rabbit-liko face, but also in giving rise to mouth-breathing and adenoids, indigestion, etc. No pains should be spared in this matter, and we hope to have a convincing leaflet available for issue before the end of the year. However, I may point out, in the meantime, that almost everything needing to be said on the subject is already explained, and illustrated, on pages 132 to 133, and 140, 141 of the Society’s Book, “Feeding and Caro of Baby,” from which I quote the following: EXTRACT FROM SOCIETY’S BOOK. “The Society has been making strong efforts to bring about the abolition of the ‘Dummy,’ and has drawn the attention of the Legislature to the extent and gravity of the evils resulting from its use. Doctors „ and dentists are at one on this matter. . Every year the journals of both professions teem with references to the evils of the ‘Dummy Habit.' The abomination was scathingly denounced at a recent Dental Congress, and the following extracts from a letter since received by the Society from the President of the New Zealand Dental Association need no comment: — In reply to your note [concerning the Dummy], speaking from a Dental point of view, there can bo no doubt as to its evil effects. . . . During early childhood the bones are soft and easilymoulded, so the use of any such appliance as the “Dummy” is highly injurious. By its use the bones ox both mouth and nose arc involved. It is the cause, m most cases, of the contracted, or what wo call the Y-shapcd arch, interfering with proper dentition, causing the tooth to erupt irregularly and to bo misplaced, one of the most frequent types being protrusion, which in turn induces mouth-

breathing and its train of evils, such as adenoids, enlarged tonsils, etc., thereby lowering the vitality of the ch:d and rendering it more susceptible to disease of any and every kind. ... I have said enough from the Dental point of view alone to warrant the authorities in taking steps to abolish the use of such contrivances as the “Dummy.” I fail to see any argument in its favour, especially when we consider that the habit is an acquired one. Some years ago Dr T. F. Pedley, M.D., published a striking article in the British Medical Journal, giving the results of his experiences m the Far East and liis researches in England as to the baleful influence of the “Dummy” or “Comforter.” He said ; . . . Apart from its mechanical effects upon the jaws and teeth, its uge is obnoxious and uncleanly, for it introduces into the child’s mouth dirt and micro-organisms, and causes an abnormal secretion of saliva, detrimental to digestion. Of course, the “Comforter” must be abolished and forbidden; its use is injurious, and if resorted to after warning, should be deemed an indictable offence. . . . Wherever Igo the extraordinary prevalence of the use of the Dummy has astonished me. In the streets or travelling by rail, I meet this thing; the children playing on the sands have it in their mouths. In tens of thousands the mischief has been done, they are shamefully disfigured for life. It seems to me that the arrest of this evil is as deserving of the attention of our legislators as many of the subjects to which they devote so much time and energy. Dr Pickerill, Professor of Dentistry at Otago University, and the leading dentists of the Old World and America, speak in similar terms as to the baleful influence of the “Dummy,” and this is confirmed by leading physicians and surgeons. WOMEN HARD TO MOVE! Men are not far wrong when they say it is a hard job to get a wrong idea out of our heads when once it has become firmly established, and harder still to get us to give up a bad habit. Indeed, some of the Plunket Nurses toll us that in the matter of the “Dummy” a leaflet would work more reform through the‘fathers than through the mothers. I don’t know whether there is much to choose. Suppose wo try to convert both !