OUR BABIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 66, 26 March 1913, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

Published under the auspices ol the Society for the Health of Womes and Children. “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” THE ACCURSED DUMMY. When I have to denounce the “dummy” or “comforter,” it is always with a sense of humiliation and indignation—humiliation to think that any of ns women can he unwomanly enough to continue to use a filthy abomination which has proved itself so deforming and damaging to children—humiliation to think that some of us will continue doing this wrong until the policeman won’t let us; in other ‘words, until wo are prevented by the passing of an Act of Parliament; and indignation to think that ignorant and foolish women should still be subjected to the temptation of specious advertisements, lauding the dummy, which confront them whenever they enter a chemist’s shop. WHAT JOHN BURNS SAYS ABOUT THE DUMMY.

Four years ago, in his opening address at the tuberculosis exhibition in London, John Burns said: — Now I come to another practical remedy for consumpion—that is, the abolition of the “comforter” and the “soother.” This is a very serious thing. The bomb, the pistol, ancj dynamite have killed their scores, and so I believe the comforter or “dummy” teat. No more of little children. What is more, doctors tell me that it subjects the baby’s mouth and throat to malformations that disclose themselves in subsequent years. I am told this—and I believe it is—a special cause of bad teeth. Later on it means impaired digestion, and the relationship of impaired digestion and consumption is a very serious one. I express it as my opinion as a layman that to a great extent the “comforter” or “soother” is responsible in many cases, for adenoids. . . + I would endure the charge of being a bureaucrat with pleasure and equanimity if with one order I could make the “comforter” a public nuisance and schedule it as a dangerous instrument. WHAT AN F.R.C.S. OF ENGLAND SAYS. In a hook just published, written by an M.D. of London and F.R.C.S. of England, I find the following under the heading “The. Crying of Children” :

Closely associated, with the question of dying is mat of the use of the, “comforter” or “dummy” teat. ,1-Np morelaniquitous or dangerous was ever invented than 1 thfe 1 “dumhiyW teat.’ It has been the''danse df physical defect, or even death, to many children. The “dummy” is thrust into the mouth of a ehi!d;i Wild tfiay 'be y cfyifig, at'A’lf times, without the least regard to the cause of its complaint, so that it soonijbeeomesyaj habit to allow the infant- ltd’ suck at the instrument whether We cries br hot. Its usejis merdyna; subterfuge by which the responsible evade the proper investigation of the cause of the crying. Children may he wrongly fed for weeks, the ’ crying from the pain of indigestion being checked and suppressed by a “comforter” being pushed into the mouth. Many people seem to imagine that crying, in season and out, is the natural heritage of infancy, and that children are unreasonable creatures, who cry because they are babies. This is not so, the natural lot of a child is to he happy and contented, his cry merely being his sole means of demonstrating his hunger or discomfort. The nso of the “dummy” is a confession that the child’s attendant will not bother to seek a cause for his distress. Apart from these ethical objections to its use, it is itself harmful. No matter how good the intentions or how good the care taken, “dummies” are hound to fall about, become soiled, and pick up all kinds of noxious germs. They become sat-, urated with saliva and milk, they may be soiled by vomit from the stomach, they inevitably become sour ' and unwholesome. Nevertheless, the wretched infant is taught to suck this dangerous and nasty object at all times. Apart from tins introduction of germs and poisons into the system of the baby, the pressure of the teat in the mouth causes deformity and defects which will affect the health for many years. The constant sucking and pressure tend to cause a highly arched palate, and a narrow jaw which will be too small for the teeth, so that they will be crowded irregularly together and rapidly decay. The shape of the lips and mouth are altered, the space of the nose encroached upon, and that most frequent trouble, “adenoids,” set up. There is no need for “dummy” teats, for if a child is unhappy there is something amiss which should be sought for and corrected. The writer has two children who have never seen a comforter, and he can safely say that in the two years that have elapsed . since the arrival of the first the number of disturbed nights could he counted on the finger.