OUR BABIES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16447, 28 May 1919, Page 5

OUR BABIES.

(By “Hygeia.”)

» i “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” Published under the auspices of tho Royal (N.Z.) Society for the Health of I Women and Children, j New Plymouth • Plunket Nurse Williams. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. I Sydney Allen, New Plymouth. ( StratfordPlunket Nurse Wake. Hon. j Secretary, Mrs. L. Riera, Juliet Street. Hawera: Plunket Nurse Dis. Hon. Secretary, Airs. M. J. Jauson, Box 2k. A MOTHER’S LETTER. (Continued.) Last week we were answering a mother’s question regarding the pain and trouble which frequently accompany tho irruption of an infant s teeth. Wo shall repeat the question and continue j the answer. ( QUESTION HI. | Is it possible to relieve the pain little j intaius often suffer through teething other than by giving cooling medicine i and paying special attention to tho , child’s 100 U, etc.? Learned doctors I know affirm sometimes that if infants aro correctly fed they will not suffer, ! also that teething, being a natural proj cess, there should be no pain. 1 am sure I this is wrong, for babies nursed by their J mothers often show great discomfort, as ; also do those fed on humanised milk, ! and they received cooling medicine and 1 were treated in as scientific a manner as j babies could be treated. ! REPLY. I j Food not everything.—'While wo agree ; that teething, being a natural process, there should bo littlo or no pain, wo dissent from the proposition that correct . feeding alone will suffice to bring about ' this happy condition. It is extraordinary that many people cannot see beyond the i feeding question when dealing with ba- : bios. Nothing can bo narrower than the 1 outlook of those who imagine that tho needs of babies can bo met by merely 1 supplying them with tho right kind of food. Of almost equal importance are ; outing and sunlight; cool, fresh, flowing l air day aud night ; proper unrestrictive i clothing; a sufficiency of warmth with-

out excess; regular habits, especially in regard to sleeping, feeding, exercising, bathing, movement of bowels, etc., and in fact, all those simple but essential requirements which are almost universally attainable hut which the modern mother unless specially guided, almost always fails to provide in one direction or another. MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES. Almost all the simple ailments of babyhood may be regarded as tending to arise from defective food or neglect of any of the factors which contribute towards perfect health. Most mothers and nurses cannot advance beyond the stage of regarding everything as all right so long as the baby is growing and behaving well. Provided this is the case they feel that they can safely cease to trouble about the nature of the food; they tend to allow the baby to lie and indolently imbibe its food (if bottle-fed), and they probably do not bother much about securing adequate stimulation, exercise, etc. There is no idea, of making hay while the sun shines—no idea of getting the baby into such splendid form and nutrition when he is doing well that teething or any other common disturbing factor may find him capable of throw-, ing off the trouble without any interruption of progress. Perfect nutrition, perfect vigour, perfect fitness all round, are the things to aim at in rearing a baby, and in our experience they follow as the night follows day, unde rintelligent care and attention. SEEMING TRIFLES. Of course, there are numbers of little minor cares aud attentions which make all the difference in keeping a baby comfortable and healthy. Thus in the case of wind or colic, the picking up of the baby and dispersing the wind by holding him against the cnest and patting the back is the best way, the application of warmth to the feet or abdomen, or the giving of an ounce or more of hot water —any, or several of these, may bring rest and comfort if attended to judiciously at tho proper moment. Or, bettor still, the onset of colic can be prevented by proper attention to all hygienic conditions.) Tho omission of a single factor may make all the difference. Take, for instance, the temperature of the food. During winter especially littlo flannel coverings should be made for tho feeding-bottle to ensure throughout tho feeding a uniform proper warmth of tho food. Nothing is more apt to contribute to wind than cold food. If our correspondent will take the trouble to investigate thoroughly every case in which a baby, nursed by his mother or fed on humanised milk, shows great discomfort, wo are certain she will find that one or morß of tho essentials for health are completely neglected or inadequately carried out. The essentials are practically the same for mother and child. We cannot quite understand what our correspondent means, by cooling medicine; but wo say again, as we have frequently said before; “Never use Soothing Powders or Patent Medicines. If drugs are needed they should bo ordered ,by a doctor.”

AN APPRECIATION,

The mother concludes her letter thus: Like many other women, I feel very grateful to the Plunket (society, and nope it has come to stay. If only the writings by “itygeia” could bo published l>y the daily papers all over the Dominion 1 am sure there would be less sullying and fewer deaths amongst infants. I say daily papers, because they reach a- greater number of people. Of course, the weeklies do good work, but I am convinced that if the dailies were to take up the subject they would revolutionise the work of rearing infants. Women do not know they are ignorant; therein lies the trouble, 'they have seen babies fed on patent foods grow fat and healthy-looking, and naturally concluded that that was as good a way to feed them as any other. What is wanted is some- way of reaching every woman in the Dominion, and I cannot see any better way of doing so than through the daily papers. Once women come to sec that certain methods are injurious to their babies they’ll soon look for something better. Very few nurses—even hospital nurses—can tell us how to make humanised milk—in fact, they seem to shirk it, as far as I can see". If they would do their duty in this respect and impart their knowledge to every mother _ they nurse, things would soon begin to mend, and fewer deaths from improper feeding would occur. MEMO. BY “HYG.EIA."

We are pleased to meet with still another reader of our column who appreciates the work of the society. Needless to say, we entirely agree with our correspondent when she speaks of the far-reaching benefit which would accrue to the Pominion if all our nurses—not only th<#Plnnket Nurses—were practically "trained in the needs of babyhood. Wo should, however, wish them to do much more than merely demonstrate the pronarntion and use of humanised milk. They should carry with them into the homes they visit such a keen, practical knowledge of all the essentials for health that whether their work lies among the adult sick or among healthy babies their first instinct would be to place the entire household under the most favourable hygienic conditions. Then, indeed, would they be bringers of health, and their influence for good would be incalculable.

“OUR BABIES” COLUMN. Wa should be glad to see “Our BabietsV column published in every daily newspaper in the Dominion, because we believe that the simple knowledge we are trving to convey cannot be too widely diffused. Meantime it may interest our readers to know that the. articles appear regularly every week in some 50 newspaper in the Dominion, and in more than 50 newspapers in Australia.