HEARTH AND HOME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10440, 20 April 1912, Page 4

HEARTH AND HOME.

OUR BABIES. (By HYGEIA.) ifPublished under the auspices of tho Society for the Health of Women and Children.) ! "It js wiser to put up a fence at tho jtop of a precipice than to maintain an l »mbulanco at the bottom." ,( ADDRESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES f ' AND SECRETARIES. jZhmedin.— Plunket Nurses Ellis and Lamp, i Telephone 1130. Offic» of tho. Society, ( Health Department Rooms, Liverpool | Street, Dunedin. Office hours, daily (exi" cept Sundays), from 3 to i p.m. Ifonorr ftry Seoretary, Mrs Edniond, Melville \ ' Street. Telephone 63. Cltfifltchurch.—Phinket Nurses Hickson and I Hansard. Office of tho Society, Chancery ~ Lane, Cathedral 'Square. Telephone 847. Office hours, daily (except Sundays), from fl to 11 a.m., and from 2 to 3 p.m. V Honorary secretaries. Mr 3 Fyne, Bealey : Avenue, telephone 255; a.nd Mrs C. Reid, Knowles Street, St Albaiu, telophona '. 1071. .(Wellington.—Plunket Nurse WDonald, 78, I , Aro Street. Telephone 2425. Honorary ; learetary, Mrs M'Vicar, Brougham Street, \ ' City. Telephone 2612. j»ttokland.—Plunket Nurses Chappell and i Brien, Park Street. Telephone 851. Office ... of the Society, 2. Chancery Street. Teleti phone 823. Office hours. Tuesdays and • ' [Fridays, Q. 30 to 4 p.m. Honorary Secre,f tary, Mrs W. H. Parkes, " Marinoto," \ Symonds Street. Telephone 3-10. uTepier.—-Plunket Nurse Donald, Masonio [ Hotel. Telephone 87. Honorary seoref tary, Mrs E. A. Henley, P.O. Box 64. I Telephone 147ji JKW Plymouth.—lPlunket Nurse Iturrav, ( Imperial Hotel. Telephone 122. Office ■ Town Hall, Wednesdays and Fridays, 2 to 4 p.m. Honorary secretary, Mrs R. . .: J. Matthews, Fitzroy. Telephone 104. iJTimaru.—Plunket Nurse Bowman. Office of 1 . tho Society, Arcade Chambers. Telephone BH. Office hours, 8.30 to 4.30 and 6.30 to ISO. Honorary secretary, Mrs Smiih- . son, Fai'llie, Sefton Street. Telephone 230. InveroargUL—Plunket Nuwo O'Shea, Allan's ' Hall, Kelvin Street. Honorary secretary, < Mrs Handyside, Gala Street. 'Ashblirton.—Plunket Nurse Hickson. Office of Society, Bullock's Arcade. Norse in attendance every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Honorary secretary, Mrs G. Nell. „ .Eooiety'a Baby Hospital, Karitan« Home, 1 Anderson's Bay, Dunedin. Telephone 1965. Demonstrations on points of interest to mothers are given by the Matron every "Wednesday afternoon from 2.30 to 3.30. All mothers are invited. Bfiessaeres may bo left at any time at the i Plunket Nurses' offices or private addresses. All other information available from the honorary secretary of each tfLUNKET NURSES' SERVICES FREE.

A MOTHER'S LETTER. ; The following letter was received hearly two months ago:— " Borne time ago I wrote to you asking advice for my child, who was then four months old. by return mail I received a letter from you advising me .tow to proceed. I also got the book on )' The Care and Feeding of the Baby, • and as far as I was able I followed the | directions. I " The child grew strong and was very until about nine months ago (she (was then two years old), when I was Obliged to send her away from home for ■jk time. "When she returned she had just /recovered from the mumps, and was fat and flabby; a month afterwards Bhe took influenza very badly, and sho has never recovered her strength.

' "On Christmas Day she had an atffcack of what I thought was bronchitis, ffen days later She had another very (bad attack. She cried and coughed ail Sight, and was in a high fever. I rubed her chest and back with hot camIphorated oil, and she lived on boiled hvater for two days. She recovered on 'the fourth, day, and was as full of life las ever, but since she had the influenza "I have had great difficulty in getting her to eat. Two nights ago she had a similar attack, but was not so fevered. I saw a doctor, thinking that she might bo the better for a tonic, but he said she needed no medicine. She is very BUsceptible to cold, and she feels the least change of weather. AVhen she is iWelLjjbe is outside the whole day long,' ''land takes a great deal of exercise—so inuoh so that she exhausts herself by two o'clock and has a sleep of two tours.

j "Nine months ago she slept with a .young girl in a room with both door and window shut, and I date her weakness 'from that time. I have lost two beautiful baby boys, so you may know how anxious I am about her. Trusting to hear from you soon, and thanking you In. anticipation,—l am, etc., " C—- H ." COMMENT.

The advice first forwarded to the mother was on the broad linea which we recommend in all cases namely, *' What every baby needs, whether well or ill," as given in the Society's book and repeated, slightly simplified, in. this column a few weeks ago. i Further, I sent a copy of the account which I wrote some timo ago dealing with a child whose case presented similar points. The mother's second letter, Iwhich I shall publish later, shows that jfche profited by ihe information given, and I am therefore republishing the articles referred to, hoping they may prove jequally helpful elsewhere:— 'GARDENING A DELICATE CHILD. ( The following sample case, drawn ■ \fiom many within my own personal exjpe'flence, illustrates the benefits of the /'hardening process" systematically :*nd judiciously carried out during early childhood. My reasons for selecting this 'particular case aro threefold, viz. : I 1. The child was extremely delicate she first came under our observation, over three years ago, and was steadily dwindling and becoming feebler |«nd feebler, in spite of the fact that •-the family were doing their best and (were quite unsparing in their devotion. jtThe child Was really receiving too much, .rather than too little, attention—but I the care was of the wrong kind. 2. The progress of the case stands re«orded in a series of letters covering the whole period, and these convey in (iimple. homely terms the progress made Ptrom time to time. I ; £. The relations are quite willing that jyte letters Bhould be published, in spite rt» the fact that the details and circum.jgtances render identification possible. (indeed, when communicated with on the jiubject, the grandmother replied, with Ifine publio Spirit: " There is not tha 'slightest objection to making the case Wblic; names can be mentioned if you ' think well. We are only too glad if w) 1 can in any way help the good work of Society." j THE GOSPEL OP HEALTH. f If all mothers and grandmothers were J equally broad and liberal-minded—-•qually willing to admit the mistakes of (the pnf*) and change their point of View'with the advance of human knowI ledge—the task of the Society in spread- , ing its "gospel of health" would receive a wonderful impetus. However, we have no occasion to complain of lack of help from parents whose babies have been saved or benefited by conforming to the essential needs of child life, as practically taught in the home by the Plunket nurses and laid down in the Socioty's publications, Wherever parents who have been convinced by their own practical experience of the enormous benefit accruing to children from the simple, systematic care recommended by the Society become helpful centres of light and leading for their district,' they constitute in effect "branches of the Society. There are many such unnamed branches scattered throughout the length and breadth of i the dominion, and we are only too glad to acknowledge the great service they •re rendering to the cause we have at lieart. \ tETTJSRS OF A GRANDMOTHER. I Before quoting tho actual letters, I ehallsay a few words by way of introduction. It is quite unnecessary to

THE DOMESTIC CIRCLE.

backblock in which they were living. The township was in Southland —we will call it Erewlion. HISTORY OF THE CHILD.

The child was brought by the grandmother to the Karitane Hospital in January, 1908. She was then over two and a naif years of age, but was pale, feeble, flabby and spiritless. During the first two years of life she had made good headway, growing well, talking, walking and getting about in a normal way. Towards the end of tho second year progress was less satisfactory. Gradually tho child became irritable and capricious, lost her appetite, and manifested increasing inactivity and listlessness. The parents were advised that there waa irritation of the stomach and bowels, and, as month after month went by with steady aggravation of the symptoms, and fallirtg off in every direction, they did all they could to tempt the child to take sufficient food to keep up nutrition. Not only was the appetite very poor, but she became more and more fastidious. Do what they would, sufficient milk was not taken, and simple, wholesome foods, ouch as bread-ani-butter, toast, or plain biscuits were refused. There appeared to be no alternative but to further humour and " spoil " the child with sweet biscuits, sweet puddings, etc., which it took more willingly than anything else. Under this regimen there was a sad falling-off. but not so much in weight as in strength and activity. Being no longer able to run or even walk, she was wheeled about in a go-cart, and when she was stood up there was obvious knock-knee. There was no vomiting or diarrhoea—no evidence of definite disease of any kind—nothing calling for the use of "drugs or strictly medical measured in any direction. What the child needed was simply "What Every Whether Well or III" (see pages 1 and 2. of the Society's book), and, for tho very reason that it waa ailing, an even stricter conformity than ordinary to these primary and inexorable requirements of Nature was of vital importance. WHAT WAS WRONG. The use of wrong food', undue _ frequency of feeding, the giving of pieces hetween meals, irregularity of habits, lack of muscular exercise, lack of stimulation of the skin (and consequent slackness and absence of tone throughout the whole system)—these were quite sufficient to account for the remarkable and progressive falling off in condition which was causing such alarm and making the parents further "spoil" the child in the vain effort to keep it from further wasting and going downhill.

In such cases, in the absence of definite knowledge, the more affectionate and devoted are the parents the more difficult it is for them to bring themselves to properly regulate and discipline the course of a child's life (see " Forming a Character," page 135 of the Society'sbook). Once a wide departure from tho proper daily routine has been made, owing perhaps to some temporary indisposition or illness (such as wo may assume to have upset the child in question), a return to normal habits needs greater tact, patience, and firmness on the part of guardians. Tn the present instance, fortunately, all these requirements were forthcoming, as soon as the relations had been brought to realise what was essential.