OUR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20231, 15 February 1934, Page 15

OUR BABIES.

By HYGEIA. Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “ It i« wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” ABOUT BABY’S SKIN. (Continued.) Last week we commenced this article on the care of baby’s delicate skin, and gave some points regarding clothing and bathing. This week we purpose giving still further some services whereby irritation can be avoided: 3. The Scalp.—Scurfy patches on the scalp may lead to eczema. Never allow a baby’s head to get dirty in this way. There is no need whatever to be afraid of touching the soft spot. The best way to prevent these dirty patches is to wash the head with firm fingers, rinse the soap off very thoroughly, and dry with light, brisk friction. If scurf is already present rub in olive oil or vaseline overnight; then lift it with the edge of a clean visiting card or something similar. Wash and dry in the ordinary way, and repeat the procfean €Very day Until the head is 4. The napkins need care. Never dry and use again without washing. Use no soda or washing powders. Rinse soap well out, and di y in the open air whenever possible. 5. Overheating is a common cause of irritation. These babies tend to be very easily overheated, and need careful watching to regulate clothing and bedding according to weather changes—not always easy in our uncertain climate. These babies may need surprisingly little clothing. They are nearly always warm to the touch. An hour or two of overheafing may cause the skin to flare up distressingly, and will certainly '<*Egriixa.te any existing skin eruption. 6. Direct sunshine and strong winds (especially cold, dry winds) act as definite irritants to some skins. Take care that the face is always protected by a shady hat or screen, and go very cautiously in exposing the body to direct sunlight. Avoid taking the baby out in cold or high winds. Jf it must be done rub a little ointment on the cheeks before and after going out. 7. Scratching or Rubbing.—Wherever the skin gets rough or inflamed it gets irritable, and the baby’s natural impulse is to scratch or rub the itching places. He simply must be prevented from doing this. Keep the nails very short and tie cotton gloves over the hands if necessary. If this is not enough, padded cardboard arm splints to prevent bending the arms at the elbows are the best preventive measuie. Any Plunket nurse will be glad to give instructions tor the making of splints and other devices to prevent scratching. If baby actually lias eczema this is the first consideration fn the management, for weeks of successful treatment may be undone in five minutes of surreptitious scratching. Constant vigilance is the price of successful treatment, for these poor little - opes show the greatest ingenuity in finding unexpected ways of reaching the irritating places. Every mother must needs use her own common sense and imagination in devising the best methods of protecting her own baby; we can only give general guiding Internal Causes. So much for external causes of irritation. Now let. us consider for a moment the internal conditions which may react adversely upon a delicate skin. The commonest are constipation and overfeeding. Constipation must be tackled systematically. Any Plunket nurse will give detailed advice personally or by letter.

Overfeeding often gives rise to simple skin rashes; but simple rashes in children of the type we are dealing with may all too easily lead to more serious skin trouble. Eczema usually attacks babies who are inclined to be fat and more or less overfed; it is comparatively seldom seen in thin, undernourished infants. If baby shows any signs of skin trouble it is advisable to get expert advice about the diet, natural or artificial. The breast-fed baby should if possible l>e weighed before and after feeding for twenty-four hours to ascertain exactly how much lie is getting. If the quantity is not. excessive a wellmixed twenty-four hours’ specimen of the mother's milk should be tested for the fat percentage. In any case the intervals of feeding should be not less than four-hourly, the feeds not longer than ten to twenty minutes (five minutes may be ample first thing in the morning), and an ounce or so of water may be given immediately before the breast feeds for a time. The mother should eat a non-stimulating diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables and water, and mqst keep herself perfectly free from constipation. If baby is gaining more than Boz a week in the first quarter, or more than 4oz to 6oz after that, he is almost certainly overfed, and if not regulated trouble is sure to result sooner ox* later. The diet of the bottle-fed baby with a tendency to eczema needs to be well balanced, though it may require special modification temporarily to suit individual cases. Excess of sugar or fat or of starchy foods tends to aggravate the trouble, hut as a rule ordinary humanised milk is best, with a generous allowance of fresh fruit or vegetable juice for age.

Teething.—Teething does not In itself cause eczema, but it is likely to precipitate an attack in a baby with a susceptible skin. Therefore extra care should be taken of such babies at teething time along these lines. Many distressing cases of eczema could be prevented entirely or much mitigated in severity if mothers recognised in time the type of skin which is affected by slight irritation. We hope these suggestions may help to make the causes of such irritation better understood, and so save some unnecessary suffering and anxiety.