OUR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20331, 14 June 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 is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a predploe than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” Bed-Wetting-. Anyone who has had experience with children knows how distressing, how persistent, and how difficult to manage an inveterate habit of bed-wetting may be. Essentially it is a persistence of the infantile habit of emptying the bladder involuntarily whenever it is full. The cause 'of the trouble may be some definite physical abnormality, poor general health, or a nervous instability; or it may be indefinite and obscure, as-

sociated with impressions and suggestions, the mind rather than the body. Its origin may lie far back and forgotten in the child's experience, connected with the realm of unconscious desires and impressions of which we know so little as yet, but which we realise to be an important influence in child life.

The baby at birth exercises no conscious control of any kind. Certain vital processes are stimulated and set in motion immediately he begins his independent existence, but they are first quite involuntary in nature. However. he straight away starts to enlarge his field of experience, and within a very short time he begins to exercise control over certain acts and bodily functions. By the time he is a year old he should but rarely have “ an accident ” in the daytime, and during the second year ho should acquire control of the bladder at night also, although some quite normal children occasionally wet the bed at night even into the third year. Early Habit Training-.

Early training and associations have a tremendous influence in determining whether habits formed are good or ba-d. If from the early weeks the baby is “held out” for a few minutes at regular intervals, with a little 'vessel placed tinder him on his mother's knee, he quickly learns to associate the posture and the “feeling” with the act of emptying" the bladder and the bowel, and it naturally follows in time that he will demand the posture and the vessel before he wj.ll perform the act. Pleasure or the opposite sensations of discomfort or pain have much influence bn the baby’s reactions. If he is kept clean and dry, and is “ held out ” when changed, the sensation of comfort from dryness is also associated with control of the bladder. A baby habitually left wet for hours becomes used to the condition, and the sensation of discomfort is no deterrent to lack Of control. Nervous Control. Control of all functions is presided over by the nervous system—a. roost marvellous, delicate, and complex mechanism, profoundly influenced by emotional stress, excitement. fatigue, and many loss definite states. We see examples of this in the diarrhoea brought on by nervous dread, and in fainting and vomiting from shock. There, is an uncontrolled discharge of nervous energy in one particular direction, which results in the derangement of normalfunctions. Bed-wetting in nervous, excitable children may be similar in nature. Young children are pre-eminently open to suggestion of every kind, including that which comes from conscious or unconscious expectation of certain lines of action. Ordinary treatment designed to break a child of this habit is likely to be quite fruitless if at the same time he knows the bed is protected by mackintosh and he is done up in napkins. The idea unconsciously conveyed to h.s mind is one of anticipation that he will wet the bed. and unconsciously he responds to the stimulus of that powerful suggestion. “ Limelight.” Some children early develop a very strong liking for limelight, and, all unknown to themselves or to those- around

them, they discover means of attracting attention. A trick quite accidentally acquired, but producing the desired effect, may quickly become a habit, and persist most obstinately in spite of the fact that the attention thus secured may eventually be anything but pleasant in nature. Threats and punishments should never be resorted to. They are usually worse than useless, whatever the cause of the trouble, and In cases we have just indicated bribery and persuasion are equally bad, because all tend to focus attention on the child and his trouble. These remarks perhaps convey sonic idea of the complexity of the trouble, and give the clue to the most helpful line of treatment for children 1n whom the habit has resisted the usual measures. They may also explain why in this, as in other difficulties due to faulty nervous control, the child Is so often more easily managed by outsiders than by the mother herself, anti why the best and the most attentive mother may have the most difficulty of this kind with her children. The mother's very devotion tends to make her over-nnxious snd rvre-oorupied with her children’s behaviour as well as their bodily health, thus creating an unfavourable atmosphere for all-round stability. There is no doubt than »n attitude of what has been called “ observant neglect ” is best. Th«> more children are left alone to develop the better.