OUR BABIES.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LI, Issue 37, 11 December 1929, Page 1

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 precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.’ ’ DIGESTIVE UPSETS IN THE SECOND YEAR. TREAT THEM PROMPTLY. Digestive disturbances of all kinds are commonest during Hie summer months, especially in artificially fed babies and in toddling children. It is about these we specially wish to speak this week—sounding a note of warning. Already a number of children have come under our notice suffering from mild digestive trouble—a little diarrhoea, loss of appetite, perhaps slight feverishness, and so on. Quite a number of these are children “on fhe move,” whose parents are passing through or staying away from home. There is always a tendency for children to become upset when travelling—except the fortunate breast-fed baby, whose fresh food supply goes with him. Children thrive best on a regular >online, and this is bound to be disturbed when away from home—food is different, hours are different, tin* milk may not be above suspicion, and so on. So perhaps these few hints as to prevention of trouble, and how to nip an incipient upset in the hud, as it were, may not come amiss before hot weather and holidays really “set in.” PREVENTION FIRST. Spare no efforts lo keep to regular meal times. Spceiallv avoid sweets, biscuits, and cakes®at odd limes. Use no milk without scalding and cooling it first. Tf the weather i* hot or close and muggy, rescald what is left in the evening and cool it down quickly. Use no water which has not been boiled. Use no strange ulensils which have a- t been scoured and well scalded. Beware of upripe or over-ripe fiuit, or even decidedly more fruit than usual. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Do not introduce a number of unaccustomed foods into (lie child’s diet all at once. See that sieving and straining are not discontinued too suddenly. Do not press a child to eat if it seems disinclined for the usual food, or off color, but give plenty of water to drink. During very hot weather the vitality lends to he lowered, and the child may not be able to deal with a full ordinary diet. Lack of appetite is Nature’s warning. SIGNS OF DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCE. Restlessness at night is often one of the first signs that all is not quite right. Drowsiness in the daytime is another sign. Slight feverishness may go with these. Disinclination for food, with or without thirst.

Relaxed motions, more frequent than usual, perhaps somewhat offensive. Some sickness, perhaps slight, or the child may suddenly vomit, seemingly, a whole meal. DO NOT THINK THESE SYMPTOMS ARE “JUST TEETHING. ” It is a very great mistake, and often a dangerous mistake, to attribute any or all of these symptoms, or any other signs of illness, to teething. Many and many a baby has been • seriously ill, and many have died of diarrhoea or pneumonia, because the parents let things drift —satisfied that there was nothing much wrong—that the child was “only teething.” Although there may lie slight feverishness and some digestive disturbance coincident with the cutting of teeth, this is not to be considered as the actual cause of the condition, or as an excuse for letting it run on unchecked. Tt is never safe to allow mild diarrhoea to persist. One often comes across cases where toddlers have drifted into a miserable condition because a “little” diarrhoea has been allowed to persist. One finds the weight has been stationary or even going down for weeks, the little legs and arms are as flabby as can he, if not actually thin, and the child is generally grizzly and “peaky.” Such an attack too often marks the first departure from beautiful normal babyhood, and full tone and perfect condition are too often never again attained. WHAT TO DO. At the first sign of restlessness, drowsiness, feverishness, disinclination for food or frequent motions—obey Nature’s warning: Give less food and more water—all boiled. Dilute the usual milk mixture with extra water. It is usually best to discontinue solid foods; at any rate, all but, say, barely jelly. It is better to err on this side than the other, and 24 hours of at this stage may save days of semi-starvation later. But though you should never force food, you must force drinks if necessary. Fluid —mostly water, rice water, barley water, or well-diluted orange drinks if there is no severe diarrhoea —fluid in abundance is absolutely necessary to help the body get rid of the waste products which are causing the symptoms. If the motions are frequent, decidedly relaxed, or otherwise abnormal, whether or not there is also some vomiting—do not delay; stop all food and give a dose of castor oil (two medium teaspoonfuls is the average dose in the second year). Follow this by about 12 hours on boiled water or rice water only. Seek skilled advice if possible. If the diarrhoea persists or gets worse in spite of this treatment, get a doctor’s advice, without delay. Tf all goes well, work back on io diluted boiled milk, bailey jelly, other cereals, and so to full diet. And thou observe all the suggested precautionary measures.