Need a Baby be a Nuisance?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIX, Issue 25, 21 December 1907, Page 41

Need a Baby be a Nuisance?

“An infant crying in the night: An infant crying for the light: And with no language but a cry.” When we ask, “Need baby be a nuisance ? ” we would do well to remember the fact the poet emphasises, that babies have no other language than a cry by which to make their wants and troubles known. If we recognise this premise we will see that the inference naturally follows that the crying of a baby (which is the thing of all others that makes it a nuisance to those who own it) is greatly within the control of those in whose care it happens to be. Don’t give it cause to cry, and it won’t cry. This, I freely admit, is a “Counsel of Perfection ” more easy to lay down when writing an article than to attain to in the practical management of a nursery. Nevertheless, anyone with any experience of nurseries in general knows that in some crying is much more frequent than in others; that in some houses baby is a source of pleasure, and in others a worry hard to bear with. The constant wailing of an infant “gets on the nerves ” ot even the most adoring mother, and is one of the most powerful agents in making his father desire to spend his leisure otherwhere than under the same " roof-tree ” with his offspring. For these reasons, even if the welfare of the little one itself was not concerned -—which it is, largely—the question of how to stop the baby being a nuisance by reason of over much crying is a burning one in the practical politics of domestic life, and quite worth some serious consideration. Did you ever count the number of things any one of which will cause a baby to scream, and did you ever consider that every one of these causes of crying is almost always preventible? A DOZEN REASONS WHY BABY CRIES. 1. Pain. 2. Cold. 3. Heat. 4. Fatigue. 5. Hunger. 6. Thirst. 7. Nerves. 8. Discomfort. 9. Over-excitement. 10. Bad habits. 11. Fright. 12. Irregular feeding. “ But,” you may say, with reference to the first of these causes, “ 1 cannot always prevent baby having pain.” Well, perhaps not absolutely always, but most always, you can, for pain is not a natural portion of babyhood. It is, indeed most unnatural, nnd when baby suffers from it, in nine cases out of ten it is because of some negligence on the part of his owner. One of the most frequent sources of pain in infancy is flatulence—popularly called " wind." It is. of course, not really “ wind it is “gas,” generated by unhealthy fermenting food. This gas

causes abdominal distension and colicky pains. If a baby is fed on food he can digest he will not have accumulating gas of this kind in his intestines: therefore, he will not suffer from colic, and he cannot cry from the pain of it. One of the first things to do, then, if baby’s screams are causing him to become a housenold torment, is to overhaul his dietary. If you are inexperienced in these matters, it is far better, instead of trying a number of experiments, to consult a doctor and get put upon the right lines. Experimenting upon babies is a very unsafe proceeding, and the result of it may be to have the little creature on the doctor’s hands for many a weary day, whereas if he had been consulted m time, and the infant had been put upon diet suited to his or her individual condition, one or two visits from the doctor might have been enough. If the baby is being wet-nurseu, then the nurse must overhaul her own dietary. STUDY NURSING DIET. Don’t pay any attention to those misguided people who tell you that it doesn’t matter what a nursing woman eats. ft matters very much as far as the freedom of the child from pain and the house from disturbance is concerned. If the nurse indulges in raw fruits and vegetables, especially those of an acid and indigestible nature, the child is bound to suffer, and he will not suffer quietly. His only language with which to tell of his nurse’s carelessness is by the uplifting of his voice in a cry, and this is a method of complaint in which he is not at all backward. A baby may cry from hunger even if constantly fed. In this case it is because the food is not of a sufficiently nourishing quality. This cause of crying may be suspected if, when weighed every week, the baby does not show a steady increase all through the first year. Here is another case In whieh it is much better to consult a doctor and get advice. In any case the milk should be analysed, so as to ascertain if it possesses the proper quantity of cream and curd, without which it cannot supply a -sufficiency of nourishment for the development of a healthy, contented baby. The only way a baby can explain his discomfort is by screams. If he is too hot or too cold he will cry. If he is made uncomfortable by need of “ changing,” by chafing, by garments that are too tight, by the pricking of a pin, by the hot and throbbing gums which often want the solace of a spoonful of cold water when the coming teeth are irritating lie- can only draw attention io all these various annoyances by crying. True, there are different kinds of crying, and those who have experience in the ways of these small creatures get to know the" meaning of each variety of cry. This takes some learning, and is useful enough in its wav; but it is more useful to know how to prevent crying by recognising the things that cause it, by realising how easily a baby’s nerves are upset, and therefore taking measures to prevent him from being startled or frightened or awakened suddenly from sleep. These are tne things that a little common sense, care, and observation will soon enable any intelligent woman to understand, and then she will be able to keep a baby so comfortable that it will have little or nothing to cry about. This is the only royal road to prevent a baby from becoming a nuisance.