=Upon Birth.=—As soon as the eyes are cared for, by flushing them with
warm boric solution (the physician may use Credé’s method—1 to 2 per
cent. nitrate of silver solution, followed by weak salt solution), the
baby should be wrapped in a warm, soft, sterile cloth (cotton flannel),
and placed in a warm crib until the mother has been attended to. After
that the baby should be anointed with warm olive oil, especially in
the groin, axilla, in the folds of the neck and behind the ears. The
nurse should then wash and sterilize her hands to dress the cord.
Apply alcohol, 95 per cent., and then boric acid powder or any other
antiseptic dressing the physician may order; it may be kept in place
by a thin flannel binder, going around the abdomen but once and be
fastened in the back (not too tightly) by sewing it together. Pins
of any kind should be used only where absolutely necessary. The baby
should be dressed in as few garments as possible.
=Bathing.=—Until the umbilicus is healed the child should not be put
in the full bath. The face, hands, and head may be sponged daily with
tepid water. Gently massaging the body every day with warm olive oil,
and rubbing with a soft towel, will not only keep the baby clean, but
prove beneficial. The genitals should be washed well once daily and
sponged after each evacuation of the bowels. During the first few weeks
a little oil rubbed into the parts is better than powder; in most
cases powder will dry the skin too quickly and rub off the delicate
epithelium.
=General Care of the Baby.=—The eyes, the mouth, and navel should be
given the usual daily attention. The bowels, if constipated, should be
encouraged by small doses of castor oil given with a medicine dropper.
If the urinations are not clear and of sufficient quantity the baby
may have warm water, about 1 oz. at a time, three or four times daily.
Leave the infant with the mother _only_ during the nursing period.
=Nursing the Baby.=—Practical experience is daily upsetting the theory
that a set of rules and regulations can be laid down and followed for
the nursing of all babies; that nursing must be done at certain hours
and after certain intervals. While babies are alike in nearly every
respect, speaking physiologically, there are only a few who can be
awakened at regular intervals to be nursed by the mother or fed by the
bottle. Some babies can not be awakened sufficiently for nursing, even
after four or five hours’ sleep. Others will nurse for twenty minutes
(the rules say it should not be longer than ten minutes) at two- or
three-hour intervals during the day and then sleep all night.
Of course, where the child can be fed regularly, this helps the mother
to regulate her own habits, and is comforting to all concerned.
Therefore, nurses should not lack in determination to encourage such
a system. But no such regularity should be insisted upon where both
baby and mother suffer during the interval when nursing is denied;
the former, hungry and crying lustily, and the mother under a nervous
strain that is harmful to both. Let there be no hard-and-fast rules.
Babies who feed as often as they feel like it (being allowed proper,
though not necessarily long, intervals for digestion) generally suffer
no ill effects and are healthy and strong. Mother’s milk, the natural
feeding, should always be given, rather than any artificial food, when
the supply is sufficient and good.