THE USELESSNESS OF “BABY MEDICINES” DURING THE MONTH.
Probably the greatest amount of mischief arising from the administration
of “baby teas,” lies in the fact that they are not given with the least
certainty as to their effect upon the system of the child, whether to
nourish the blood or physic the bowels. Let us take catnip: this is a
herb described in some books as being a mild laxative, good to work off
cold on the chest and bowels of infants; a sweat-promoter. About a dozen
years ago a neighbor of one of my patients, thinking it for the best,
gave catnip tea to her three-days’-old son. I was hastily summoned, and
on arriving in the room where everything a few hours before was so
tranquil, I suspected that catnip tea had been around. Of course no one
would own up until, after I had staid by the little victim fifteen hours
without sleep, finally succeeding in checking the frequent green
discharges and thus saving the child’s life,—shame caused the disclosure
of the cause of the mischief. The tea had not been given for food, as
the mother had a full supply; but as the babe was moving about, it was
thought that a little catnip tea would make it sleep. A lady told me
with great dignity that her children ate homœopathic pills when they
wished. “Why,” said she, “my children fatten on them.”
I saw that she did not know the secret of the “fattening.” Another said,
“Why, my James eats castor-oil on bread.” Now we are aware that there
are very many articles used as food that can be prepared and combined so
as to act in place of medicine in certain cases; but as a general thing
medicine will not answer to nourish the body in place of food. According
to the mechanism of man, there are three stages in his life for which
due preparation is made, before he comes into existence, to wit: the
breasts’ milk for infancy, the teeth, with which to eat solid food, and
medicine, to heal when sick. As to catnip producing sleep, I cannot
agree with old ladies in general; but I do know of a truth that if a
child is dosed with it in early infancy, the effect is to loosen the
bowels; the fatigue from this over-distension of the stomach causes
sleep. Babes should move about if they have life enough in them; they
should, by no means, be stupefied. The first milk from the breast is the
only medicine needed; when other mixtures are poured into the child’s
stomach, as teas sweetened with sugar, honey, molasses, either of which
is laxative, the danger is greatly augmented, especially if given before
the bowels have moved at all. The custom of old-fashioned people, as
they style themselves, of giving new-born babes castor-oil and molasses,
or soot tea (for that irrepressible belly-ache), and urine and molasses,
to clean them out, is, though with reluctance, fast dying out. It would
be well to notice that children who are dosed during infancy for every
supposed ill are seldom robust. They become physically stunted, and
their peevish habits exact for them all sorts of over-indulgence. More
food for the blood, and less medicine, should be the motto. Let us
follow the tide of progression. There are no uniform rules by which
infants are to have a discharge at birth, either from the bowels or
bladder. Therefore, no efforts to induce such should be used until
necessity demands it. It is no uncommon thing for infants to pass large
quantities from the bowels, just as they are entering the world; a
circumstance not likely to be noticed by those unaccustomed to all the
incidents of childbirth. It is always safe to await the action of the
first food, whether from the breast or artificial; and if it be but a
few drops well digested, there need be no fear but that the napkins will
be soiled as fast as desired. If such result does not follow, after
waiting two or three days, a flannel cloth folded, and wrung out of hot
water, laid first on your cheek, then on the child’s belly, and that
covered with dry flannel, will, with perseverance, bring about the
desired result. Sometimes an infant passes large quantities of the dark
matter immediately after the fatigue of washing and dressing (old
style); then it may pass no more for two or three days, or until time
has been given for matter to accumulate. If the organs of the child are
all right, all will be well. But should doubts arise as to the best
course to take, surely medical advice only needs the seeking. It was
formerly the custom, and is now to a great extent with old nurses, to
give later in the month—certainly before their month was up, as all teas
and charms had to be given before they left—saffron tea. I have seen
them sit by a hot stove and feed infants with saffron tea more patiently
than they would like it given to them. I once asked a high-priced nurse
why she gave saffron tea. I was kindly, though decidedly, informed that
it was to “push the gums.” I was none the wiser by asking. I afterward
learned from the child’s older sister that the doctor said the baby had
the jaundice. Well it might have the jaundice, kept in a room with a
temperature of 80 degrees, with two adult persons night and day, and fed
on saffron tea. Now the crocus, or saffron, sometimes grown in our
gardens, is described as possessing sweating properties, being good to
promote eruptions of the skin in fevers, and good in fits. Yet thousands
of infants, no doubt, have been forced to swallow saffron tea, who have
not given the slightest evidence of any unnatural complaint. No
paregoric, laudanum, or other preparations containing opium, should ever
be given to an infant for the purpose of quieting or making it sleep.
Sleep-producers serve only to bind the bowels and stupefy the senses.
Carminatives—medicines that expel wind—such as caraway, fennel, anise,
cardamon, mints and the like, should never be given unless prescribed by
those competent to vouch for their effect.
It is becoming a widespread custom to send a little girl or boy to a
druggist’s to purchase some advertised baby medicine or food. The patent
cough syrups, or those kept on hand in shops, I deem unsafe in the hands
of the inexperienced. Most, if not all of them, contain some
sleep-producing ingredient, whereby they may check a cough by
paralyzing, as it were, the little nerves of sensation in the air-tubes;
thus giving opportunity for the phlegm to collect in great quantities,
with no possible way of escape. Doubtless in this way suffocation is
frequently induced, in whooping-cough, bronchitis, or croup.
Several years ago, in the city of Boston, a mother returned from work,
and found her baby, which she had left alone, a corpse. Her explanation,
as it appeared in the daily papers, was to the effect that she had given
the child the rinsings of the vial that contained laudanum, to keep it
quiet.
People are getting much wiser nowadays; laudanum and paregoric cannot be
easily obtained without a recipe. But they can yet buy and give large
doses of “Patent Soothing Syrups.”
In all cases of difficult breathing or signs of croup, with or without
hot skin, a soft flannel cloth should be wrung out of hot water, and
laid over the entire chest, close up under the chin and ears; and if the
bowels are bound, it may extend to the belly, the whole being covered
with a dry, warm flannel. By this means the force of a cold can be
broken, the breathing relieved, and in a majority of cases it is all
that is required to be done. Even in severe cases of lung fever, warm
water applications are invaluable; acting as an absorbent through the
medium of the pores of the skin. If a paste of flaxseed meal is used, it
should be applied in the same way. If the applications are to be warm,
they should be kept warm, and if they are to be cold, should be kept
cold, until relief is obtained.
I may have digressed somewhat, as pneumonia seldom develops in the first
month of infancy. At all events, external applications are in place till
medical aid is secured. I do not wish to be understood as usurping the
power of other physicians; each has his or her own method of procedure.
I merely wish to impress the domestic and common sense means, to be used
in cases of emergency.
The old custom of giving infants “a little weak toddy” to “bring up the
wind and make them sleep,” should henceforth and forever be removed from
the midst of a more enlightened people. If it is given weak the effect
is to intoxicate at first, and then produce sleep; which may be followed
by a fearful attack of purging. If given strong, it may induce
constipation and dry colic, the very thing it is intended to relieve.
Such a course may also have inculcated a desire for tippling in many of
our weak-minded youth. Castor-oil is a well-known sickening purgative,
and it does seem to be a wonderful interposition of Providence alone,
that so many thousand infants have survived the compulsory dosing with
this drug. But a few years ago a lady, aged about sixty-five, came to
her end from severe diarrhœa, brought on, as she testified, by taking a
“store-bottle of castor-oil at a dose.”
Mothers and nurses should strive to become familiar with all articles of
diet; also with the properties and medical uses of all drugs and
minerals, and their action upon the animal economy.