Many young mothers are anxious to learn all they can about the
physiology and hygiene of babyhood. Hours of anxiety might be spared
them if they could only profit by the experience of those who have
raised large families.
Babies’ hands and feet frequently become cold in a room where older
people are quite comfortable. This is sometimes caused by having the
clothing too tight. Keep the temperature of the room as near seventy
degrees as possible and have it well ventilated, but do not allow the
little one to lie in a draught, or an attack of colic may be the result.
Take him out in the fresh air frequently if the weather is good, but
when the wind is blowing and the air is damp the best place for the baby
is in the nursery. It is never safe to expose him to all kinds of
weather in order to get him used to it, for it may cost his life.
Give the baby a bath every day in hot weather, never having the water
cool enough to cause him to catch his breath, nor warm enough to make
him cry. He will soon learn to enjoy it. “My baby will laugh and clap
his hands every time he is put in the water,” says one happy mother,
“and after a few minutes’ bath and a good rubbing he is ready for a
long, refreshing sleep.”
If the baby’s head becomes covered with a yellow coating rub vaseline
well into the scalp, and after it has remained four or five hours take a
fine comb and carefully comb it all off; wash thoroughly with soft water
and good toilet soap as often as may be necessary to keep the scalp
white and healthy. The vaseline loosens the scurf and makes it easy to
comb out.
Nothing is so important as the baby’s diet. Of course the mother’s milk
is the food nature intended for him, but frequently the supply is not
sufficient for his needs, and there are many cases where it is
impossible for a mother to nurse her baby. Cow’s milk is sometimes used,
but the result is seldom satisfactory. It sours so easily in warm
weather and is then really poisonous to the little one. Then we can
never be sure that the cow is healthy, and we seldom have any means of
knowing what kind of food she eats, or if the water she drinks is pure.
All these things seriously affect the child’s health. Various prepared
foods are good, but what agrees with one baby may not agree with
another, so the effects of the one chosen should be carefully watched.
It should be freshly prepared for each meal; there will then be none of
the bad effects that so often follow the use of stale food. Do not get
into the habit of offering the baby the bottle every time he cries,
regardless of the cause. He may be thirsty, and a few spoonfuls of cold
water will quiet him.
Do not feed the baby with a spoon. It is not nature’s way, and the
sucking motion of the lips and mouth is needed to mix the food with the
fluids of the mouth and keep it from getting into the stomach too fast.
Use a plain nursing-bottle with a rubber nipple, which should be taken
off after each feeding so that both bottle and rubber may be washed
thoroughly. Let them soak in hot water two or three times every day to
destroy any germs that may be left in them. Under no circumstances ever
use a bottle with a long tube of rubber. Absolute cleanliness in
everything pertaining to his food is necessary to keep the baby healthy.
Do not put anything in his mouth that needs chewing, until he has his
teeth. In fact until he is seven months old the prepared food will be
all that is necessary for him. After that he will take a little oatmeal
gruel that has been strained through a coarse wire sieve to remove the
husks, or some of the excellent preparations of wheat now on the market.
If he is constipated, the juice of stewed fruit is beneficial in small
quantities.
RULES FOR ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES
Poisons and Their Treatment—Bites, Stings, Bruises, Splinters, Cuts,
Sprains and Burns—Lockjaw—Poison Ivy—How to Bring the Drowned to
Life—Suffocation—Fainting—Sunstroke—Freezing—The Eyes and How to Care
for Them—Earache and Toothache—Felons, Warts, Corns and Boils—Home
Remedies for Diphtheria—Treatment of Smallpox—Convenient
Disinfectants—Sick Room Suggestions—Fruit in Sickness—An Antidote for
Intemperance—Milk Strippings for Consumption—Stammering Cured at Home
Here are some short and simple rules for quick action in the event of
accidents:
=For Dust in the Eyes=, avoid rubbing, and dash water into them. Remove
cinders, etc., with the rounded end of a lead pencil or a small camel’s
hair brush dipped in water.
=Remove Insects from the Ear= by tepid water; never put a hard
instrument into the ear.
=If an Artery Is Cut= compress above the wound; if a vein is cut
compress below.
=If Choked= get upon all fours and cough.
=For Light Burns= dip the part in cold water; if the skin is destroyed
cover with varnish.
=Smother a Fire= with carpets, etc.; water will often spread burning oil
and increase the danger.
=Before Passing through Smoke= take a full breath and then stoop low;
but if carbonic acid gas is suspected then walk erect.
=Suck Poisoned Wounds= unless your mouth is sore. Enlarge the wound, or
better, cut out the part without delay. Hold the wounded part as long as
can be borne to a hot coal or end of a cigar.