BABY’S AILMENTS AND HOW TO TREAT THEM
MOTHERS NOW STUDYING PREVENTIVE MEDICINE—REMEDIES WHICH SHOULD BE
FOUND IN EVERY NURSERY—TREATMENT OF DIARRHEA AND CONSTIPATION—COLDS
AND THEIR CURE—ADENOIDS AND THEIR REMOVAL—AILMENTS OF THE SKIN
The suggestions and remedies offered in this chapter are not to be
mistaken by the inexperienced mother as a substitute for the attention
and prescription of the family physician in case of baby’s illness.
They are given because hundreds of mothers, who will read this book,
live miles from a town or village. The arrival of the physician is
a matter of hours, and, in the meantime, an ailment may make rapid
progress.
Up-to-date doctors use comparatively little medicine in treating
babies. They lay more stress on preventive medicine, and fortifying the
baby so that it will throw off germs, contagion, etc. The prevention
of disease in babies has been practically outlined in the preceding
chapters. If a baby is properly fed and cared for, its illnesses will
be few and slight, yielding promptly to simple treatment. The healthy
baby can even come in contact with a contagious disease and not take it.
The veil of mystery which has so long surrounded the practice of
medicine is gradually being lifted by physicians themselves, who talk
freely to mothers about the use of simple medicines, and advise them
how to act in an emergency before the arrival of the family physician.
This is the sort of advice contained in this chapter. It is to be
followed only when a physician is not at hand, or when the case yields
quickly to simple remedies. There is no reason why an intelligent
mother should not know how to treat small ailments or symptoms of
serious illness until the physician arrives to relieve her of the
responsibility.
Certain drugs should be found in every nursery, and these are the pure,
unadulterated drugs prescribed by practicing physicians; they are not
patent medicines:
As cathartics, have castor-oil, calomel, milk of magnesia, citrate of
magnesia.
For croup and violent attacks of indigestion, which come from
overloading the stomach with rich food, especially in older children,
have syrup of ipecac.
For coughing have liquid peptonoids and creosote. The latter can be
put up by any registered pharmacist. Many physicians recommend the
combination prepared by the Arlington Chemical Company, Yonkers, New
York.
Of all the remedies named castor-oil is, perhaps, the most important,
as it is the safest laxative for children of all ages.
Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia is recommended for very young babies; but
castor-oil is the all-round dependable cathartic.
Perhaps the most common ailment in the average home is indigestion,
accompanied by looseness of the bowels. This trouble has been discussed
in Chapter VI, “Guarding the Baby’s Diet,” but it is repeated here for
that mother who, in a moment of alarm, turns to the chapter on ailments
for immediate help.
If the attack is not severe, with perhaps three loose passages a day,
it may be corrected through the diet of the mother, or, in a bottle-fed
baby, by changing the modification of the milk. The malt-sugar should
be omitted; skimmed milk instead of whole or plain milk should be used,
and the milk may be boiled for four or five minutes.
If the diarrhea persists in spite of this change in the food, and there
is fever or evidence of pain, the food should be stopped, either breast
milk or bottle milk, and boiled water, in small quantities, should be
given for ten or twelve hours; then barley water for ten hours more.
The child will not suffer from hunger, because it cannot retain food
of any sort.
Give castor-oil in the following doses:
Up to three months, one-half teaspoonful.
From three to six months, one teaspoonful.
From six to nine months, one and one-half teaspoonfuls.
From nine to twelve months, two teaspoonfuls.
From twelve months on, one to two tablespoonfuls.
If the child cannot retain castor-oil, then try calomel:
For the child between one and three months, one-half grain, taken at
the rate of one-eighth grain in each dose, ten to fifteen minutes
apart; this means four one-eighth grain tablets. The tablets should be
dissolved in water.
From three to six months, three-fourths of a grain may be given.
At one year, one grain, in doses of one-tenth grain each, fifteen
minutes apart.
For the infant, calomel followed by a warm enema will carry off the
poison in the intestines. For an older child the calomel must be
followed by half a glass of citrate of magnesia, given early in the
morning, to thoroughly cleanse the intestines.
Severe vomiting is treated exactly like intestinal indigestion, by
the use of cathartics. If either diarrhea or vomiting does not yield
to this treatment within twenty-four hours a physician should be
summoned. Severe vomiting may be a symptom of an acute and serious
attack of illness.
Following on the trail of indigestion and intestinal trouble come
anemia and malnutrition. The anemic child, suffering with malnutrition,
as the result of improper feeding, loses weight steadily, has vomiting
and diarrhea, sleeps badly, is listless and pallid. The pallor is due
to a lack of red corpuscles in the blood. It is, therefore, important
that all digestive troubles should be corrected promptly before they
develop into the dreaded forms of malnutrition and marasmus.
A very common ailment in the modern nursery, especially among
bottle-fed babies, is constipation. This is due entirely to improper
diet. It can be permanently eradicated only through a change in
diet. The child may be given temporary relief through the use of
suppositories and massage, never through the use of violent cathartics.
To secure an immediate movement of the bowels use an injection of
sweet-oil, glycerine, or soap and water. To give the sweet-oil use a
bulb syringe and one tablespoonful of the sweet-oil, warm. If glycerine
is used, one-half teaspoonful may be mixed with one tablespoonful of
warm water. If soap and water are used, make a warm suds of pure white
soap, and inject about a teacupful.
Glycerine suppositories, which can be bought at any reliable drugstore,
act quickly, but they may also irritate the rectum. The best
suppositories for use in chronic constipation in infants are the gluten
suppositories, made by the Health Food Company. They act more slowly
than glycerine suppositories, and the mother must not look for an
action of the bowels for at least two hours.
Neither injections nor suppositories should be depended upon for the
permanent relief of constipation; they are makeshifts at best, and
their continued use weakens the muscles of the rectum. The diet must be
corrected and the causes of the trouble eradicated.
An ailment which is frequently recurrent, and is a severe drain on
the baby’s system, is the common every-day cold. In considering this
illness, bear in mind that it is contagious. It can be prevented,
first, by not allowing the child to come in contact with adults or
other children who have colds, and, second, by keeping him in such fine
physical condition that he can resist the infection when exposed to it.
To harden the child against colds give him plenty of cool, fresh air.
This means sleeping in a cool room; wearing light-weight clothing, so
that he will not perspire; bathing in warm, not hot, water. The city
child is apt to take cold because the nursery is heated by steam. The
air is very dry; and this, in turn, dries the mucous membrane of the
nose, and the air passages, leaving them susceptible to infection.
In Chapter II, when describing a sanitary nursery, I mentioned the
importance of having a pan of water on the radiator, or the register
if the house is heated by furnace. All this heat should be turned off
at night, so that the child may sleep in a cool room. This means that
he must be warmly dressed; and his bed covers should be carefully
adjusted, and should be plentiful, though light in weight. In this
connection it may be mentioned that insufficient clothing and excessive
clothing are equally apt to cause colds. The child whose hands and feet
are cold and whose lips are blue is not sufficiently clad. The child
who perspires from heavy clothing in the house will take cold when he
goes out into the air. In country houses, in particular, a baby should
never be carried from one warm room to another through a cold hall,
unless he is carefully wrapped in a shawl.
Neither should a baby be allowed to play on the floor in a draught. He
should be laid on the bed and surrounded by pillows if he is active; or
some resourceful member of the family can build him a little pen raised
two or three feet from the floor on legs, and covered with a pad. This
should have a padded fence around it so that the baby will not roll
out. Another reason why the baby may contract a cold if allowed to
play on the floor is the fact that he will find there the germs which
come with dust.
And, finally, the baby’s nose or mouth should never be wiped with a
handkerchief used by adults or by other children. Handkerchiefs are the
very best carriers of germs.
When a small baby has a cold in the head his discomfort can be relieved
by dropping a little melted vaseline or albolene into the nose with a
medicine dropper. Vaseline may also be rubbed on the outside of the
nostrils. In an older child relief can be secured by using warm boric
acid—one teaspoonful to a pint of water—with a nasal atomizer.
Generally a cathartic, like castor-oil or calomel, will help to work
off a cold. It is not wise, however, to make any violent change in the
baby’s daily habits. He should not be loaded down with heavy clothing.
Irritating flannels should not be wrapped around his chest; nor should
the room be overheated, or the supply of fresh air shut off. None
of these things will relieve a cold. They will make the child more
uncomfortable.
If fever develops and the child does not throw off the cold a physician
should be summoned.
If the throat is sore no time should be lost in sending for a
physician, for the mother cannot tell the difference between tonsilitis
and diphtheria. If the doctor announces the trouble diphtheria, insist
on antitoxin immediately. This wonderful remedy has passed the
experimental stage: it is saving thousands of lives every year.
A sharp, dry cough, wheezing or purring in the chest, is also a
dangerous symptom, and may mean bronchitis. Send for a physician at
once; and, until the doctor arrives, the child should be kept in bed,
the room should be warm, the temperature moist. If a considerable time
must pass before the doctor will arrive it is safe to apply a mustard
plaster across the bronchial tubes.
Be very careful in mixing this plaster, because the child’s skin is
very tender and easily burned. Mix one part of English mustard with
five or six parts of flour, and sufficient warm water to make a thin
paste. Have ready a piece of old muslin or linen cut square and twice
as large as the chest of the child; spread the mustard paste in the
center and fold up the four corners so as to close tightly; rub the
baby’s chest lightly with sweet-oil or melted vaseline to prevent
blistering; lay the mustard plaster on the chest and cover it with
a piece of flannel, which should be wound around the child like a
bandage. Lift the corner of the plaster, from time to time, to make
sure that it is not burning the flesh. In ten or fifteen minutes the
skin will be slightly reddened, then remove the plaster; pat the skin
dry with old linen; and cover the little patient carefully.
The old-fashioned remedy of equal parts of camphorated oil and spirits
of turpentine may be applied with a warm hand, and the chest carefully
covered with soft flannel, or silk and wool. Great care must be taken
that the chest is not bared after these remedies have been applied, for
they make the little patient more prone to chill.
If the cough is troublesome, until the arrival of the doctor, give him
doses of liquid peptonoids with creosote every two hours, as follows:
Dose for a child under 3 months, ½ teaspoonful.
From 3 to 6 months, 1 teaspoonful.
From 6 to 9 months, 1½ teaspoonfuls.
From 9 to 12 months, 2 teaspoonfuls.
If the attack is light it may be broken up before the doctor arrives;
but it is never safe for the mother to treat symptoms of bronchitis
without the advice of a physician as soon as he can be secured.
When a child shows a tendency to take cold at almost regular intervals,
and the mother feels sure that this is not due to the temperature
of the nursery, ill-chosen clothes or general anemia, she may well
suspect adenoids. For many generations the baby who had “snuffles” and
breathed with his mouth open quite generally developed an ugly case of
chronic catarrh, which clung to him for life. To-day catarrh is rapidly
disappearing, because it has been traced to adenoids, which can be
removed.
Adenoids are a grapelike formation of tissue which grows back of the
palate in the passage leading from the nose to the throat. The air
must pass through this passageway when the mouth is closed. If the
passageway is filled with the adenoid growth there can be no breathing
through the nose, and the mouth remains open, waking and sleeping.
Among the evils which spring from adenoids are deafness, a deformed
jaw, restlessness, general debility, loss of appetite, defective
speech, persistent colds, and arrested mental development. Frequently
children pronounced defective in the public schools are found to be
suffering with adenoids. When the adenoids are removed the child slowly
but surely makes progress in his studies.
The mother who finds her baby breathing through the mouth should have
his throat examined immediately. Even the small nursing baby that seems
to choke and sputter when nursing may be suffering from this dangerous
growth. The only cure for adenoids is their complete removal. This can
be done any time after the baby passes its third month.
Next to adenoids as a menace to the baby’s health come enlarged
tonsils. We all know how certain children are subject to sore throats,
with high temperature, followed by extreme lassitude and debility.
This is tonsilitis, caused in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred by
enlarged tonsils. These can be operated on without any danger to the
small patient, with little pain, and at comparatively small cost.
Enlarged tonsils form a fine lodging-place for germs, especially those
of diphtheria.
In considering cold of any sort, bear in mind that the baby cannot tell
you where he feels pain. Irregular and unnatural breathing, coughs of
all kinds, together with fever, should give the inexperienced mother
reason for quick action. She should lose no time in sending for a
physician. I recall, when one of my children was wheezing and coughing
sharply, that I supposed it was an incipient case of croup. I undertook
to treat it as I had treated cases of croup in my other children; but
without results. I sent for the family physician, only to learn that
my baby was in an advanced stage of capillary bronchitis. His life was
saved only by prompt action and the faithful attendance of our family
doctor.
Pneumonia may develop just as suddenly in a child, and it is therefore
advisable to have the physician make a stethoscopic examination of the
little patient.
Croup will be treated as a nursery emergency in Chapter XIV.
A baby can be made ill and fretful by skin eruptions. The most common
of these is prickly heat, which looks like small red pimples and
blisters. These seem to be crowded together, but, nevertheless, each
remains separate. The baby suffers from severe itching and a tingling
or burning sensation.
At many contests I have heard mothers resent the fact that their babies
were penalized or marked down for prickly heat.
“Why,” the mother would exclaim, “all babies have prickly heat!”
All babies should not have prickly heat. It is a proof that the
mother is not as careful of her baby as she should be. It is due to
clothing that is too heavy, too hot, or too rough; anything that will
overheat the tender skin. Remove the cause of trouble. Dress the baby
lightly and loosely, and give him bicarbonate of soda baths—allowing
a tablespoonful of ordinary _baking_ soda, _not_ washing soda, to a
gallon of water. Pat the skin dry, and powder the little body freely
with talcum powder and boric acid mixed—allow two teaspoonfuls of the
boric acid to one ounce of powder. You can get the talcum powder in
one-ounce boxes, or can have it measured by your druggist.
If the eruption does not yield to the bicarbonate of soda bath try
sponging the skin with vinegar and water—that is, in the summer. The
eruption may be partly due to wool in the underwear. Change it for
muslin or linen shirts, and have the knitted belly-band over that, not
next to the skin.
Eczema is a far more serious eruption. It is marked by inflammation
and great itching. The skin seems to thicken; it becomes moist and
shows fissures from which a serum oozes and forms crusts. It is most
commonly found on the face and scalp, but it may also be found in the
folds of the skin at various parts of the baby’s anatomy. It may spread
or it may be confined to only a small area. In either case the child
suffers great discomfort and is bound to be fretful and wretched.
As eczema generally springs from lack of attention to the diet and
hygiene, it is not found among children cared for in an intelligent
way. When it does make its appearance the mother and doctor must set
themselves to the task of changing the baby’s diet. In the meantime,
some relief may be given by the treatment of the skin. Water baths must
_not_ be given, but a sweet-oil rub is used for cleansing purposes.
Ointments will not cure and they give little relief. One of the best
recommended by physicians is Lassar’s Paste, which can be bought at any
drugstore.
Eczema may be recognized but it cannot be treated successfully by the
mother. She must send at once for the family physician and place the
child under his care.
Chafing, which results from uncleanliness in handling the diapers,
is not dangerous, but it is most irritating to the child and is
responsible for much crying and fretfulness in the nursery. This
inflammation appears most frequently between the buttocks, on the
thighs, and in the folds of the groin. The mother should look to the
cause: neglect to change the diapers promptly; washing the diapers with
strong soap or washing-powders; lack of rinsing. The cure consists of
changing the diapers promptly and washing them promptly and carefully.
Relief is given by dusting the affected parts with talcum powder and
boric acid powder, as for prickly heat.
If any eruption does not yield promptly to change of diet or clothing,
and the simple remedies suggested, send for your physician. Never take
chances on skin diseases.
While attending Better Babies Contests I have been amazed at the
careless way in which comparatively intelligent mothers discuss worms
and their treatment with patent medicines.
Young babies, either nursing or bottle-fed, are seldom subject to
worms. They more often attack older children, especially country
children who drink well water. The symptoms are bad breath, gritting
the teeth in the sleep, irritation of the nostrils, which makes the
child pick at his nose, loss of appetite, anemia, headache, and
dizziness. Many of these symptoms often come from ordinary indigestion.
The only way to decide what really lies behind the symptoms is to have
the stools examined. The worms themselves will not be found in the
stools, but the eggs can be detected by the aid of a microscope.
The most common form of worms is the thread-worm, which looks like
small broken pieces of white thread, from one-third to one-half inch
long. The roundworm and tapeworm are rarely found.
No mother should attempt to treat this trouble, either before or after
she has learned that the child has worms. She must never administer
patent medicines, but must turn her child over to the care of a
physician, who will prescribe medicine.
Rickets is one of the most serious ailments which attack the young
baby. It is not an acute but a chronic disease due to malnutrition.
It overtakes the baby gradually, between six months and two years,
and seems to strike chiefly at the bones. The first symptoms are
fretfulness, sleeplessness, pallor, and sweating of the head. The child
threatened with rickets wears off the hair at the back of the head,
in its restlessness, and its pillow is always wet from perspiration.
Gradually the abdomen becomes enlarged and out of proportion to the
child’s other measurements. The teething is delayed, and the baby
cannot sit up or walk as early as a normal child should. The little
baby is usually constipated and suffers from general intestinal
trouble. It is subject to colds, and it may have convulsions. If
the condition is neglected the mother suddenly discovers that the
child looks deformed. Some of the bones become enlarged; the chest
is barrel-shaped; and when the baby begins to walk he is bow-legged
because the bones are so soft.
If the child survives the illness it is often so deformed that it is
marked for life. If the disease is discovered and treated promptly the
child becomes strong and outgrows most of the defects.
Rickets is generally caused by improper feeding, by proprietary foods
without the needed amount of fresh milk, or by fresh milk and foods
that do not contain enough fat or cream. The prolonged use of boiled or
sterilized milk, also, will cause rickets.
The cure lies with the diet, which should be changed immediately, under
the direction of a physician, who will generally stop all proprietary,
condensed, and boiled milk, and give whole milk, modified to suit the
baby’s age. After the child has passed the first year the physician
will order fresh eggs, beef juice, broths, and, possibly, cod-liver oil
in emulsion. The little invalid must sleep in a well-aired room and be
kept out of doors whenever the weather is pleasant.
Scurvy is another disease which can be traced to the use of proprietary
foods without fresh milk, sterilized, pasteurized, or boiled milk, and
it generally attacks a child between the seventh and tenth month.
Among the symptoms are these:
Baby cries when handled; when the diaper is being changed; or, in
severe cases, when any one touches the bed or bedding. The knee and
ankle joints swell and are very tender, but they are not hot to the
touch nor inflamed. The baby suffering from scurvy will generally lie
on his back with the knees slightly drawn up and held far apart. If
he has teeth the gums will swell and turn purple in color, or bleed
easily. In some cases there is also bleeding from the nose and from the
bowels. A physician should be called at once; but the real treatment
is in the hands of the mother, who will give her baby fresh cow’s milk
properly modified, and strained orange juice or thin apple-sauce once a
day.
If the child has passed his first year when attacked by scurvy, he may
have potatoes, mashed very fine and beaten light with milk, and other
fresh vegetables, cooked very tender and pressed through a vegetable
sieve. All this treatment must be given under the direction of the
family physician.
There are certain ailments which no mother should neglect or attempt
to treat. One of these is swollen glands behind and under the jaw and
below the ear. These may be due to the presence of infectious diseases,
to decayed teeth, enlarged tonsils, malnutrition, or marasmus. They may
indicate tuberculosis. Sometimes the growth is gradual; sometimes they
appear quite suddenly and disappear without making any great trouble.
Occasionally they require incision to let out the pus. This is a simple
operation, and recovery is almost always complete in a young child.
For retention of urine give the child a hot bath, raising the
temperature from 100° to 105° F. If this does not have the desired
effect put the child in bed and lay a compress over the region of
the bladder. If the child is still unable to pass urine and there is
inflammation of the parts, or a slight yellow discharge, a physician
should be summoned.
Vaccination is still a mooted question among persons who argue that
smallpox is now so rare that vaccination is unnecessary. This is
a mistaken idea. Smallpox is rare because vaccination is commonly
practiced. The healthy, normal baby should be vaccinated when he is
about six months of age, and subsequently once in five years. If at any
period between these dates he is exposed to the disease, he should be
vaccinated immediately. Parents who object to compulsory vaccination in
the schools can avoid this by having their children vaccinated at home
by the family physician. If the latter is conscientious in selecting
the vaccine, and the wound is kept clean until it is healed, there is
absolutely no danger from infection of any kind. Occasionally one
hears of a case where vaccination has been followed by some form of
poisoning. This can almost invariably be traced to carelessness in the
care of the wound, not to the quality of the vaccine used.