ON THE CARE OF INFANTS.
Every young lady ought to learn how to take proper care of an infant;
for, even if she is never to become the responsible guardian of a
nursery, she will often be in situations where she can render
benevolent aid to others, in this most fatiguing and anxious duty.
The writer has known instances, in which young ladies, who, having been
trained, by their mothers, properly to perform this duty, were, in some
cases, the means of saving the lives of infants, and in others, of
relieving, by their benevolent aid, sick mothers, from intolerable care
and anguish.
On this point, Dr. Combe remarks, "All women are not destined, in the
course of Nature, to become mothers; but how very small is the number of
those, who are unconnected, by family ties, friendship, or sympathy,
with the children of others! How very few are there, who, at some time
or other of their lives, would not find their usefulness and happiness
increased, by the possession of a kind of knowledge, intimately allied
to their best feelings and affections! And how important is it, to the
mother herself, that her efforts should be seconded by intelligent,
instead of ignorant, assistants!"
In order to be prepared for such benevolent ministries, every young lady
should improve the opportunity, whenever it is afforded her, for
learning how to wash, dress, and tend, a young infant; and whenever she
meets with such a work as Dr. Combe's, on the management of infants, she
ought to read it, and _remember_ its contents.
It was the design of the author, to fill this chapter chiefly with
extracts from various medical writers, giving some of the most important
directions on this subject; but finding these extracts too prolix for a
work of this kind, she has condensed them into a shorter compass. Some
are quoted verbatim, and some are abridged, chiefly from the writings of
Doctors Combe, Bell, and Eberle, who are among the most approved writers
on this subject.
"Nearly one half of the deaths, occurring during the first two years of
existence, are ascribable to mismanagement, and to errors in diet. At
birth, the stomach is feeble, and as yet unaccustomed to food; its
cravings are consequently easily satisfied, and frequently renewed."
"At that early age, there ought to be no fixed time for giving
nourishment. The stomach cannot be thus satisfied." "The active call of
the infant, is a sign, which needs never be mistaken."
But care must be taken to determine between the crying of pain or
uneasiness, and the call for food; and the practice of giving an infant
food, to stop its cries, is often the means of increasing its
sufferings. After a child has satisfied its hunger, from two to four
hours should intervene, before another supply is given.
"At birth, the stomach and bowels, never having been used, contain a
quantity of mucous secretion, which requires to be removed. To effect
this, Nature has rendered the first portions of the mother's milk
purposely watery and laxative. Nurses, however, distrusting Nature,
often hasten to administer some active purgative; and the consequence
often is, irritation in the stomach and bowels, not easily subdued." It
is only where the child is deprived of its mother's milk, as the first
food, that some gentle laxative should be given.
"It is a common mistake, to suppose, that, because a woman is nursing,
she ought to live very fully, and to add an allowance of wine, porter,
or other fermented liquor, to her usual diet. The only result of this
plan, is, to cause an unnatural fulness in the system, which places the
nurse on the brink of disease, and retards, rather than increases, the
food of the infant. More will be gained by the observance of the
ordinary laws of health, than by any foolish deviation, founded on
ignorance."
There is no point, on which medical men so emphatically lift the voice
of warning, as in reference to administering medicines to infants. It is
so difficult to discover what is the matter with an infant, its frame is
so delicate and so susceptible, and slight causes have such a powerful
influence, that it requires the utmost skill and judgement to ascertain
what would be proper medicines, and the proper quantity to be given.
Says Dr. Combe, "That there are cases, in which active means must be
promptly used, to save the child, is perfectly true. But it is not less
certain, that these are cases, of which no mother or nurse ought to
attempt the treatment. As a general rule, where the child is well
managed, medicine, of any kind, is very rarely required; and if disease
were more generally regarded in its true light, not as something thrust
into the system, which requires to be expelled by force, but as an
aberration from a natural mode of action, produced by some external
cause, we should be in less haste to attack it by medicine, and more
watchful in its prevention. Accordingly, where a constant demand for
medicine exists in a nursery, the mother may rest assured, that there is
something essentially wrong in the treatment of her children.
"Much havoc is made among infants, by the abuse of calomel and other
medicines, which procure momentary relief, but end by producing
incurable disease; and it has often excited my astonishment, to see how
recklessly remedies of this kind are had recourse to, on the most
trifling occasions, by mothers and nurses, who would be horrified, if
they knew the nature of the power they are wielding, and the extent of
injury they are inflicting."
Instead, then, of depending on medicine, for the preservation of the
health and life of an infant, the following precautions and preventives
should be adopted.
Take particular care of the _food_ of an infant. If it is nourished by
the mother, her own diet should be simple, nourishing, and temperate. If
the child be brought up by hand, the milk of a new-milch cow, mixed with
one third water, and sweetened a little with _white_ sugar, should be
the only food given, until the teeth come. This is more suitable, than
any preparations of flour or arrow-root, the nourishment of which is too
highly concentrated. Never give a child _bread_, _cake_, or _meat_,
before the teeth appear. If the food appear to distress the child, after
eating, first ascertain if the milk be really from a new-milch cow, as
it may otherwise be too old. Learn, also, whether the cow lives on
proper food. Cows that are fed on _still-slops_, as is often the case in
cities, furnish milk which is very unhealthful.
Be sure and keep a good supply of pure and fresh air, in the nursery. On
this point, Dr. Bell remarks, respecting rooms constructed without
fireplaces, and without doors or windows to let in pure air, from
without, "The sufferings of children of feeble constitutions, are
increased, beyond measure, by such lodgings as these. _An action,
brought by the Commonwealth_, ought to lie against those persons, who
build houses for sale or rent, in which rooms are so constructed as not
to allow of free ventilation; and _a writ of lunacy_ taken out against
those, who, with the common-sense experience which all have on this
head, should spend any portion of their time, still more, should sleep,
in rooms thus nearly air-tight."
After it is a month or two old, take an infant out to walk, or ride, in
a little wagon, every fair and warm day; but be very careful that its
feet, and every part of its body, are kept warm: and be sure that its
eyes are well protected from the light. Weak eyes, and sometimes
blindness, are caused by neglecting this precaution. Keep the head of an
infant cool, never allowing too warm bonnets, nor permitting it to sink
into soft pillows, when asleep. Keeping an infant's head too warm, very
much increases nervous irritability; and this is the reason why medical
men forbid the use of caps for infants. But the head of an infant
should, especially while sleeping, be protected from draughts of air,
and from getting cold.
Be very careful of the skin of an infant, as nothing tends so
effectually to prevent disease. For this end, it should be washed all
over, every morning, and then gentle friction should be applied, with
the hand, to the back, stomach, bowels, and limbs. The head should be
thoroughly washed, every day, and then brushed with a soft hair-brush,
or combed with a fine comb. If, by neglect, dirt accumulates under the
hair, apply, with the finger, the yolk of an egg, and then the fine comb
will remove it all, without any trouble.
Dress the infant, so that it will be always warm, but not so as to cause
perspiration. Be sure and keep its feet _always_ warm; and, for this
end, often warm them at a fire, and use long dresses. Keep the neck and
arms covered. For this purpose, wrappers, open in front, made high in
the neck, with long sleeves, to put on over the frock, are now very
fashionable.
It is better for both mother and child, that it should not sleep on the
mother's arm, at night, unless the weather be extremely cold. This
practice keeps the child too warm, and leads it to seek food too
frequently. A child should ordinarily take nourishment but twice in the
night. A crib beside the mother, with a plenty of warm and light
covering, is best for the child; but the mother must be sure that it is
always kept warm. Never cover a child's head, so that it will inhale the
air of its own lungs. In very warm weather, especially in cities, great
pains should be taken, to find fresh and cool air, by rides and sailing.
Walks in a public square, in the cool of the morning, and frequent
excursions in ferry or steam-boats, would often save a long bill for
medical attendance. In hot nights, the windows should be kept open, and
the infant laid on a mattress, or on folded blankets. A bit of straw
matting, laid over a featherbed, and covered with the under sheet, makes
a very cool bed for an infant.
Cool bathing, in hot weather, is very useful; but the water should be
very little cooler than the skin of the child. When the constitution is
delicate, the water should be slightly warmed. Simply sponging the body,
freely, in a tub, answers the same purpose as a regular bath. In very
warm weather, this should be done two or three times a day, always
waiting two or three hours after food has been given.
"When the stomach is peculiarly irritable, (from teething,) it is of
paramount necessity to withhold all the nostrums which have been so
falsely lauded as 'sovereign cures for _cholera infantum_.' The true
restoratives, to a child threatened with disease, are, cool air, cool
bathing, and cool drinks of simple water, in addition to _proper_ food,
at stated intervals." Do not take the advice of mothers, who tell of
this, that, and the other thing, which have proved excellent remedies in
their experience. Children have different constitutions, and there are
multitudes of different causes for their sickness; and what might cure
one child, might kill another, which _appeared_ to have the same
complaint. A mother should go on the general rule, of giving an infant
very little medicine, and then only by the direction of a discreet and
experienced physician. And there are cases, when, according to the views
of the most distinguished and competent practitioners, physicians
themselves are much too free in using medicines, instead of adopting
_preventive_ measures.
Do not allow a child to form such habits, that it will not be quiet,
unless tended and amused. A healthy child should be accustomed to lie or
sit in its cradle, much of the time; but it should occasionally be taken
up, and tossed, or carried about, for exercise and amusement. An infant
should be encouraged to _creep_, as an exercise very strengthening and
useful. If the mother fears the soiling of its nice dresses, she can
keep a long slip or apron, which will entirely cover the dress, and can
be removed, when the child is taken in the arms. A child should not be
allowed, when quite young, to bear its weight on its feet, very long at
a time, as this tends to weaken and distort the limbs.
Many mothers, with a little painstaking, succeed in putting their
infants, while awake, into their cradle, at regular hours, for sleep,
and induce regularity in other habits, which saves much trouble. In
doing this, a child may cry, at first, a great deal; but for a healthy
child, this use of the lungs does no harm, and tends rather to
strengthen, than to injure, them. A child who is trained to lie or sit,
and amuse itself, is happier than one who is carried and tended a great
deal, and thus rendered restless and uneasy when not so indulged.