Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-11-18
HOW SHALL WE TREAT OUR IA.
BIES?

BIESr
By A PHYSICIAN.
Children are killed by too much care, or what
Is calico care, as well as by too little. Perhaps
truth would admit of even a stronger statement.
Now let US see how q newcomer il treated Just
as soon as he or she Is fairly dressed. supp0Sng,
OF course, the doctor to be out of sight. Every
one knows il has TO take something. In the
drinking world il is considered good manners to
ask, g What will YOU take?'' But no such dis
cretion is allowed the baby. Take something it
must, though nobody knows why il should take
anything. and some persons know many reasons
why IL should take nothing So a little sugar
and water, or molasses and water, or molasses
and oil, or castor oil. must be given, and this
little is not always adapted TO the babys stoma ch
which holds about tablespoonful.
Whether this is given for food or physic makes
little difference. The child needs neither, hence
either is an injury. More than that. il is a
monstrous wrong upon one incapable of knowing
or resentlng IL. In a few minutes the baby has
collie. What wonder? As IL has a collie, Il must
have medicine, of course. What could be
palmer? Suffice il to say, the child is dosed with
something, an anodyne NAV be; this constipates
it, and it must have physic; that gripes it, aud
II must have an anodyne again; ands on. TO the
end of the chapter, which often Is a short one,
ending in the graveyard.
But these are not the only abuses to which
these poor little creatures are subjected. How
many times have L been hOoted at for telling
Madam Nurse 70 lay that baby down in a warm
place, and let il alone No, forsootk; il must be
rocked, the little darling and as soon as it l.
dressed too, when II has no more idea that IL
needs TO be rocked than il has of the next solar
eclipse. 1t must be carried, too. and trotted.
There, hear that wind come up" many a
nurse has said to me triumphsntly, and am
sure with utter scorn at my ignorance when eN-
postulating with her against thus abusing the
baby. But what mortal would not raise wind,
with stomach full, when subjected TO such a
process. Let man eat a hearty meal, and then
mount a hard-trotting horse, or, what would be
more analogous to nurses knee, a trip-hammer,
and he would not need long experience to teach
hence injurious. And they are not only injurious
after feeding, but at any and all times for the
newly-born babe.
Now, if pain is produced by this, then is
opened another chapter of drugging; and il is
easy enough TO see that the sleep will be dis
turbed or prevented And here begins vet
another chapter. Why, you would not let the
baby cry all night, would youf 1t must have
an anodyne, of course" And of course il gets
one, and many a one, and thus we get upon the
same old track again; for every abuse of baby
lieve the pain opens the way for other causes and
other pains.
Having considered what is really done, let us
see what should be done. This newlv-born
baby has two wants, and but two: the first to he
kept warm, the second to be kept quiet. If il
has drop or two of water before it is dressed,
well and good; but there is no occasion for any
nourishment. To crafty its first want, wrap il
up in nice, warm blanket, and lay il upon a
soft pillow There is little fear of getting it too
warm Babies cannot engender their own
many little one comes to an untimely end.
At the same time they should not be crushed
under mountain of coverings, and the nose
should in any case be quite accessible to the air
Now, having slowed IL away snugly, mark il
ITO be let Alone" or else grandma, or grand
pa, or aunty will come in, and the baby must
be taken up and paraded and commented on;
may be carried about or trotted or handled. Do
what you may with it, you can do nothing but
what is wrong, for the simple reason that the
only right thing to do is to do nothing. So let the
no and r.-4 ell %.
is warm and its clothes are not too tight. Ii
surely will not cry, for all its natural wants are
gratifed, and it has not yet acquired any arti-
tcal ones. Thus il may pass the first six hours
of its life. If il should awake about this time
and the mother be at the same time somewhat
rested, put ii to the breast. 1t NAV get little
something whether ii does or not, it is acquiring
a useful habit.
As regards the food for the first three DAYS,
supposng the mother is not in a state TO supply
it, many questions might be started. To the
minds of most, however, WHO have to deal with
babies, it Is q very simple matter. They must
be fed, of course, and fed, too, every time they
cry. There we have it in all its simplicity. But
let IFS consider a fact or so, and see what infer
ences may be drawn from them.
The first fact is, that baby was planned by an
Artifcer who pronounced all things which he
had made to be good, an" good they have been
ever since. After all allowance is made for chill
dren born with vitiated constitutions, the vast
majority have sufficient health and vigor of con-
sttutlon to carry them safely over the first three
days of their lives.
The second fact is, that the nourishment for
the baby comes three days after the baby, that
IL, in full supply.
Now, put these two facts together-frst, that
the babies are calculated TO live; and, secondly
that 10 nourishment is provided for the child
until the third day-and what is the conclusion?
What but that baby needs little or no food until
the third day? There is no escape from this
conclusion if we admit the facts, and to support
these there is evidence without end.
Not many years ago British physician stated
that the stomachs of newly-bOTn infants were
covered with coating, which was digested by
the stomach, and that the stomach needed for
this purpose two or three days. / have never
seen this statement repeated; it may be true, or
may not; but certain il is, baby needs little or
no food until the third day, in most cases abso-
lute1y nothing beyond the little which the
mother can supply. If left undisturbed il will
sleep the most OF the time for the first three DAYS
and, Tor that matter, for the first siX weeks, if
However, for the mothers sake, baby should
have access TO the breast as often every three
or four hours, If it wake up so often. Leave the
matter entirely to baby. 1t will never starve to
death when in natural sleep. If it is i'm dis
eased sleep, that is another matter and not in
the scope of this paper. Evan in sHch a case,
however, i may say, in dismissing the point
baby needs medicine and not food.
When the baby should feed is not a matter of
indifference. No invariable rule can be laid
down for all children, but about some matters
there is very great uniformity, and from these
with little caution, we may reason to those
which are more uncertain. The stomach of a
neWlv.DOrn babe nOtds about tablespoonful.
ITO digest this must require somewhere from
one to two hours, possible more; certainly more
rs the child grows Older.) After the stomach has
performed its duty il wants rest, and must and
will have it; and If il does not. il will allow
nothing else to rest. If any one doubts this. he
can soon satisfy himself. Let him make hearty
meal on any given substances. As soon as this is
digested let him repeat the meal, and so on
through the twenty -four hours, and his doubts
will vanish. 1t would be marvel If he did,
too.
With this in view then, that the baby's
stomach, like every other stomach, needs rest
and with careful watching of tie child, the
question will soon be settled for each child, how
often il should nurse.
If mother nurses q child to quiet il, or to
comfort it, or to put II 10 sleep, for any other
conceivable purpose than to feed it, she COM
mits a great outrage, for which she, as well as
her innocent child, is sure to be punished.
Let us try that supposed adult on whom we
have just made the experiment of feeding often.
He wakes up in the night with the most violent
distress, no matter whether of mind or body; he
fairly roars with pain. What is to be done?
Why, rouse Sally and Jakey, and all the kitchen
help, and cook him some oysters, soup, or
coffee, or what not. The absurdty is plain
enough in an adaat-why is IL any less so IN
child? Who can tell?