Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-02-11
BY LEROY M. YALE, MD.

Z
[ BY LEROY M. YALE, MD.
| In the long series of events in the baby q
life so interesting to his elders nothing is
more important to them than his first step.
The mothers ambition to have him 'for.
ward" is sometimes oddly mixed with a
dread lest he should ''walk too soon." 1t
will be profitable to consider briefly what
a child has to learn and to accomplish be-
fore he can walk, why his success is often
tardy, and what injury, if any, may result
from too early walking or standing.
AS regards locomotion, the new born in
FAINT is singularly helpless, compared with
the young of the lower animals. Most of
them are able to crawl about, and some
even to run, Immediately after birth. But
the child before it can walk must learn to
hold itself erect, and this it does not do by
instinct but by long, tentative process
Notice a newborn or very young infant; he
allows his members to follow to great de-
gree the demands of gravitation. Hts head
is SO mobile and helpless that the careful
nurse supports it at every movement. His
spine has none of the established curves
that we admire in adult life but bends this
way or that according to the position in
which he lies. His limbs still retain in some
measure the prenatal, bent positions, and
are rarely fully Strengthened. This relaxed
condition is due partly to want of muscular
strength, but at least as much to the child $
inability to direct his movements. He clings
tenaciously to an object he has chanced to
seize long before he can guide his hand to
| it.
A child has, therefore, made his first ap-
proach to walking when he has gained the
power to hold his head erect, and to turn it
at will. Presently he gains a like power
over his back, and at the same time he is
acquiring precision in the use of his hands,
and now he sits unsupported, and busies
himself with things within his reach. Be-
fore long, having ceased to be content with
objects at hand, and being stronger and
steadier in trunk and limb, he throws him
self upon all fours, and crawls off toward
some more remote, desired thing. By this
time he has gained the habit of straighten-
ing his lower limbs until they are in a line
with his body, and as he crawls about he
essays to draw himself up by the aid of ar
ticles Of furniture until he stands erect. In
little time his spine takes the curves ne
cessary to keep his centre of gravity between
his feet, he learns to keep this equilibrium,
lets go of his support and stands alone-he
is ready for his first step.
Some one has defined walking as per-
petual falling forward interrupted by the
advancing Of the foot. To advance the foot
without this forward plunge of the body is
not walking, but rather kicking. Of course
while the one foot is thrust forward the
weight of the body must be balanced on the
other, and so, with swaying body, the child
plunges ahead until he safely reaches some
support, or until he loses balance and falls
forward, or else, in attempting to escape
this, sits down on the floor. By constant
repetition he soon masters the problem OF
balancing, and walks securely.
Now all this may sound trivial, but it is
only by prolonged preparation and much
experiment that child usually learns to
walk, and the process is as difficult actually
as the feats of balancing we sometimes won
der at in adults. Fortunately, he passes
through it at an age when he hesitates little
at dangers, if, indeed, he recognizes them,
and when self consciousness has not aggra-
vated natural timidity. A long time is re-
quired for a child to learn to walk, and the
age at which different children acquire the
art varies very much. We have occasional
ly seen child walking strongly and steadily
at eleven months, while others, who finally
walk perfectly, have scarcely made an at
tempt at year and half.
Our second inquiry is one which is often
asked the physician: "Why does not my
baby walk?" In answer we may say, first
of all, that delay in walking does not neces-
sarily imply physical disease Or weakness.
A child's disposition may have much to do
with it; courage and selfcenidence make
the infant forward, while timidity will make
him backward. The example Of other, es-
pecially older, children stimulates the en-
terprise of an infant; while, on the other
hand, too constant attention from nurses
relieves an indolent child from the necessity
of exertion. When the tardiness passes be-
yond the ordinary limits it may be due to
some weakness, either natural to the child
or perhaps the result of some definite dis
ease. Any severe ailment may entail such
debility as to interrupt the natural develop
ment Of the child in this direction. Even
the process of dentition may have such an
effect. Many times we have been told at
clinic that the child, who had already begun
to get about, "lost his walk" as the result
of teething or of some disease. Moreover,
any lowering of the general condition, with
out special fit of illness, may have like
result Sometimes paralysis of limb may
be at the bottom of the trouble, but this is
likely to be recognized from the fact of the
illness that preceded it, or from the power
lessness of the limbs for other purposes than
walking. So, too, injuries, such as fractures
and dislocations, have sometimes been over
looked, although it would hardly seem that
they could be, by persons of ordinary OBJ
servation and intelligence.
! To any one anxious about the tardiness OF
a child in walking we would say, first of all,
Do not hurry and dc not worry. Try to as
certain if the child is well as to his diges-
tion, nutrition, sleep, and all the matters
that go to make up general coed health. Il
you are convinced that your child Is in per.
feet health, and your opinion is confirmed
by your medical adviser, it will be perfectly
proper to encourage him in every way, as
the tardiness is probably due to menta