The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-05-27
TO MOTHERS.

1t is estimated that out of every 100,-
600 infants born in our large cities 24,-
600 die before they see their first birth
day. Out of 100000 yearly births &c.
600 die under the age of years, hence
10000 die before reaching their fifth
birthday. If it is worth while going to
the trouble of having babies it certainly
should be worth while trying to keep
them a little longer. A French COM
mission, composed of MN. Moutard-
Martin, Bergeron. Parrot, Blachez, and
Dugardin-Beaumetz, has prepared the
following instructions TO mothers and
nurses with this end in view, and the
code has been published by the depart
ment of public charities of Paris:
1. Till the appearance of the first
teeth. e., between the sixth and
seventh months-the only food of the
infant should be milk. that of the
neither preferably. if she be in good
condition, otherwise that of a wetnurse.
1t is very dangerous to give an infant
solid food of any kind during the first
months of its life.
2. The child should be offered the
breast about once i'll two hours, and less
often in the night.
3. In the event of inability to pro-
vide woman's milk the milk of the cow
or goat may be substituted. This milk
should be given warm, diluted with
one-fourth part water, and slightly
sweetened- At the beginning of the
fifth month the milk may be taken pure.
All other liquids employed to dilute the
milk (thin cruel, bread water, barley
water) are injurious.
f. In feeding the infant, glass nurs-
ing-bottles should be employed. These,
especially the tubing and the mouth
piece, should be thoroughly cleansed
every time they are used. Never allow
nurses to resort to those sugar teats"
with which some mothers seek to ap-
pease the cries of the infant, and which
are sure to produce canker and disorder
the digestion.
5. 1t is not till the sixth or seventh
month that one should begin to allow
farinaceous substances with milk, such
as bread, baked flour, rice, arrowroot,
mealy potatoes; these supplementary
foods should always form a considerable
part of the infants dietary toward the
end of the first year to accustom the
child to weaving. Weaning ought not
to be thought of till the first twelve or
sixteen teeth have pierced the gums,
while the infant is in a good state of
health, and during the lull which fol-
lows an eruption of teeth.
6. Every morning the toilet of the
little one should be made before suck
ling or feeding; this toilet consists:
First, in washing the child's body, and
especially the folds and creases, which
! ought always to be kept clean; second,
in scrubbing the head, on which it will
not do to let scurf or dandruff accumu-
late; third, in changing (at least every
second day) the child's underclothing;
| fourth, in giving a warm bath, in which
the infant should be held five or six
minutes. The belly-band ought to be
kept on during the first month.
Z. Swaddling clothes, which cause
compression of the body, should be in
.erdicted. The more freedom the young
child has in its movements the more
robust it becomes and the better its de-
velopment All swathing which en-
| cumbers the neck and head should also
be discarded.
8. The infant should be protected
| against the injurious effects of excess of
| cold and heat, whether outdoors or in
the house; within doors, the air should
be renewed several times day.
9. 1t is not safe to carry the babe in
| to the open air before the fifteenth day
unless the temperature is very mild.
10. The child ought not to be al
| lowed to sleep in the same bed with its
| mother or nurse.
IL. The bed of the infant should be
composed of oaten straw, soft thatch,
OF husks; the cradle should have cur
tains during the first months of infancy,
and especially during the cold season,
to avoid currents of air, but these cur
tains should never be completely closed.
The babe ought not to be rocked.
IL. There should not be undue haste
in teaching the infant to walk; it should
be allowed to creep on the floor and
help itself up; walking carts and baskets
should be discountenanced.
Is. The least indisposiuon on the
part of the infant (colic, diarrhea,
vomiting, cough) should be at once at
tended to.
IA. As CESSATION has the effect of
rendering the milk less nutritious, every
nursing woman should cease to suckle
her infant at such time.
10. 1t is good plan to vaccinate in
fants during the first three months after
birth or during the first few weeks if an
epidemic of smallpox is prevailing.