The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-12-14

FAMILY physician In the nome CtIclS.
They DO not deal with remedies nor
cures, but with the prevention OF all
elents which win assume such proper
1inas that q physician must be called
Mothers--and doctors-are waking
up 70 the realization that preventative
@edicine Is the crying need among
hnbieg. The day when babies were
supposed to '.out-grow' certain dis
HMpremenfs or tendencies to disease
~ weakness is past. Most OF Us can
look back TO the barbarous practice Of
waath3ng . baby with paregoric and
then trusting to Nature to relieve the
e@Haitiou which made soothing neces-
mAFy. We really seemed to thlnk that
maFaele w0Hsa pc worried while the
ri baby had any terrible dsfcrnity
- aeuke disease, we turned 10 surgeon
~ PHYSICIAN. buf we took long chances
with the baby who was merely good
We never stopped to figure that q good
baby could be made a better baby by
snteiligent care. better baby trans
formed INTO a welI-nigh perfect baby.
And yet parents owe the children they
bring into the world precisely this
care.
One of the most interesting features
- the Better Babies Cont ests which
/ have visited this fail has been in
hInazement. OF some mothers when
they discovered that with. oh, such a
A4AA4S care ana GbLGUL4O1tp tnCy OOAA0
Werk such wonders in their babies.
A. an example. In one city near New
York, the physicians IN charge OF the
examinations at contest asked me
IL would attend meeting Of dress
rehearsal ~ the examination few
weeks before the contest. They want
cd q Demonstration of just how babies
are examined by the Better Babies
standard score-card. So all the ar
rangsments were made, the physic-
hand for enodei." TO undergo the
full examination.
The baby was scored precisely as IL
p regular contest was underway, and
was penalized 5 for a rough skin and
ID for an eruption. The mother pro-
tested vigorously. The doctors showed
her a fine eruption over the abdomen
and under the arm pits. She declared
that the child had always had the
s11aFks-they were a sort of birth mark
The doctors explained that such an
was q bottle~fed baby. getting too
heavy fare. The mother admitted
that she knew nothing about modify
tpg the milk. The doctors told her
bow II should be done.
The Epughness Of the skin was due
20 mosquito bites, lots of them. The
Waether said she couldn't help that
and neither could the baby That was |
the fault Of the mosquitosi The doc
HeFs did not agree with her. They ex-
NAMtnHd that a careful mother protect
10 her child from mosquitoes with a
hsttings that mosquitoes carried disease,
that the itching sores made the baby
psrvous.
The other listened resentfully espec-
kAlly when she saw that by the card
her baby scored only 50. Nsverthe-
less, she must have thought great
deal about what those doctors said. be-
cause when the real contest was held
IN nAF city six weeks later she en-
&@ted her babv and 1t carried off a first
prize, scoring % per cent; The chair
man Of the committee in charge of
the work wrote me that this mother
bad Hghtened the quality of the baby's
food and the rash had disappeared.
she had cleared her house of mosque
foe and the baby's skin was smooth
s. rose petal Which shows that a
Better Babies contest makes mothers
tnink-and act. Also, that child can
9m made healthier and happier with
just little thought and attention.
At another contest where very large
prizes were given. q mother came to
me in tears. Her baby was a beauty.
but Il had not won prize. She
brought the baby TO me to prove its
beauty. doll-like features, absolutely
classic in their fineness, delicate skin,
soft, silken curls. And those stern
doctors had said that the baby could
not have prize inst because its teeth
were dark and its stomach too bigi
This baby was three years old It's
head should have measured 20 inches
In circumference. its chest q and its
abdomen 20. Instead. its head meas
lIred 10, its chest IS IL. and its abb
tipnen 81 liz. In a wee baby the alb
icmen is protuberant, but from two
years on the chest should be larger
than the abdomen. This indicates two
the child's respiratory Or
Enns are in good condition, with fine
chest development. and that the food
10 properly digested.
It took considerable questioning to
find out why this pretty child was not
IN good condition, but in time we got
nc the truth. The little girl loved
sandy She inherited the taste from
because they thought she could not
help tt. The discolored, decaying teeth /
md the -protuberant abdomen both re-
suited from over indulgence in sweets. /
The mother was urged TO reduce the |
amount Of candy given the child. not H
suddenly. bgat by gradually substituting /
sWeetened fresh or stewed fruit, and
hen a. gradually reducing the amount /
" suga8 served with the fruit. This i
vas seven months ago, and now the /
mother writes that the abdomen is
smaller. the teethsi in better shape and
he child much less 1retfu1
Ie Is shocking to see the number of Il
,htidren brought to contests who at
nree. four and i've years have dis
.cloreds oecayIng teeth. The condi-
Tor OF the teeth Is q sure indication 1
4 maternal career lack Of IL. Just
ln soon as the little teeth appear.
hey should be cleansed Baby-sfze /
Doth brushes, very soft indeed, can I
low be purchased. At firSf the teeth /
honld be brushed night and morning
lot with . tooth paste or powder but
!. very mild antiseptic like gIyco- thy
line may be dropped into the water.
ne tiny teeth must be brushed up
%N down as well az back and forth. |
special attention should be given
@ brushing the gums.
When the baby begins TO go to table,
r eat three meals a day in the nur-
erys the teeth should be cIeansed after
SCR meal
Mothers often say in exkenuation Of
10 bad condition of the baby's teeth
hat II has had bad teeth from the
'exnning. Except in the case OF con-