Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-01-11
LITTLE TALKS ON BABYOLOGY
By ANNA STEESE RICHARDSON
Director of The Better Babies Bureau Of the WonnanS Home Companion
No IL.
Nursery Emergencies and How to Meet Them
bu ANNA STEESE RICHARDSON

emergency they may be treated as follows until, the
services of a doctor can be secured:
"u) Loosen the clothing, but do not take it of,
except the shoes and stockings.
"(2) Place the child upon a bed or table with his
legs hanging over the edge from the knees down.
"(3) Put. his feet and lower legs into a pail of hot
water, to which has been added one tablespoonful of
powdered mustard, if it is at hand. If there is no
mustard, use hot water alone. Be very careful that
it is not hot enough to burn.
500 Put an ice cap to the head; lacking an ice
cap, use plenty of cracked ice done up in a towel.
go Give an enema of warm soapsude. Repeat
if it is not retained.
"(6) As soon as the child is able to swallow, give
a large dose of castor oil"
qa4 a. ~ "The Healthy Baby"
When tile baby has a fall this may or may not
attain the dignity Of a nursery emergency. A child
can escape real injury in what may at first appear
to the mother as a very bad fall. Tie effect of a fall
most to be dreaded is injury to the spine or the
brain. ] recall one particular case where a child
was dropped by it's nurse and made very little cutlery.
In fact, it became $listless, dull and a~pathetic. 1t
dozed Off and on for tWenty-four hours and then,
suddenly, the mother discovered that the child had
lost the use of its legs. The blow to the spine had
caused paralysis.
When the child strikes the head in falling and
develops listlessness and drowsiness, or makes no
outcry' does not even talk, the mother should have
it examined by a physician, even though the baby
may not become unconscious. There are cases on
record where children of three and four years were
counted: as detectives or idiots when a surgical ex-
animation developed the fact that a bit of bone was
pressing on the brain and making all the trouble.
The fracture could be traced to a fall during infancy,
to which no attention had been paid. The pressure
removed, the child has regained the use of its facul-
tie and developed into a normal being. The mother
who suspects that the brain is even slightly affected
by a fall should have her baby examined Immediately.
Where the arm or leg is hurt the child may stop
crying and resume its playing in a short time, merely
shielding the injured member. If at the end of sew.
eral hours he continues to play without using the
hand or foot affected, the mother will do well to have
him looked over by a doctor. An astonishing number
OF children will resume playing despite a broken arm
leg, collar bone or rib a'
One Of the common emergencies OF childhood is
the burn. | know of nothing which will make a child
cry more terrifyingly or give the mother more alarm
than a burn, whether from actual flame or from
steam, or boiling water. Too much care cannot be
taken to ward off this emergency. Ho water should
not be left standing around where a child can tumble
or dip into it. Lamps, candles, etc, should be placed
beyond his reach. Matches should never be left
where he can strike them. However, careful as the
mother may be, children will burn themselves, and a
mother should be prepared for the emergency.
Keep on hand gauze %bandages in several widths
and a bottle OF sweet oil and lime water in equal
proportion. This is effective if the skin is merely
REDEEMED or infamed. If the burn DESTROYS the first
layer of skin, causing blisters to arise, there is
danger of infection. Cover the burn with a piece OF
gauze soaked in Il Y weak antiscptic solution Zone cor.
rosive sublimate tablet or one teaspoonful of creolin
to a quart of water). -
Tie same antiseptic treatment may be used for
the more severe burns where the flesh is actually
scared, in which case, after applying the antiseptic
solution and gauze, the child should Immediately have
the care of a physician.
Infection, lockjaw and intense suffering, if not
death, may result from a neglected burn. >
When a child chokes, never strike it on the back
while it is in an upright position. Turn it over on
your lap, head downward, or even let it hang by It's
seels when sapping it on the back.
y" In these little talks on Eabyology l have tried to
discuss all the common problems which the average
mother must solve. In conclusion, l want to say
that If any mother has an anxiety about her baby
not touched on in these articles, ! will be glad to
hear from her, to answer her questions, if | am able,
and If not, to pass them on to one of the various
physicians who have done 50 much to make the work
Of the Better Babies Bureau possible.
correspondence winch has reached my desk
as a result Of these little talks goes to prove tat
the American mother is alive 10 the Importance Of
preventive medicine as a substitute for soothing
syrup, patent nostrlms and cures of any sort.
They arc learning that prevention of disease is ret
only possible, but it is the child's due. We are enter.
ing upon the era Of Better Babies, happier homes,
and freer mothers, freer because a healthy baby
never makes a slave of its mother.
Always Right; So What's the USe:2