Milford chronicle., 1920-05-14
MOTHERS COLUMN
Contributed by the Medical Consult
ant of the State Reconstruc-
ton Commission.)
CnLDS

AUA4D1
A cold as we know is caused b!
germs. These germs are present a
all times on the mucous membrane
(the thin covering on the inside) o.
the mouth and nose These, however
would not cause a cold, if something
did not lower the vitality of this mem
brane so that it could not resist the
germs. The cause of this lowering OF
vitality is the exposure of some rath-
er large portion of the skin to cold.
Now what are the most frequent
causes of colds in babies? One OF
them is the use of the pretty, lOcy,
flmy baby caps which ore in common
use. The baby on being dressed for
an outing is swathed in quantities of
clothes. but the large surface of face
and head is hardly covered at all. Thin
skull caps should be used during the
cold weather, undn~ the ordinary cap
Another frequehl cause is the kick
ing off of bed clothes. The baby is
put to bed. The temperature OF the
room is from 20 to 70 degrees Fahren-
heit During the night the tempera-
ture falls. The baby kicks off the bed
clothes. In doing so, he gets up a
perspiration After getting the
clothes of, the skin surface cOols
rapidly causing a lowering of vitality
and a subsequent cold. The remedy
for this is to pin the clothes on the
bed, to keep the room temperature
from falling below 60 to 60 degrees
Fahrenheit. and to provide sleeping
suits for the use of the baby.
A third frequent cause is allowing
the baby to play on the floor without
L., -.
a particularly bad practice for not
only is he liable to catch cold, there
always being drafts near the floor. Z
but there is always some dust and
dirt there which in a great many in
stances carry harmful germs. In ar
ranging a place for the baby to play
during the day, it is often impractical
to keep that careful watch over his
which is necessary if he .
is allowed to play on his bed or chair
Therefore, a very good arrangement .
is to have a pen with high sides which
can be draped or padded in such a
manner as to prevent drafts from
striking the baby. The ideal ar
is probably that of a crib
with high sides such as are on sale
at nearly every furniture or depart
nent store. This combines all the
advantages Of the pen on the floor and
'aises the baby above any possible
iOOr drafts.
Regarding the treatment or colds.
here is very little that can be done
without advice from a doctor A cold
S a very difficult disease to treat.
tut it is a condition which should not
De neglected. Every mother should :
lave a thermometer and if your baby
las cold, keep a careful watch of his
emperature and if it goes up to over
90 degrees be sure and see a doctor
I you have not already done so.
Colds are contagious. Therefore. if
he parents or other members of the
amily have a cold, be sure and keep
he baby away from them. Never use
he same handkerchief to wipe the
,aby's nose, that is being used by an
lther member of the family. Even
he youngest infant has a right to his
lwn private one.
Remember that the best way to
void colds in your baby is to dress
i'm warmly for out-of-dOOrs, with
ufticient head covering; be sure that
e keeps covered at night: do not let
he temperature of the room get too
ow at night; keep him off the floor
nd avoid contact with persons suf-
aring with colds