The Four Epochs of Woman's Life Part 10

Nursing.-- When the mother's nipples are of the normal size and well formed, the healthy infant instinctively suckles at once when placed at the breast, but sometimes it has to be taught; by squeezing out a few drops of milk to wet the nipple, the child will usually take hold, or a little sugar and water may be put on the nipple; a little patience and tact are all that is necessary to insure success. But the infant must be taught to nurse at once before the b.r.e.a.s.t.s become engorged with milk.

Under ordinary circ.u.mstances the child is to be kept at the breast for one year. But if within this time the menstrual period should recur and be profuse, or should the woman again become pregnant, the quality of the milk becomes poor, and necessitates the immediate weaning of the child; the character of the milk is also altered, and even its secretion may be checked. Nervous agitation may so alter the quality of the milk as to make it poisonous. A fretful temper, fits of anger, grief, and sudden terror not only lessen the quant.i.ty of the milk, but render it thin and unhealthful, inducing disturbances of the child's bowels, diarrhea, and so forth.

Position of the Mother When Nursing.-- When in bed in the rec.u.mbent position, the mother should lie on that side from which the infant is going to nurse; when up, the mother should sit erect.

Care of the Nipples.-- Immediately after each nursing the nipples should be washed off in a saturated solution of boric acid in cold water, and dried with a soft cloth. If they are disposed to crack, anoint them with cocoa-b.u.t.ter immediately after each cleansing. If the skin of the nipple is very sensitive, a nipple-s.h.i.+eld should be used for the first few days; or should the nipple become sore at any time, the s.h.i.+eld can be resorted to. The nipple-s.h.i.+eld must fit tightly; the best ones are made of gla.s.s with a rubber tip. In the intervals of nursing the nipple-s.h.i.+eld should be kept in cold water after it has been thoroughly cleansed by being brushed on both sides.

The b.r.e.a.s.t.s are sometimes distended from an over-secretion of milk; this is relieved by saline cathartics, by abstinence from liquids, and by the use of a compression breast bandage. This is made of a straight piece of muslin, with a shallow notch cut in one edge for the neck, and, a deep one for each arm; the bandage is closely applied over the b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and the ends pinned in front; it is also pinned over the shoulders.

In debilitated women the supply of milk may be insufficient; the most reliable evidence of this is the fact that the infant ceases to gain in weight.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE NEW-BORN INFANT.

The Infant's Toilet; the Crib; Feeding of Infants; Artificial Feeding; the Wet-nurse; Characteristics of Healthy Infants; the Stools; Constipation; Urination; Dent.i.tion.

"O thou child of many prayers, Life hath quicksands; life hath snares."

-- LONGFELLOW.

The Infant's Toilet.-- So soon as the mother has been made comfortable, the toilet of the infant is attended to. This should be made near the register or stove; and the lap of the nurse should be covered with a small flannel blanket. The baby's body will be found to be covered over with a white, greasy, somewhat cheesy substance; some sort of grease is needed for its removal; rendered lard, sweet oil, and lanolin are the best; vaselin is less effective. All of this cheesy substance must be at once removed; the most difficult parts will be in the folds and creases. The nurse should grease the palms of her hands, then take the head of the child between them, and thoroughly grease it; particular attention must be given to the ears; then come the neck, shoulders, arms, chest and back, groins, external genital organs, and lower extremities. After the child has been thoroughly gone over, the grease should be rubbed off with a soft towel.

A rectal injection of one tablespoonful of warm water is given at once to unload the bowels of the meconium; this generally acts before the baby's toilet is completed. The meconium is the first discharge from the infant's bowels after birth, and that which had collected in the intestines during the pregnancy.

The Baby's Bath.-- The baby's bath-tub is filled about one-third full of water at a temperature of 100 F., tested by the thermometer. The baby is then gradually immersed in the water, with the exception of the head; this is supported on the left wrist of the nurse, which pa.s.ses under the infant's neck, while her hand grasps the left shoulder; with the right hand the nurse quickly rubs over the child's head and body; the entire bath should not occupy over five minutes.

The infant is then lifted out into the lap of the nurse, on which is spread a soft, warm towel, with which it is carefully dried. One of the important points in giving the infant its bath is to be sure that the groins, arm-pits, and genitals are thoroughly well dried; otherwise excoriation at these parts is sure to occur.

After this a daily tub-bath is given in the same way; soap is rarely needed; when it is, castile soap should be used; its constant use is not necessary and would only irritate the skin. These daily baths strengthen the nervous system and prevent coughs and colds. The bath should be given during the morning, one hour after feeding, and should not last more than five minutes. The mother herself, just as soon as she is able to go around, should superintend the bath; in this way she is a.s.sured that if properly given, and will also recognize any incipient affection of the child. These daily baths should be continued till the child is four years old. Powder is not essential; but if it is desired, a plain talc.u.m powder may be used.

The Dressing of the Cord.-- After the bath the ligature which was tied around the cord at the birth of the child will be found slightly loosened; this should first be made tight, and then the cord, doubled back on itself, should be tied by the ends of the same ligature. A square of soft sterilized linen or gauze is slit up to its center; the cord is allowed to pa.s.s through this slit, which looks toward the child's right; the stump of cord is laid on the left and the ends of gauze are folded over this; the whole is kept in place by the abdominal bandage. As there is some exudation from the cord, it is necessary to change these dressings twice a day; as this exudation is of a somewhat gluey nature, it will be found that the dressings stick to the cord. In removing the gauze great care must be used not to make any traction on the cord; when the infant is placed in the bath, the water loosens the dressing and it falls off in the water; at other times it must be removed with the greatest care. There should never be any odor about the cord; it usually drops off about the fifth day.

The process of ulceration by which the cord falls off leaves an open surface on the child's body which offers an avenue for septic infection. Great care must therefore be taken that the nurse's hands or anything which comes in contact with this surface should be perfectly clean. The dressings used must be thoroughly antiseptic.

Care should be used not to fasten the abdominal bandage too tightly; the bath is given on an empty stomach, and allowance should be made for this; the binder should be loose enough to allow two or three fingers to easily slip under it.

The Meconium.-- The First discharge that comes from the bowels is of a dark, greenish color, and should come away during the first twenty-four hours; if it does not, the baby may suffer a good deal of pain, and an enema of warm water must be given. As this substance is very difficult to be washed out of napkins, the first ones used should be old and afterward be burned.

Cleansing.-- Every time the napkin needs to be changed, even if it is only wet, the baby should be washed with warm water. A napkin should never be used twice without was.h.i.+ng; it chafes the child, and it is an unsafe as well as a filthy practice; the napkin must always be removed as soon as it is wet.

The Infant's Toilet.-- After the application of the binder and napkin, comes the undervest; the fingers of the nurse are pa.s.sed up through the sleeve to seize the infant's hand and pull it through; as soon as it gets a little older the child will grasp a finger laid in its palm, which greatly facilitates this part of the toilet. The stockings are next put on and pinned with safety-pins to the napkin; then comes the petticoat, the band of which is also loosely fastened with safety-pins, and with the slip the toilet is complete. All the clothing should be changed night and morning.

The eyes and mouth should be washed out with separate pieces of gauze or old linen. For the mouth, a small piece of cloth wet in warm water is wrapped around the little finger of the right hand, going into the left angle of the baby's mouth and coming out at the right, going between the gums and cheeks as well as over the tongue. This procedure should be gone through with every time preceding and following the nursing, and in this way the milk is prevented from souring in the mouth, and the digestion is kept in good condition. A sore mouth in a baby indicates carelessness on the part of the nurse.

A soft hair-brush may be used, but the scalp is too tender to permit the use of a comb.

After the toilet has been completed, the baby is laid in its crib, on the right side of the body, and warmly covered. The weaker the baby, the more attention must be paid to the external warmth. It may be necessary to place a warm-water bottle in the crib, but this must never touch the infant.

The Crib.-- The infant must have its own crib, without rockers, and it must on no account be put to sleep in the same bed with its mother. In its early life it should never be taken out of its crib except to be fed, to have its clothing changed, or to be bathed. There should be no holding on the lap, no dangling, no carrying or fussing over the new-born infant; and the more the baby is let alone, the better and healthier it will be. If baby cries, look at once to see if it needs a fresh napkin; if not, if any pins are sticking into it, if the clothing is possibly too tight; if none of these things are wrong, give it a sup of water and turn it over on the other side. The baby often becomes restless by sleeping for several hours in the same position. But on no account take the infant up out of its crib simply because it cries.

Cheerfulness and good nature on the part of the infant are dependent on its general good health. A healthy infant should not have colic, but if such is the case, there is a peculiar look of distress on the face, which indicates that the child is in pain; what is needed is warmth or medication according to the severity of the case, but never floor walking. Begin the latter procedure, and you may hope to keep it up for several years.

Ventilation.-- The air is sometimes vitiated for children's uses in various ways; their nervous susceptibilities are greater than those of older people. A very little odor of tobacco may cause nausea and discomfort to an infant in arms. The atmosphere of the room should be sweet and pure and unscented. All scents and perfumes affect the nervous system, and by constant excitation do it damage. A bouquet of flowers renders the air of a closed room too heavy.

Feeding of Infants.-- During the day the infant should be put to the breast once every two hours, and once every three hours during the night. This interval of time between the feeding is necessary in order that there may be sufficient time given for digestion to take place.

Regurgitation of milk soon after feeding is a sign that the stomach has been overfilled. As the infant usually falls asleep after nursing, it is necessary to waken it up at the time for the next nursing, as good digestion depends upon regularity of feeding.

For the first nursing the infant may be put to the breast in from two to six hours after the labor if the mother is sufficiently rested; from ten to twenty minutes is long enough for each nursing. Before each nursing the nipples should be carefully washed off with a solution of boric acid. The first secretion of the b.r.e.a.s.t.s is laxative; that is, it acts on the bowels, and makes is unnecessary to give the infant anything to take for this purpose. The b.r.e.a.s.t.s should be used alternately in feeding the infant, as this allows a longer time for the acc.u.mulation of the milk. For the first few days the infant needs very little food, and the mother's milk is generally sufficient.

The infant should be given a teaspoonful of cool water to drink two or three times a day, as the milk does not quench the thirst. The water should be sterilized by boiling, and be kept in an air-tight flask.

At the end of the third month the intervals of nursing for the daytime should be three hours, and the last nursing at night should be at eleven o'clock, and the first nursing in the morning at five o'clock; thus allowing the mother an interval of six hours of unbroken sleep.

The best evidence of the proper nutrition of the child is a progressive gain in weight. The child should be weighed every week. A loss of a few ounces usually takes place during the first few days after birth, so that the child does well if at the end of the first week it weighs as much as it did at birth. After the first week the weekly gain should not fall below five ounces.

The Wet-nurse.-- When the mother for any reason whatever is not able to nurse her child, the best subst.i.tute is a wet-nurse. Before she is employed the wet-nurse should always be carefully examined by a physician to insure her freedom from disease. The best age is between twenty and thirty years, and the age of the child of the nurse should be at least within a month of that of the child to be nursed. The best sign of the good health of the nurse and of the condition of her milk is furnished by the health of her own child. The b.r.e.a.s.t.s should be well formed and the nipple of good shape. It is well, if possible, to get a woman who has borne several children, as she will understand the care of the child better. No woman who is not perfectly healthy is fit to be a wet-nurse; and even after she has been engaged her health and her habits must be watched over.

Artificia1 Feeding.-- The first requisite in artificial feeding is that the milk shall be made to correspond as nearly as possible to that of the mother. For this purpose the following formula, prepared by Rotch, of modified cow's milk is considered the best:

Milk 2 ounces Cream 3 ounces Water 10 drams Milk-sugar 6 3/4 drams Lime-water 1 ounce

To make one pint of the mixture for use in the twenty-four hours, take the milk and cream as soon as it comes in the morning, and mix as above directed.

No less important than the correct proportions of the ingredients, is freedom from disease germs and bacteria of putrefaction. Complete sterilization is possible by prolonged boiling; but experience has proved that under prolonged exposure to a temperature near the boiling-point certain changes take place in the alb.u.minoids of the milk which greatly impair its digestibility. Full sterilization of milk for infant feeding has therefore practically been abandoned. It has been found that milk heated to 167 F. for twenty minutes, and promptly chilled by placing on ice, remains practically sterile for twenty-four hours, and it is spared the injurious changes which take place at a higher temperature. This process is known as Pasteurization. The Arnold steam sterilizer affords a convenient method of sterilizing; if used with the cover removed, the steam chamber being open, the temperature of the steam chamber does not exceed 170 F.

It is claimed that in the Arnold steam sterilizer, with the use of a suitable gas stove, the water begins to boil at the end of two minutes after the gas is lighted. A four-ounce bottle of milk at an initial temperature of 70 F. in the open steam chamber attains a temperature of 170 in just one hour. An exposure of about one hour and twenty minutes in the steam chamber is therefore necessary for the Pasteurization.

The rules for sterilizing are as follows:

First, clean the bottles thoroughly; then place them in cold water, which is allowed to come to boil and boiled for ten minutes.

Second, fill each with the milk you wish to use; put in the rubber cork without the gla.s.s plug; this leaves a small opening in the rubber cork; set the bottle in the basket, then in the boiler.

Third, set in the refrigerator until needed for use.

Fourth, when wanted for use, place a bottle of the milk so prepared in the tin mug which accompanies the sterilizer; fill the mug with hot water to the height of the milk in the bottle, heat the milk to the temperature of 99 F., remove the rubber cork and put on the nipple, when it is ready for use.

Fifth, cleanse the bottle immediately after using; throw away any milk that has not been used.

Sixth, if the steaming process is preferred, place the basket without the bottles in the boiler, fill the water up to, but not above, the bottom of the basket, place the bottles in the basket, and proceed as before.

It is important that the milk should be sterilized or Pasteurized as soon as it is served in the morning. Each bottle must be thoroughly washed as soon as it is emptied. Milk sterilized in this way will keep for days without spoiling, as it is hermetically sealed and all the unhealthy germs have been removed.

The most exact method for the artificial feeding of infants, and that which most nearly approaches the mother's milk, is that used by the "Walker-Gordon Laboratory," branches of which are to be found in many of the large cities.

Not only is the greatest care taken that the milk used shall be pure and sterilized ready for use, but these laboratories are equipped by special machinery which separates the important elements of the milk-- namely, the fat, the milk-sugar, and the proteids. So that the physician can modify the proportions of these various ingredients of the milk to meet the necessity of the age and requirements of the infant.

When the milk contains too little sugar, the infant does not gain as rapidly in weight as it would otherwise do. Too much sugar in the milk is indicated by colic, thin, green, or acid stools, or eructations of gas from the stomach.