Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Part 24

I would recommend him to wear fine flannel instead of lawn s.h.i.+rts; to wear good lamb's-wool stockings _above the knees_, and good, strong, dry shoes to his feet; to live, weather permitting, a great part of every day in the open air; to strengthen his system by good nouris.h.i.+ng food--by an abundance of both milk and meat (the former especially); to send him, in the autumn, for a couple of months, to the sea-side; to administer to him, from time to time, cod-liver oil; in short, to think only of his health, and to let learning, until he be stronger, be left alone. I also advise either table salt or bay salt, or Tidman's Sea Salt, to be added to the water in which the child is washed with in the morning, in a similar manner as recommended in answer to a previous question.

262. _Then do you not advise such a child to be confined within doors_?

If any inflammation be present, or if he have but just recovered from one, it would be improper to send him into the open air, but not otherwise, as the fresh air would be a likely means of strengthening the lungs, and thereby of preventing an attack of inflammation for the future. Besides, the more a child is coddled within doors, the more likely will he be to catch cold, and to renew the inflammation. If the weather be cold, yet neither wet nor damp, he ought to be sent out, but let him be well clothed; and the nurse should have strict injunctions _not_ to stand about entries or in any draughts--indeed, not to stand about at all, but to keep walking about all the time she is in the open air. Unless you have a trustworthy nurse, it will be well for you either to accompany her in her walk with your child, or merely to allow her to walk with him in the garden, as you can then keep your eye upon both of them.

263. _If a child be either chicken-breasted, or if he be narrow-chested, are there any means of expanding and of strengthening his chest_?

Learning ought to be put out of the question, attention must be paid to his health alone, or consumption will probably mark him as its own!

Let him live as much as possible in the open air; if it be country, so much the better. Let him rise early in the morning, and let him go to bed betimes; and if he be old enough to use the dumb-bells, or what is better, an India-rubber chest-expander, he should do so daily. He ought also to be encouraged to use two short sticks, similar to, but heavier than, a policeman's staff, and to go, every morning, through regular exercises with them. As soon as he is old enough, let him have lessons from a drill-sergeant and from a dancing master. Let him be made both to walk and to sit upright, and let him be kept as much as possible upon a milk diet, [Footnote: Where milk does not agree, it may generally be made to do so by the addition of one part of lime water to seven parts of new milk. Moreover, the lime will be of service in hardening his bones, and, in these cases, the bones require hardening.] and give him as much as he can eat of fresh meat every day. Cod liver oil, a tea-spoonful or a dessert-spoonful, according to his age, twice a day, is serviceable in these cases. Stimulants ought to be carefully avoided. In short, let every means be used to nourish, to strengthen, and invigorate the system, without, at the same time, creating fever. Such a child should be a child of nature, he ought almost to live in the open air, and throw his books to the winds. Of what use is learning without health? In such a case as this you cannot have both.

264. _If a child be round-shouldered, or if either of his shoulder-blades have "grown out," what had better be done_?

Many children have either round shoulders, or have their shoulder blades grown out, or have their spines twisted, from growing too fast, from being allowed to slouch in their gait, and from not having sufficient nouris.h.i.+ng food, such as meat and milk, to support them while the rapid growth of childhood is going on.

If your child be affected as above described, nourish him well on milk and on farinaceous food, and on meat once a day, but let milk be his staple diet; he ought, during the twenty four hours, to take two or three pints of new milk. He should almost live in the open air, and must have plenty of play. If you can so contrive it, let him live in the country. When tired, let him lie, for half an hour, two or three times daily, flat on his back on the carpet. Let him rest at night on a horse-hair mattress, and not on a feather bed.

Let him have every morning, if it be summer, a thorough cold water ablution, if it be winter, let the water be made tepid. Let either two handfuls of table salt or a handful of bay salt be dissolved in the water. Let the salt and water stream well over his shoulders and down his back and loins. Let him be well dried with a moderately coa.r.s.e towel, and then let his back be well rubbed, and his shoulders be thrown back-exercising them much in the same manner as in skipping, for five or ten minutes at a time. Skipping, by-the-by, is of great use in these cases, whether the child be either a boy or a girl-using, of course, the rope backwards, and not forwards.

Let books be utterly discarded until his shoulders have become strong, and thus no longer round, and his shoulder-blades have become straight. It is a painful sight to see a child stoop like an old man.

Let him have, twice daily, a tea-spoonful or a dessert-spoonful (according to his age) of cod-liver oil, giving it him on a full and not on an empty stomach.

When he is old enough, let the drill-sergeant give him regular lessons, and let the dancing-master be put in requisition. Let him go through regular gymnastic exercises, provided they are not of a violent character.

But, bear in mind, let there be in these cases no mechanical restraints--no shoulder-straps, no abominable stays. Make him straight by natural means--by making him strong. Mechanical means would only, by weakening and wasting the muscles, increase the mischief, and thus the deformity. In this world of ours there is too much reliance placed on artificial, and too little on natural means of cure.

265. _What are the causes of Bow Legs in a child; and what is the treatment_?

Weakness of const.i.tution, poor and insufficient nourishment, and putting a child, more especially a fat and heavy one, on his legs too early.

_Treatment._--Nouris.h.i.+ng food, such as an abundance of milk, and, if he be old enough, of meat; iron medicines; cod-liver-oil; thorough ablution, every morning of the whole body; an abundance of exercise, either on pony, or on donkey, or in carriage, but not, until his legs be stronger, on foot. If they are much bowed, it will be necessary to consult an experienced surgeon.

266. _If a child, while asleep, "wet his bed" is there any method of preventing him from doing so_?

Let him be held out just before he himself goes to bed, and again when the family retires to rest. If, at the time, he be asleep, he will become so accustomed to it, that he will, without awaking, make water.

He ought to be made to lie on his side; for, if he be put on his back, the urine will rest upon an irritable part of the bladder, and, if he be inclined to wet his bed, he will not be able to avoid doing so. He must not be allowed to drink much with his meals, especially with his supper. Wetting the bed is an infirmity with some children--they cannot help it. It is, therefore, cruel to scold and chastise them for it. Occasionally, however, wetting the bed arises from idleness; in which case, of course, a little wholesome correction might be necessary.

Water-proof Bed-sheeting--one yard by three-quarters of a yard--will effectually preserve the bed from being wetted, and ought always, on these occasions, to be used.

A mother ought, every morning, to ascertain for herself, whether a child have wet his bed; if he have, and if, unfortunately, the water-proof cloth have not been used, the mattress, sheets, and blankets must be instantly taken to the kitchen fire and be properly dried. Inattention to the above has frequently caused a child to suffer either from cold, from a fever, or from an inflammation; not only so, but, if they be not dried, he is wallowing in filth and in an offensive effluvium. If both mother and nurse were more attentive to their duties--in frequently holding a child out, whether he ask or not--a child wetting his bed would be the exception, and not, as it frequently is, the rule. If a child be dirty, you may depend upon it, the right persons to blame are the mother and the nurse, and not the child!

267. _If a child should catch Small-pox, what are the best means to prevent pitting_?

He ought to be desired neither to pick nor to rub the pustules. If he be too young to attend to these directions, his hands must be secured in bags (just large enough to hold them), which bags should he fastened round the wrists. The nails must be cut very close.

Cream smeared, by means of a feather, frequently in the day, on the pustules, affords great comfort and benefit. Tripe liquor (without salt) has, for the same purpose, been strongly recommended. I myself, in several cases, have tried it, and with the happiest results. It is most soothing, comforting, and healing to the skin.

268. _Can you, tell me of any plan to prevent Chilblaine, or, if a child be suffering from them, to cure them_?

_First, then, the way to prevent them._--Let a child, who is subject to them, wear, in the winter time, a square piece of wash-leather over the toes, a pair of warm lamb's-wool stockings, and good shoes; but, above all, let him be encouraged to run about the house as much as possible, especially before going to bed; and on no account allow him either to warm has feet before the fire, or to bathe them in hot water. If the feet be cold, and the child be too young to take exercise, then let them be well rubbed with the warm hand. If adults suffer from chilblains, I have found friction, night and morning, with horse-hail flesh-gloves, the best means of preventing them.

_Secondly, the way to cure them._--If they be unbroken: the old-fas.h.i.+oned remedy of onion and salt is one of the best of remedies. Cut an onion in two; take one-half of it, dip it in table salt and well rub, for two or three minutes, the chilblain with it. The onion and salt is a famous remedy to relieve that intolerable itching which sometimes accompanies chilblains: then let them be covered with a piece of lint, over which a piece of wash-leather should be placed.

_If they be broken_, let a piece of lint be spread with spermaceti-cerate, and be applied, every morning, to the part, and let a white-bread poultice be used every night.

269. _During the winter time my child's hands, legs, &c., chap very much; what ought I to do_?

Let a tea-cupful of bran be tied up in a muslin bag, and be put, over the night, into either a large water-can or jug of _rain_ water; [Footnote: _Rain_ water ought _always_ to be used in the was.h.i.+ng of a child; pump water is likely to chap the skin, and to make it both rough and irritable.] and let this water from the can or jug be the water he is to be washed with on the following morning, and every morning until the chaps be cured. As often as water is withdrawn, either from the water-can or from the jog, let fresh rain water take its place, in order that the bran may be constantly soaking in it. The bran in the bag should be renewed about twice a week.

Take particular care to dry the skin well every time he be washed; then, after each ablution, as well as every night at bed-time, rub a piece of deer's suet over the parts affected: a few dressings will perform a cure. The deer's suet may be bought at any of the shops where venison is sold. Another excellent remedy is glycerine, [Footnote: Glycerine prepared by Price's Patent Candle Company is by far the best. Sometimes, if the child's skin be very irritable, the glycerine requires diluting with water--say, two ounces of glycerine to be mixed in a bottle with four ounces of rain water--the bottle to be well shaken just before using it.] which should be smeared, by means of the finger or by a camel's hair brush, on the parts affected, two or three times a day. If the child be very young, it might be necessary to dilute the glycerine with rose-water; fill a small bottle one-third with glycerine, and fill up the remaining two-thuds of the bottle with rose-water--shaking the bottle every time just before using it. The best soap to use for chapped hands is the glycerine soap: no other being required.

270. _What is the best remedy for Chapped Lips_?

Cold-cream (which may be procured of any respectable chemist) is an excellent application for _chapped lips_. It ought, by means of the finger, to be frequently smeared on the parts affected.

271. _Have the goodness to inform me of the different varieties of Worms that infest a child's bowels_?

Princ.i.p.ally three--1, The tape-worm; 2, the long round-worm; and 3, the most frequent of all, the common thread or maw-worm. The tape-worm infests the whole course of the bowels, both small and large: the long round-worm, princ.i.p.ally the small bowels, occasionally the stomach; it sometimes crawls out of the child's mouth, causing alarm to the mother; there is, of course, no danger in its doing so: the common thread-worm or maw-worm infests the r.e.c.t.u.m or fundament.

272. _What are the causes of Worms_?

The causes of worms are: weak bowels; bad and improper food, such as unripe, unsound, or uncooked fruit, and much green vegetables; pork, especially underdone pork; [Footnote: One frequent, if not the most frequent, cause of tape-worm is the eating of pork, more especially if it be underdone. _Underdone_ pork is the most unwholesome food that can he eaten, and is the most frequent cause of tape-worm known. _Underdone_ beef also gives tape-worm; let the meat, therefore, be well and properly cooked. These facts ought to be borne in mind, as prevention is always better than cure.] an abundance of sweets; the neglecting of giving salt in the food.

273. _What are the symptoms and the treatment of Worms_?

_The symptoms_ of worms are--emaciation; itching and picking of the nose; a dark mark under the eyes; grating, during sleep, of the teeth; starting in the sleep; foul breath; furred tongue; uncertain appet.i.te--sometimes voracious, at other times bad, the little patient sitting down very hungry to his dinner, and before scarcely tasting a mouthful, the appet.i.te vanis.h.i.+ng; large bowels; colicky pains of the bowels; slimy motions; itching of the fundament. Tape-worm and round-worm, more especially the former, are apt, in children, to produce convulsions. Tape-worm is very weakening to the const.i.tution, and usually causes great emaciation and general ill-health; the sooner, therefore, it is expelled from the bowels the better it will be for the patient.

Many of the obscure diseases of children arise from worms. In all doubtful cases, therefore, this fact should be borne in mind, in order that a thorough investigation may be inst.i.tuted.

With regard to _treatment_, a medical man ought, of course, to be consulted. He will soon use means both to dislodge them, and to prevent a future recurrence of them.

Let me caution a mother never to give her child patent medicines for the destruction of worms. There is one favourite quack powder, which is composed princ.i.p.ally of large doses of calomel, and which is quite as likely to destroy the patient as the worms! No, if your child have worms, put him under the care of a judicious medical man, who will soon expel them, without, at the same tune, injuring health or const.i.tution!

274. _How may worms be prevented from infesting a child's bowels_?

Worms generally infest _weak_ bowels; hence, the moment a child becomes strong worms cease to exist. The reason why a child is so subject to them is owing to the improper food which is usually given to him. When he be stuffed with unsound and with unripe fruits, with much sweets, with rich puddings, and with pastry, and when he is oftentimes allowed to eat his meat _without_ salt, and to _bolt_ his food without chewing it, is there any wonder that he should suffer from worms? The way to prevent them is to avoid such things, and, at the same time, to give him plenty of salt to his _fresh_ and well-cooked meat. Salt strengthens and a.s.sists digestion, and is absolutely necessary to the human economy. Salt is emphatically a worm destroyer. The truth of this statement may be readily tested by sprinkling a little salt on the common earth-worm. "What a comfort and real requisite to human life is salt! It enters into the const.i.tuents of the human blood, and to do without it is wholly impossible."--_The Grocer_. To do without it is wholly impossible!

These are true words. Look well to it, therefore, ye mothers, and beware of the consequences of neglecting such advice, and see for yourselves that your children regularly eat salt with their food. If they neglect eating salt with their food, they _must of necessity have worms_, and worms that will eventually injure them, and make them miserable. All food, then, should be "flavoured with salt;"

_flavoured_, that is to say, salt should be used in each and every kind of food--_not in excess, but in moderation_.

275. _You have a great objection to the frequent administration of aperient medicines to a child: can you advise any method to prevent their use_?

Although we can scarcely call constipation a disease, yet it sometimes leads to disease. The frequent giving of aperients only adds to the stubbornness of the bowels.

I have generally found a draught, early every morning, of _cold_ pump water, the eating either of Huntley and Palmer's loaf ginger-bread, or of oatmeal gingerbread, a variety of animal and vegetable food, ripe sound fruit, Muscatel raisins, a fig, or an orange after dinner, and, when he be old enough, _coffee_ and milk instead of _tea_ and milk, to have the desired effect, more especially if, for a time, aperients be studiously avoided.

276. _Have you any remarks to make on Rickets_?

Rickets is owing to a want of a sufficient quant.i.ty of earthy matter in the bones; hence the bones bend and twist, and lose their shape, causing deformity. Rickets generally begins to show itself between the first and second years of a child's life. Such children are generally late in cutting their teeth, and when the teeth do come they are bad, deficient of enamel, discoloured, and readily decay. A rickety child is generally stunted in stature; he has a large head, with overhanging forehead, or what nurses call a watery-head-shaped forehead. The fontanelles, or openings of the head, as they are called, are a long time in closing. A rickety child is usually talented; his brain seems to thrive at the expense of his general health. His breast-bone projects out, and the sides of his chest are flattened; hence he becomes what is called chicken-breasted or pigeon-breasted; his spine is usually twisted, so that he is quite awry, and, in a bad case, he is hump-backed; the ribs, from the twisted spine, on one side bulge out; he is round-shouldered; the long bones of his body, being soft, bend; he is bow-legged, knock-kneed, and weak-ankled.