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Children

Infant Nursing.

A child, when it comes into the world, should be laid (for the first month) upon a thin mattress rather longer than itself, which the nurse may sometimes keep upon her lap, that the child may always lie straight, and only sit up as the nurse slants the mattress. To set a child quite upright before the end of the first month is hurtful.

Afterwards the nurse may begin to set it up and dance it by degrees; and it must be kept as dry as possible.

Friction.

The clothing should be very light, and not much longer than the child, that the legs may be got at with ease, in order to have them often rubbed in the day with a warm hand or flannel, and in particular the inside of them. Rubbing a child all over, takes off scurf, and makes the blood circulate. Rubbing the anklebones and inside of the knees will strengthen those parts, and make the child stretch its knees and keep them flat.

Position.

A nurse ought to keep a child as little in her arms as possible, lest the legs should be cramped, and the toes turned inwards. Let her always keep the child's legs loose. The oftener the posture is changed the better.

Exercise.

By slow degrees the infant should be accustomed to exercise, both within doors and in the open air; but he never should be moved about immediately after sucking or feeding; it will be apt to sicken him. Exercise should be given by carrying him about and gently dandling him him in his mother or nurse's arms; but dancing him up and down on the knee is very fatiguing for a young child.

To prevent Distortion.

Tossing a child about, and exercising it in the open air in fine weather, is of the greatest service. In cities children are not to be kept in hot rooms, but to have as much air as possible. Want of exercise is the cause of rickets, large heads, weak joints, a contracted breast, and diseased lungs, besides a numerous train of other evils.

Rendering Children Hardy.

Endeavor to harden the body, but without resorting to any violent means. All attempts to render children hardy, must be made by gradual steps. Nature admits of no sudden transitions.

For instance, infants should, by imperceptible degrees, be inured to the cool, and then to the cold bath; at the same time attention must be paid to their previous management. If they have hitherto been accustomed to an effeminating treatment, and should be suddenly subjected to an opposite extreme, such a change would be attended with danger. When children have once been accustomed to a hardy system of education, such a plan must be strictly adhered to.

Cleanliness and Bathing.

The child's skin is to be kept perfectly clean by washing its limbs morning and evening, and likewise its neck and ears; beginning with warm water, till by degrees he will not only bear, but like to be washed with cool or cold water.

After he is a month old, if he has no cough, fever, or eruption, the bath should be colder and colder (if the season be mild), and gradually it may be used as it comes from the fountain.

After carefully drying the whole body, head and limbs, another dry soft cloth, a little warmed, should be used gently to take all the damp from the wrinkles or fat parts that fold together. Then rub the limbs; but when the body is rubbed, take special care not to press upon the stomach or belly. On these parts the hand should move in a circle, because the bowels lie in that direction. If the skin is chafed, starch-powder is to be used. The utmost tenderness is necessary in drying the head, and no binding should be made close about it. Squeezing the head, or combing it roughly, may cause dreadful diseases, and even the loss of reason. A small soft brush, lightly applied, is safer than a comb. Clean clothes every morning and evening will tend greatly to a child's health and comfort.

Dress.

With regard to the child's dress in the day, let it be a shirt, a petticoat of fine flannel, reaching two or three inches below the child's feet, with a dimity top (commonly called a bodice-coat), to tie behind. Over this put a robe or frock or whatever may be convenient, provided it is fastened behind, and not reaching much below the child's feet, that his motions may be strictly observed.

Caps are, as a general rule, undesirable. The head should be kept cool.

The dress for the night may be a shirt, a blanket to tie on, and a thin gown to tie over the blanket.

The Act of Dressing.

Some people in dressing an infant seem in such haste as to toss him in a way that must fatigue and harass him. The most tender deliberation should be observed. In addition to this hurried dressing, his clothes are often so tight that he frets and roars. Pins should never be used in an infant's clothes; and every string should be so loosely tied that one might get two fingers between it and the part where it is fixed. Bandages round the head should be strictly forbidden.

Many instances of idiocy, fits, and deformity, are owing to tight bandages.

Sleep.

Infants cannot sleep too long; and it is a favorable symptom, when they enjoy a calm and longcontinued rest, of which they should by no means be deprived, as this is the greatest support granted to them by nature. A child lives comparatively much faster than an adult; its blood flows more rapidly; and every stimulus operates more powerfully. Sleep promotes a more calm and uniform | every respect to be uniform. A great difference circulation of the blood, and it facilitates assimilation of the nutriment received. The horizontal posture, likewise, is the most favorable to the growth and bodily development of the infant.

Duration of, and time for Sleep.

Sleep ought to be in proportion to the age of the infant. After an uninterrupted rest of nine months in the womb, this salutary refreshment should continue to fill up the greater part of a child's existence. A continued wakefulness of twenty-four hours would prove destructive. After the age of six months, the periods of sleep, as well as all other animal functions, may in some degree be regulated; yet, even then, a child should be suffered to sleep the whole night, and several hours both in the morning and afternoon. Mothers and nurses should endeavor to accustom infants from the time of their birth, to sleep in the night preferably to the day, and for this purpose they ought to remove all external impressions which may disturb their rest, such as noise, light, etc., but especially they should not obey every call for taking them up and giving food at improper times. After the second year of their age, they will not instinctively require to sleep in the forenoon, though after dinner it may be continued till the third and fourth year, if the child shows a particular inclination to repose; because till that age, the full half of its time may safely be allotted to sleep.

From that period, however, it ought to be shortened for the space of one hour with every succeeding year; so that a child seven years old may sleep about eight, and not exceeding nine hours; this proportion may be continued to the age of adolescence, and even manhood.

Awaking Suddenly.

To awaken children from their sleep with a noise, or in an impetuous manner, is extremely injudicious and hurtful, nor is it proper to carry them from a dark room immediately into a glaring light, against a dazzling wall; for the sudden impression of light debilitates the organs of vision, and lays the foundation of weak eyes, from early infancy. In fact it is a sound precept, never to waken a young child from sleep at all.

Restlessness at night.

An infant is sometimes very restless at night, and it is generally owing either to cramming him with a heavy supper, tight night-clothes, or over-heating by too many blankets. It may also proceed from putting him to sleep too early. Undressing and bathing will weary and dispose him for sleep, and the universal stillness will promote it. This habit and all others depend on attention at first. Accustom him to regular hours, and if he has a good sleep in the forenoon and afternoon, it will be easy to keep him brisk all the evening. It is right to offer him drink when a young infant; and more solid, though simple food, when he is going to bed, after he is two or three months old, but do not force him to receive it; and never let anything but the prescription of a physician in sickness, tempt the nurses to give him wine, spirits, or any drug to make him sleep. Milk and water, whey, or thin gruel, is the only fit liquor for little ones, even when they can run about. The more simple and light their diet and drink, the more they will thrive. In the night a drink of water will often do better than the breast. Such food will keep their bowels regular, and they cannot be long well if that essential point be neglected.

Amusements, etc. usually prevails in the education of the sexes during infancy. Parents being too anxious for the accomplishment of girls, imagine that they must be kept under a certain restraint. Boys, in general, are not laced, but girls are compressed tight enough to suffocate them; because it is erroneously supposed, that this injudicious practice contributes to an elegant shape, though, ultimately, the contrary effect is obvious; as it is the surest way of making children round shouldered and deformed. Girls are, from their cradles, compelled to a more sedentary life; and with this intention, dolls, and other playthings, are early procured; yet boys are permitted to take more frequent exercise. Thus, girls are confined in their apartments, while boys amuse themselves in the open air. Such absurd constraints impede the free and progressive evolution of the different faculties and powers.

The Yellow Gum.

The yellow gum is known by a yellow tinge of the skin, with languor and a tendency to sleep. It is to be relieved by giving a teaspoonful or more of castor oil, to clear the intestines. When the disease does not give way to this treatment, give half a grain of calomel, or 4 grains of rhubarb.

Vomiting.

When the food is vomited in an unaltered state, it is generally a sign of over-feeding; but when the vomiting is bilious, or when the food is partly digested, the diet ought to be changed, and the bowels opened by 1 grain of calomel, given in sugar. This is to be followed by a teaspoonful of castor oil on the following morning. If the vomiting should still continue, give lime-water or the calomel powder (containing 1 or 2 grains, according to the age) a second time. If there be much irritation, apply a spice-plaster to the stomach, and, if possible, give a teaspoonful of the saline medicine, in a state of effervescence, and containing 1 or 2 drops of laudanum. Hiccups.

These generally arise from acidity in the stomach, and may be remedied by the administration of 6 grains of prepared chalk with 2 grains of powdered rhubarb, given in a little syrup or gruel.

If very severe, the stomach is to be rubbed with a little soap liniment, or opodeldoc, to which a little laudanum has been added.

Griping and Flatulency.

These are known by continual crying, restlessness, and drawing up of the legs. When attended by diarrhea and green stools, it is to be relieved, in general, by the administration of a few grains of rhubarb and magnesia. If sour belchings, etc. still continue, it will be proper to give a teaspoonful every quarter of an hour, of equal parts of camphor-water and cinnamon-water. After this, particularly if there be any purging, it will be proper to give a little rhubarb and magnesia again, and now and then a little chalk mixture.

Absorbent Mixture.

If the pains are very great so as to make the child scream violently, two teaspoonsful of the following mixture, with 1 or 2 drops of laudanum, may be given directly: Mix together, prepared chalk, 1 scruple; tincture of caraway seeds, 3 drachms; compound spirits of lavender, 1 drachm; and of peppermint-water, 2 ounces.

As soon as there is diminution of pain, a purgative should be given, particularly if the bowels happen to be in a costive state. The best will be castor oil. The above mixture may afterwards be The bodily education of boys and girls ought in occasionally continued, but without the laudanum. Diarrhea.