OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1818, 2 August 1913, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

FBI Hygeia.l

Publiched under the auspices of tho Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wieer to put up a fence at tlie top of a precipice than to maintain an ambu« lance &t the bottom."

ADDBESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES AND SECRETARIES. Dunediri.—Plunket Nurso Laing. Tel. 113 G. Plunket Nurse M'Laren. Tel. 2811. Office of the Society, Post Office Building, Liverpool Street, Dunediu. Office hours, daily (except Saturday and Sunday), from 3 to 4 p.m. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Joseph M'George, 51 Loudon Street. Tel. 1137..- _ „ Christchurch.—Plunket Nurses Ellis, Hansard, and Kilgour. Office of the Society, Chancery Lane. Office hours, 2 to 3 p.m. daily (except Sunday). Hon. Secretary, llrs. H. Pyne, Bealey Avenue. Tel. 285. Wellington,—Plunket Nurse Morgan; assistant, Nurso Mackintosh. Society s liooin, 80 Vivian Street. Tel. 2425. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. M'Vicslr, 27 Brougham Street, City. Tel.. 2642. t Auckland.—Plunket Nurses Chappell and Morgan. Tel. 851. Office of the Society, 2 Chancery Street. Tel. 829. Ofhco hours, Tuesdays and Fridays,,2.3o.to 4 p.m. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. W. H. Parkes, Marinoto, Symonds Street. Tel. '249. „ ~ , r ■ Napier—Plunket Nurse Donald, Marino Parade. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Hector Smith.

Timaru. —Plunket Nurse Bowie. Office of the Society, Sophia Street. Tel. 311. Office hours, 3.30 to 4.30 p.m.; Saturday, 2.30 to i p.m. Hon. Secretary, Mr. Ernest Howden. Invcrcargill. Plunket Nurso O'Shea, Allen's Hall, Kelvin Street. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Cruickshank, Gala Street. Hastings (Hawke's Bay).—Plunket Nurso Purcell. Office of the Socicty at Mr.

Bates's Pharmacy. Hon. Secretary, Mr. T. W. Lewis. Tel. 285. Wanganui District—Travelling Plunket Nurse, Wanganui, Marton, Patea, Nurso Hui'sthoiise, Tel. 919. Secretary and Treasurer, Miss fi. Cummins, Tel. 377.. Oamaru District—Travelling Plunket Nurse Denniston. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Haines, Bank of New Zealand. Danuevirke.—Plunket Nurso Wright. Hon. Secretary, Mrs.' Bickford, Bank of New Zealand. Ashburtou.—Plunket Nurse Kilgour. Hon. Secretary, Miss M. Moore, corner of Cass and Peter Streets. Society's Baby Hospital, Karitane Harris Hospital, Anderson's Bay, Dnnedin. Tel. 1885. Matron, Miss Campbell. The Matron has begun a systematic course of talks to mothers and others, to be continued every Wednesday afternoon between 2.30 and 3.30. At these talks tho Matron will bo glad to answer questions. All interested are invited to. attend. MASTICATION. Last week wo published threo letters from parents referring to tho difficulty of getting children to chew'their food properly. We then pointed out that a baby's natural instinct to bit® at something must bo satisfied by giving him a bone to munch at when six or seven months old, and later, at 10 or 12 months, some hard or tough food as .part of his meal. We now indicate how tho training may bo pursued and tho habit of thoroughly masticating food built into tho organism. HOW TO FOSTER HEALTHY INSTINCTS. Tho best way to set about teaching' a young child to cat sufficiently is to invoke tho imitative or mimicking faculty which is so strong in early childhood. The parents should make the mastication of food interesting by setting the example themselves, and turning the process into a kind of game. In the case of a young baby'to whom speech is just beginning to appeal the words "bitey-bite," illustrated by the action, soon induce active mimicry; while a somewhat older child may be interested by comparing tho action of the inouth and jaws in eating to the grinding of corn between mill-stones. "Is the little grist-mill in good order?" at once evokes a show of white teeth. Thus, impelled by a keen desire to prove that in one thing at least it can keep pace with its elders, there follows on the part of the child an 'active demonstration', that the "grist-mill" is all right. ; By just, such means are young animals taught' tho simple and neccssary habits by the mother—witness the education of a kitten in cleanliness. Seton' Thompson and Long have shown us that all the so-called instincts are more or less fortified or fostered in similar ways, and it is strange indeed that t'ho human mother should usually be so negligent as she is" in regard to the training of her offspring in simple habits which are of such importance throughout the battle of life. Instead of lagging behind, our human reason should carry us further than the. instinct of the beasts in the hygienic training of offspring. With the advance of understanding and imag-ination-there should be no difficulty in thoroughly interesting a five-year-old child in what is needed for preserving its health, provided only that the parents are willing to. take as much personal trouble with' their* offspring- as a mother cat does with a young kitten. By means of mere printed advico it is almost impossible to convey exactly how to go about such matters, but parents of reasonable intelligence, gifted with ordinary powers of story-telling, should have no difficulty in gradually enlisting the child's hearty co-operation in the establishment of healthy habits if they will provide themselves, for instance, with Coleman's admirable little; "Health Primer," published by-Mac'millan. The following extract is a fair sample of its teaching:— WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UNGRATEFUL. There is no part of the body that Is useless. Every part has its duty to perform. Suppose your father gavo you- a knife, and you laid it 3n. a shelf, and did not use it.. . Suppose you did not oven keep the dust and ; rust [off. Do you not think it would be-right for him. to take the knifo away, and give it to your brother, who would make good use of it, and keep it clean and bright? Tho hair-is given to us to protect tho head from- cold and to kebp off the hot ray 9of the sun. Some boys wear fur caps'so that their hair is useless. _ Some men even seem to think the hair is of no use. They wear hats everywhere.. They wear hats that aro as hard as wood and fit so tight that neither air nor fresh blood can get to the scalp. These peoplo are not thankful for their hair, but act as if they think is is of no use .whatever. So the hair on the part of the head covered by the hat is taken away from them.

Some children will not eat anything hard. They do not like hard crusts of broad or tough bread, made without lard. You would almost think they had false teeth, and were afraid of breaking them by eating anything hard or tough. Gums would do as well as teeth for the food they eat. They do not use their teeth, so' the teeth decay, and are taken away from them.