OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2169, 6 June 1914, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

fBT HIOEU.I

Published under the ausplcoe of the Society for the Health of Women end Children. "It is wiser to put up c. fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain, an ambulance at the bottom." PREVALENCE OF THE DUMMY, (Continued.) LACK OF LOGIC. Last week our articlo concluded with the following paragraph, which I repent for the sake of continuity:— "It is one of tho amazing points of view that mothers are quite prepared to persist in a wrong course until they can 6ee actual definite harm, which by* that time is more or less irreparable. Women constantly say: 'I know such-and-such a child who had a dummy, and hie teeth are* all right.' They don't realise that tho child's jags, teeth, ?.pd digestion would have been still better had no dummy- been used, and that for one case where they can see no damage there would be a dozen where the evil effects would be clear to them if pointed out."

The fact is that defective jaws, teeth, and digestion are predisposed to by weakness of the mother and by artificial feeding as well as by neglect of any of the factors making for good health, such as fresh air, exercise, regularity, etc.; but the more immediate exciting causes of mouth and teeth defects and adenoids are the use of the dummy, the long-tube feeder, and subsequent papfecding. If the last three were avoided, and reasonable care were exercised by mothers with regard to the/ hygiene of themselves and their offspring, we should hear little more about had teeth and adenoids, which aro causing such universal alarm throughout the civilised world to-day. It is not suggested that because a particular child used , the dummy therefore it must show characteristic deformities of mouth, teeth, etc.; but that the great majority of children . so treated do. show such defects; and these will be aggravated by neglect of eye and attention in regard to any of the factors making for health. The most deplorable cases are seen where all the adverso factors mentioned are brought to bear in the case of a particular child who has been delicate at birth; whereas a child exceptionally robust at birth, subjected to only one harmful influence —say, for instance, tho use of the dummy—may escape not really "scot free," but to outward appearance undamaged, and actually more normal than the average child- of civilisation. To return to the baby in the train, about whom I wrote last week. We told the mother about the evils arising from the use of the comforter, but I fear our counsels fell on deaf ears, as the dummy was frequently popped into his mouth even when there seemed no excuse whatever for doing so. Presently the little man got down on to the floor and crept along'tho passage way, which had been trodden and re-trodden by passengers going from carriage to carriage, the dummy, ■ of course, sweeping along the floor. ■ After this excursion the abomination found its way into his mouth as usual.

Here is an example of a devoted mother who lias heard somethins; in a vague way about the evile which arise from the use of ■ the dummy, and yet who evidontly did , not consider the matter of sufficient importance to causo her to inquire further. f> In connection with the rearing of children, the dummy is everywhere recognised by the leading doctors and dentists as one of- the greatest evils.of the' day, and it is humiliating to reflect that we women cannot be prevented from continuing its .use -.without an-Act of Parliament. If parents could once be • brought to realise the cruel, lifelong wrong which they are- doing ,to their dependent little ones by forcing upon them such pernicious habits, the "Lonptube feeder" .and the so-called "Comforter" would soon disappear from tho Dominion.

JOHN BURNS ON THE DUMMY. Tho Right Hon. John Burns, speaking on the prevention of consumption, said:— I come to another practical rem- ' edy—-that is, tho abolition of tho "Comforter" and the "Soother." Tliis is a very serious thing. The bomb, the pistol, and dynamite have killed their scores, but I believe tho "Comforter" has killed its tens of thousands of little children. What is more, doctors tell me that it subjects, apart from contagion, the baby's mouth and throat to malformations that disclose themselves in subsequent years. I am told this is—and I believo it is —a special cause of bad teeth. Later on ic means impaired digestion, and_ the relationship of impaired digestion and' consumption is a very serious one. I express it as my opinion as a layman that to a great extent the Comforter or Soother is responsible in many cases fpr Adenoids. ... I would endue tho charge of being a bureaucrat with pleasure and equanimity if with one. order I could make the Comforter a public nuisance, and schedule it as a dangerous instrument. ■ \

DUMMY ALWAYS HARMFUL— NEVER BENEFICIAL. No one can pretend that the dummy is beneficial in any way. The most that can be said is that it sometimes affords an easy, lazy means of keeping the baby quiet at.the moment, instead of finding out-and attending to its real needs. At tlie Karitane Hospital babies generally come in with dummies; these are at once taken away and destroyed. There may be ono or two days at the farthest during which tho baby misses the accustomed object; but it soon settles down to regular habits and there is no more trouble. Last Saturday flight a baby was taken to the hospital, with the inevitable dummy—■ to-night (Monday) it went quietly to sleep without a murmur and without itscomforter. There is little difficulty in discontinuing its use, even when it has been persisted in for a considerable time. • ' . But why use a dummy at all? That is the puzzle. It certainly does not improve the appearance of a baby to seo such a contrivance projecting from its mouth! We are told that many nurses carry a comforter with them as part of their equipment, and that the baby has become- habituated to its use before the mother has anything to do with it. Tin's is very hard on tho mother. Sho should therefore make a stipujation before-• hand that no such thing is to bo introduced into her home. The use #of a dummy may be regarded as a testimony ,to tho incompetence or laziness of the nurse. If recnilnr habits with regard to feeding, sleeping, movements of bowels, etc., are started at the dawn of life, there will never be any need for artificial soothers. The best and most lasting way of attaining peace and comfort in the home is to train tho child in proper healthy habits, stage by stage, from the first day.