OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2205, 18 July 1914, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

IB? HIGBU.I

Published under the auspices ■ of ' the Soolety for tho Health of Women and Children, ■ \ "It is wiser to put up a fence ot the top pf a precipice than to maintain, an ambulanco at the bottom." ' BABIES' COLDS.-A MOTHER'S LETTER The following letter has just come to me from the country:— ' . , Your weekly 'column is one which 1 regularly read, and look forward to. It is a great boon to young mothers to have such interesting and useful knowledge presented weekly: I certainty ( have found it so, and wish' to thank you for the benefit I have derived from' your articles. May 1 ask you to write at some future date 'on the subject of "Babies' Colds." This common ailment is very prevalent, and is rather difficult to deal with in very young children. 1 have a dear wee girl, three and a half months old. She is entirely breastfed, has'her meals regularly, and sleeps by herself.' She is very happy and contented, and never has a "dummy." Some time ago she caught a severe cold, and was nearly choked' with the phelgm in her nose and throat. I rubbed , her nose, chest, and back with warm olive oil, gave her occasional sips' of honey, and 6pringled her pillow with eucalyptus. Will you kindly tell mo if all that was the best that could have been doneP I am sure many mothers will read your answer with interest. There is another point on which I am doubtful. Should the scaly formation on top of baby's head be removed? Several mothers of largo families have told me not to touch ib; that it serves as a -protection for the tender head.' Others, again, advise to remove it with warm olive oil and a fine-tooth comb. I would value highly your opinion on the subject. Just one more question! ■ Are the so-called "Electric. Teething Bands" of any value, or is the benefit ■ attributed to their use purely imaginary? They certainly have more than one Royal testimonial, N and, to my knowledge, several children who wore them cut'their teeth without trouble. Reply.—ln the meantime the only comment I need pass on so-called electrio" bands is to say that they may be put in the same category with other high-sounding appliances, such as socalled electric or magnetic belte, which exert no electric or magnetic influence over the body, and would probably be more than useless if they did. Babies' colds are quite another ; matter —indeed, with the exception of indigestion and diarrhoea, there is no diseased condition on which it is mere important for. parents to have clear ideas regarding nature, causation,' and prevention. But why limit our attention to colds as affecting babies ? Why not look at the matter more broadly, seeing that colds often run through the: whole house, and i the baby catches it from the growniups? Why not dealwith, the nature, causation, and v preventibn of "colds" in general? COMMON COI/QS. Common colds are generally regarded as mysterious/ accidental, and more or less unavoidable visitations of Providence. In reality they are nothing of the* kind: They are no more mysterious ot - inevitable, than constipation or diarrhoea, and they are precisely analogous to such fevers as pneumonia, pleurisy, measles, or .typhoid fever. Common.colds are not. merely like fevers; they are actually fevers—they are always duo to an invasion of tile body by , millions of microbes which breed with amazing rapidity in tho noso and upper air-passages, and quickly poison the blood and affect; more or less every tissue of the body, causing the victim to feel hot and cold_ by turns, , - fevered, thirsty, arid sore, sick, dull, languid, and miserable Hostile microbes are always liable to be lurking about tho mouth, nose, and throat, and if someone introduces a specially virulent strain of germ into, a home it is apt to make a 'successful campaign against the whole household, if the family,happens to,live under.conditions which render the tissues of their bodies feeble-fighters in general, and specially inefficient to combat this particular class of organism. In other words, if. they happen to ;bo habitually live in warm, stuffy rooms, fail to fortify their bodies daily by cold sponging or bathing, following by rubbing and active exercise, and who do not avail themselves of th,b healthy vitalising effects of open air and sunlight. ■ ' . ' • •..' The. way to ensure proper hardiness and 'resistjveness in the case of the baby is specially dealt with in "Feeding and Care of Baby," pages.! and 2, 61, 82 to 85, 146 to 148, and 160. "Catarrhal fevers, commonly called colds," is the title of a medical bonk of over 100 pages by Dr. H. Prosser White, who sets out to show, that "colds," , while among the most serious of human ailments, are strictly avoidable, and are simply fevers, just as measles and typhoid are fevers, and that, like these maladies, they can be prevented by making the - body fit, strong, ■■ and resistive; and by keeping our homes as' free as possible froni poisonous germs, which accumulate in stuffy rooms, etc