OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2723, 18 March 1916, Page 10

OUR BABIES

' [By RYGsn.i

Published under' the auspices of tho itoya.l New Zealand Health the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a. fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the > bottom." OHILDREN AND PICTURE SHOWS. ■ Last week's column dealt with the evil custom, of taking young children to "The Pictuijes," the article being based on a public appeal and protest recently made by one of the branches of our society. Infantile Paralysis. ■ Besides the 'grounds already menthe.'branch in question referred to tho special risk of unnecessarily herding and crowding children in public places at iihe present time, when infantile paralysis is so rife in certain quarters. The risk of acquiring or spreading infantile paralysis in this way is certainly one which cannot be ignored at th 6 present moment; but I am more concerned with the inevitable wrong and injury dono to every young child whose parents break in upon the punctual daily rhythm of its habits, and 1 selfishly subject it, to the various un. healthy and unnatural ooncomitante of crowded places of amusement. : Let,., us oonsider the matter a little more 'in. detail. REGULARITY. Conservation of the Rest and Sleep Rhythm. In the soheme of Nature daylight is the period intended forthe manifestation of the various main activities in life. Darkness comes over the world like a benediction, with its blessings of rest, sleep, recuperation, and rebuilding of the bodily parts wliich have bes come weary and worn by- the stimulation and work of the daytime. It is true that a young baby sleeps most of tbe 24 hours; but very soon much of the daytime is spent in great activity, and the more healthy and active a baby becomes —ivhen it is "on the go"—the more necessary it is to regard as isacred tbe periods assigned for Test, sleep, and the building of tho body. ■ Even for adults nothing is mora healthful than punctual and regular habits in regard to sleep; _but in _ the case of young children it is infinitely more important to avoid trenching on the hours set aside for rest. There are many reasons for this.

Working and Feeding in Light and

BmVding in Darkness.

' In both plants and .animals daylight is the time assigned for active work, and for the taking in of foodstuffs; but quiet and darkness are intended for building and repairing the bodily structures —from the roots to the tree-tops, and taom the skin and nails up to the topmost layers of the brain. • Irregularities which may cause little or no trouble to adults who have ceased to grow brine; about stunting and imperfections of development in young oreatures. The younger the child the more sacredly should the times assigned for rest, sleep, growth, and repair be. safeguarded. But it is quite a mistake to suppose that an older child—say fl child of five or aix years of ago-would necossarily bejess harmed than a "baby in arms." The baby may sleep mora or less at a picture show, but little boys and girls are kept in a state of strained and eager attention and excitement all the time, until they drop off in utter weariness into broken sleep, as so often happens towards the close of an entertainment. In the case of young' children a proceeding more harmful or more contrary to the laws and intentions of Nature than dragging them out to picture shows can scarcely be imagined, _ ana nothing can..stem this, evil bnt a higher sense on 'the part of-parents as to tns dutv they owe to their offspring and to the race. - . RESTLESS.SLEEP. ".' In 'spite of the possibility' of a. baby in arms getting some sleep at "the pictures." it must not ,bo supposed thai suoli a ohild' takes little or harni. from the stress to which it is subjected. Quite the contrary, is the. case. No I only is the baby injured by the close,' stuffy atmosphere and broken .sleep, but if it does happen to doze off amid the glare and clapping and stamping, thn sleep and rest are imperfect and comparatively unrofrashing. A child's bedroom should be cool, airy,,' and free Trom lifiht and sound. Evea where a sleeper is not actually awakened by lights and noises, the myriad tiny buildors and repairers of the body, which ought to be kept quietly at their beneficent tasks, are interrupted, and their work iS not well done. How many people are there who know that a baby's brain flushes up when the mother merely enters the nursery ivlth a lamp, or when a door bangs or creaks loudly on its hinges, though the child may not wake or show any outward sissi, or sit most "turns uneasily in its sleep"? The mother does not realise that the millions of little cells which were busily at work building and strengthening every part of her child havo been disturbed for the moment —disturbed like a startled hive of bees—and that the orderly course-of their work has been interrupted, however little. An owyisional momentary disturbance of this liind docs no harm; but any competent nurse knows that if she were to allow herself "to be always flittirig about with a naked light' in and out of the room where a sick baby' lay sleeping, she would Jeopardise thfc. child's recovery, and this would be duo to the fact of her unsettling and disturbing the little cells of the body and not giving them a fair chance of quietly carrying out tfoir appointed work. v The following passage from Dr. Maria rl« Mnnaeciuo's creat book on "Sleen" qliould prove interesting to parents who likn to know something about the why and wherefore: — j "Any unexpected noise—a touch, in Fact—any external stimulus _ which affects the sleeper at once brings about 1 ,i change in the volume and temperature of the brain—that is say, that i the cerebral vessels become more or less flushed with blood under these circum- ; stances, and this temporary flooding of S the brain is observed even _ when the 1 impressions ■ which provoke it are too slight to awake the sleeper or to leave ] anv memory, behind." What about the cffccfe on tho brain in the case of a child joßced about for I a whole evening, going and coming and Int. the pioturos, "subjected to alternate | lirrbt and darkness, and dinned with cliiopin'l. and stamping? Let Dr. Holt (perhaps the most eminent. American authority of the day oil children) answer my miesiion. He says teee. quotation, page 103 of the society's hook) under the heading

Nervousness and Instability.

"What are the principal causes of excessive nervousness in infants: and young children', and .what can be done to prevent tin's? "The most imnortat is the deli, cnte structure-.of the hraiu. at this time, and its rapid growth. It grows as much during tho first year as during all the rest of life. This reouires quiet and peaceful surroundings." Xcxt week I purpose saying something as to the harm clone to the higher nature, character, ajid personality of tho child by the frequenting of picture shows.