OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 193, 4 May 1918, Page 3

OUR BABIES

fr CfiT HT3?,IA.| Published under th« auspices ol tho Hoyal New Zealand Hccisic for the Health of Women am Children 'It is wiser to put u v u lauce at tho top of a precipice tl:?.n lo maintain an ambulance at the bottom." A GKANDMOTHBR'S LETTER. Tho followiiig letter received soino time ago is euro to be of interest to our ren"lorn. So many beautiful babies "bo off" whon they get beyond the baby stage that H is well to warn mothers against spoiling and pamporing their littlo ones after any slight illness or upset of the system Tho Loiter. I am enclosing a portion of my daughters letter (from England) in which she refcm to her little sons health. Her first little girl, although perfect till she was weaned, dwindled afterwards, lost weight, bad temperature, loss of appetite, pain in the bowels, etc., and was generally in a languishing condition for about t,wo yoars. She is now better, after much care and anxiety. I left England ton months ago, Then the boy was a beautiful specimen. You see my daughter now writes that he is going tho same way as his sister. Can you make any suggestions to JiolpP I know my remarks are vaguo. what else can 1 tell you except that both parents are healthy; tiiey live in n, sunny, cheery home on cjialky soil. The children are clad wisely and fed intelligently, and yet something goes wrong. .The boy of two is living chiefly nn milk, and cares little for light puddings, meat, gravy, or fruit-he likes milk best. The Mother's Letter. It's been piping hot (midsummer). Jack was very unwell again. Ho had a high temperature, and no appetite, of course; it is the usual internal cold, I think, but ho hadn't much pain or diarrhoea. He is slowly picking up again, and yesterday and to-day he is decidedly better. I know you will bo comforting, as you used to bo over Jean. Jack is absolutely as strong as he wa,. though ho doesn't look so bad yet, ahdUiae much more energy; but, . then, he is a lazy little thing, even now, when he is so well. Ido think Jack will get better, as Jean has; but it's no good saying that and not trying to do anything. The letter then goes on to describe a visit to the Zoo, after which Jean and a littlo friend were regaled with lunch at a cafe. Jean had a meringue and other delicacies. Aftor some shopping thore -was tea at a London tea shop (wo can imagine what the children had), sweets wero bought, and the party returned homo to find Jack quite happy. ' COMMENT. ■ One cannot help feeling that' the children are pampered, in spite of the grandmother's statement that, they are "led intelligently," The fact that the boy of two is living ohielly on milk, becauao "he likes milk' beet," leads ono to concludo that ha probably had a fair bharo of the sweets which wero taken homo. I know how hard H is to refrain from giving children what is called a ."really good, time," with plenty of cakos and sweets; hut it is much better not to begin to give unsuitable food, because children who- have' not had their taste for simple meals spoilt by over-indulgence aro content with plain, good, nourishing food. They have a much happier time, too, bfr cauEO they, do not suiler [roiu indigestion, and consequent irritability, and they are ready to join heartily in all tho fun that is going, provided, tho parents seo that they have the other essentials lor health in sood nieneurc. (See pages 1 aud 2 "Feeding and Oara of Baby.")

health in sood nieneurc. (See pages 1 aud 2 "Feeding and Oara of Baby.") In writing to the grandmother I specially emphasised the beneficial effects of the cold bath, followed by rapid dressing and active exerciso, and I enclosed a. tow iirticlen" which were printed in this columa some years ago, dealing with a child whose case presented similar pointe, but who had gone much further downhill than our correspondent's little grandson. Later I met our correspondent, and she told me she had forwarded by letter an enclosure to her daughter. She said the children had every advantage, and ehe could not understand their feiluro to thrive. They certainly did not have a cold bath and exercise afterwards; but ehe thought, as-they hnd everything else, that could not mako much difference. When one thinks of the little boy objecting to all simple food except milk, and the "lovely" time tho other children had on their visit to the Zoo, one wonders how faithfully tho "osnentiols for health" woro attended to Jn that particular household. -lion't Wait Until tho Children Begin to Fail. Most parents would, do anything for their children once they were convinced that it would be of lasting benefit; but the difficulty is to convinge them, and especially to get them to carry out simple health measures, so long as their children are apparently getting along all right. They tend to look upon those who advocate simplicity and regularity with regard to meals, exercise bathing, etc., ae faddists, and it is only when driven by actual sioknoss to seek help that they will take the trouble to give the children their rights in this matter. The consequence is that most children are not nearly so well as they ehould be. A child ought to be bright and full of life and joy; if ho is dull and weary or capricious something is surely amiss, aud the errors should be rectified, without delay. As it ie a long time since the articles I sent to our correspondent appeared in this column, I shall republish them in tho hope that they will prove helpful elsewhere. The case described is specially interesting as we have been able to follow it up for over 10 yeare. In the meantime I would appeal to parents to treat this matter seriously, and would aek them to see ithat their children lead simple; healthy, regular lives, with sufficient exercise and sleep. If this were done the doctors would not have to- report so many disabilities omong echool children. Don't allow the babies to fail. See that the beautiful babies become beautiful children.