OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 552, 22 March 1913, Page 6

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia). Published under the auspices of the Society for 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."

THE ACCURSED DUMMY. When I have to denounce the "dummy" or "comforter" it is always with a sense of humiliation and indignation —humiliation to think that any of us women can be unwomanly enoueh to continue to use a filthy abomination which has proved itself so deforming and damaging to children —humiliation to think that some of us will continue doing this wrong until the policeman won't let us; in other words, until we are prevented by the passing of an Act of Parliament; and indignation to think that ignorant and foolish women should still be subjected to the temptation of specious advertisements, iauding the "dummy," which confront them whenever they enter a chemist's shop. WHAT JOHN BURNS SAYS ABOUT THE DUMMY.

Four years ago, in his opening address at the tuberculosis exhibition in London, John Burns said:— "Now I come to another practical remedy for consumption—that is. the abolition of the "comforter" and the "soother." This is a very seriuus thing. The bomb, the pistol, and dynamite have killed their scores, but I believe the "comforter" or "dummy" teat. No more of little children What is more, doctors tell me that it subjects the baby's mouth and throat to malformations that disclose themselves in subsequent years. 1 am told this—and I believe it is—a special cause of bad teeth. Later on it 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, for adenoids. ... I would endure the charge of being a bureaucrat with pleasure and with equanimity if with one ordar I could make the 'comforter' a public nuisance and schedule it as a dangerous instrument." WHAT AN F.R.C.S. OF ENGLAND SAYS. In a book just published, written by an M.D. of London and F.R.C.S. of England, I find the following under the heading 'The Crying of Children': "Closely associated with the question of crying is that of the use of the 'comforter' or 'dummy' teat. No more iniquitous or dangerous appliance was ever invented than the 'dummy' teat. It has been the cause of physical defeet, or even death, to many children. The 'dummy' is thrust into the mouth of a child, who may be crying, at all times, without the least regard to the cause of its complaint, so that it soon becomes a harrit to allow the infant to suck at the instrument whether he cries or not. Its use is merely a subterfuge by which the responsible evade the proper investigation of the cause of the crying. Children may be wrongly fed for weeks, the crying from the pain of indigestion being checked and suppressed by a 'comforter' pushed into the mouth. Many people seem to imagine that crying, in and out of season, is the natural heritage of infancy, and that children are unreasoning creatures, who cry simply because they are babies. This is not so, the natural lot of a child ib to be happy and contented, his cry merely being his sole means of demonstrating his hunger or discomfort. The use of the 'dummy' is a confession that a child's attendant will not bother to seek a cause for his distress

"Apart from these ethical objections to its use, it", is itself harmful. No matter how good the intentions or how good the care taken, 'dummies' are bound to fall about, become soiled, and pick up all kinds of noxious germs. They become saturated with saliva and milk, they may be soiled by vomit from the stomach, they inevitably become sour and unwholesome. Nevertheless, the wretched infant is taught to suck this dangerous and nasty object at all time. "Apart from this introduction of germs and poisons into the system of the baby, and the pressure of the teat in the mouth causes deformity and defects which will affect the health for many years. The constant sucking and pressure tend to cause a highly arched palate, and a narrow jaw which will be too small for the teeth, so that they will be crowded irregularly together and rapidly decay. The shape of the lips and mouth are altered, the space of the nose encroached upon, and that most frequent trouble, 'adenoids,' set up. There is no need for 'dummy' teats, for if a child is unhappy there is something amiss which should be sought for and corrected. "The writer has two young children who have never seen a 'comforter,' and he can safely say that in the two years that have elapsed since the arrival of the first the number of disturbed nights, could be counted on the finger."