OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 696, 19 August 1914, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

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." A MOTHER'S LETTER Will you kir.dly tell ma what I ahcuid do for my baby? He is seven weeks oIJ, entirely breast-fed, weighed 9!b, end was very strong acd fat when born. His. bowels have been relaxed uv about three week», and during the last fortnigjht he has had diarrhoea, the - motions being dark green and full of curd, while several nmes they heva contained a jelly Lke substance. Ten days ago I gave him a dose of castor "oil; followed bv boiled writer, and gradually returning to full strength breast milk. For a fev; days the motions were nearly normal'in colour and less frequent; but milk, got stronger he got worse again. Tnree days 3go 1 gave him', another dose cf oil, followed by Jo hours on boiled water, then giving a very small amount of breast m'lk aftei the water. While on the boiled water he appeared to be all righ f , but as soon as be got the miik he got bad again. To-day the last motion was green, with curds, while the one before was uniform greenish end yellow, witb jelly and a slight bloodstain. At present he appears to bs very much griped before each motion. There have been only two or three motions a day during the last three days, but before that every napkin- was soiled. He is fed every three hours, gets r;o night feeding, but I have been unable to let hirn have as much fresh air as I could wish, as it has rained for the last three weeks, and there is no verandah to the house. Also, I can get no outduor exercise, bs I have a little girl 14 months old, and no one else to look after the babies. I have been in splendid health myself from the time I became pregnant. I forgot to mention that baby vomits after taking his food, but I do not think he gets too much. I have' no moans of weighing him before and after feeding, as I am 35 miles from the nearest doctor and grocer, and have no other women to tell me anything. I reared my oldes* child on the lines laid down in your book, "What .Baby Needs," and have never had the least trouble with her.

By tha way, I used a No. 50 infants' syringe for her from the time she was seven months old. It has a "hard rozsle. Do you think that is suitable for a younger baby? How old should a baby be before an enema can be given to it? I told one woman to use the enema instead of medicine for he? child aged four months; but she was afraid on account of his agr. I have written a very long latter, and hopn I have not put you to any trouble by doing so; but I thought it wai better to giv& yoa a full account of baby's symptoms than to leave eu much to be guessed at. REPLY I am sorry your baby has not been thriving lately. From what you Bay, I that baby would do better, in tha meantime, if you gave him some boiled water immediately before each nursing—say, loz or more at first, gradually reducing the quantity as bis motions improve. Further, I should allow bim to nurse for a shorter period than you have been doing: if be is in the habit of suckling for a quarter of en hour, you might reduce tne time to 10 or 12 minutes. Thus, by diluting your milk with water, and allowing a smaller quantity to bo drawn from ths breast, you will in all probability gradually get baby's digestion right. When everything was going well, you would gradually work your way back to i breast milk only. You might have to give a little boiled water, just before suckling, for Home weeks, but, of course, you would.watch results and 2ct accordingly. ; The fact that baby was all right en the boiled water points to the conclusion (hat he cannot rope with your milk undiluted at present. If there is distinct dianhopa you should completely withhold sll milk for from 12. to 24 hours, ÜBing boiled water instead, and giving a dose oE Castor Oil, if he has not had one for some time.

Of course, I realise from your letter Mi at you have already been trying the effect of diluting your milk by giving baby some oiled water immediately before suckling; but I thought that perhaps it might be well to make perfectly clear that thia diluting is still, in all probability, t e best course to pursue, and that suckling for shorter periods may need to be temporarily resorted to also. THE SEAT OF TROUBLE The symptoms you describe —especially the presence of jelly like mucus, and the fact of a trace of blood having been seen—point clearly to the lower bowel being the main seat of trouble. j In view of this, it would be quite wrong to give anything that would tend to irritate the lower bowel in any way—such as the use of an enema with soap in it, or the insertion of an enema with a hard nozzle. The best plan would be to use a tiny, sof t-nozzled bulb enema, holding only an ounce which I shall get the chemise to post to you at once. This could be used morning and evening, for a dny or two, and after that whenever there was a tenriecy to constipation. You will notice on pages 11.0-11 of the Society's book, "Feeding and Care <f Baby," that diarrhoea anci constipation tend to alternate with one another —'abies readily passing from one 'extreme to the other. This is especially liable to be the esse whore castor i.il is given irors thEn once in the course of a week or two. Ifc is never desirable to give castor oil,except as a single dose, for instance, where the h.-iby ia upset, suy, with an attack oC diarrhoea. In case of constipation, castor oil should be avoided, on account of its tendency to bind afterwards, and thUB aggravating the condition in the long run.

ADVICE AS TO INJECTIONS Do not.fail (o read the whole of page 62. You will notice that it ia recommended to inject the Bait and water with the chill just on, as this tends to promote toning up and contraction of the bowel, and generally induces a good motion. However, if the baby haa griping and colic, it is better to give a warm injection, using the salt eolation at 105deg-.Fahr—that is, a little above blocd heat. In this case the ounce enema bulb may be filled anti injected two or three tim?o in mncession—injecting (he food slowly, so us to prevent too rapid expulsion. Nothing is more likely to clear away wind, and soothe a culicky baby, than a distinctly wsrm injection of two cr three ounces, Bnd the application of warm flannels cr heated bran to the belly. You should read pages 113 and 114 on colic. THE MOTHER'S HABITS

It is particularly necessary for you to ensure as good digestion as possible for yourself, as any tendency to indigestion or wind on the part of the mother is alttiost sure to upset the b3by, mors or 1-fs; It would probably do a world of good if you coald manage to get out more into the cpen air, taking at least one good walk every day. lam afraid, from what you say that this may be scarcely possible; but still I feel bound to mention the matter, because it is so essential for the perfect thriving of yourself and the baby. It would also be a great thing if you jit cr recline in the open air ftr a short time every day. Without knowing your habits, it is impossible to Bay whether additional exercise or extra rest is the more pressing need in yourcase. but it is always safe to recomm*nd more of both, if they can be taken in tte open air. I assume that you are careful as to proper food and regularity of habits, and I hope you don't worry mere than you can help. Remember the quotation on page 107 of the Society's book, "Feeding and Care of Baby." The following passage from Charles Reade'B "The Cloieter and the Hearth" is most suggestive and entirely true : "The child-is poisoned."

' Poisoned! By whom?" "By you. You have been fretting!" ! "Na, indsed, mother. How can I help fretting? "Don't tell me, Margurel. A nursing mother hss no buainsss to fret. She must turn her mind away from her gri6f to tbe comfort that lies in her lap. Know you not that the child pines if the mother vexes herself." DON'T GET INTO THE ENEMA HABIT Regarding the hatd-nozzzled syringe, it should not be used for injecting fluid into the bowel, a soft nozzle is the only kind fit to use for a baby. There is no objection to the employment of weak salt and water, to promote proper evacuation, even in the CBse of a baby only a few weeks old. No Buch meeasure should be resorted tc more frequently than necessary. Ths main objection to enemas for infants are the f a-jta that mothers tend to gGt into the enema habit, and that they inject far too much fluid, so that the lower bowfl is apt to become weak and distended; thus the tendency to constipation may not only persist, but may become more and more confirmed, owing to weakening of the walls of the intestine. No such tendency arises from tha use, when necesssry, of Email tonic cnemas.aß described—rather tho other way, the effect being stimulating and strengthening to an unduly sluggish bowel. Further, the injection, for a few days at a particular time, may enablethe mother to bring about more readily that perfect regularity of action which it ia so ne:essary to establish.