Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children

P >> Pye Henry Chavasse >> Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks, Arno Peters
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

This file was produced from images generously made available by the
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.

ADVICE TO A MOTHER

ON THE
MANAGEMENT OF HER CHILDREN
AND ON THE
TREATMENT ON THE MOMENT
OF SOME OF THEIR MORE PRESSING ILLNESSES
AND ACCIDENTS

BY

PYE HENRY CHAVASSE,

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND, FELLOW OF THE
OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE
MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, BIRMINGHAM.

"Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that
cometh of the Lord."

PREFACE.

This Book has been translated into French, into German, into Polish,
and into Tamil (one of the languages of India); it has been
extensively published in America; and is well-known wherever the
English language is spoken.

The Twelfth Edition--consisting of twenty thousand copies--being
exhausted in less than three years, the THIRTEENTH EDITION is now
published.

One or two fresh questions have been asked and answered, and two or
three new paragraphs have I been added.

PYE HENRY CHAVASSE.

214, HAGLEY ROAD, EDGBASTON,
BIRMINGHAM, _June_, 1878.

CONTENTS.

PART I--INFANCY.

PRELIMINARY CONVERSATION
ABLUTION
MANAGEMENT OF THE NAVEL
NAVEL RUPTURE--GROIN RUPTURE
CLOTHING
DIET
VACCINATION AND RE-VACCINATION
DENTITION
EXERCISE
SLEEP
THE BLADDER AND THE BOWELS
AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC.
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON INFANCY

PART II--CHILDHOOD

ABLUTION
CLOTHING
DIET
THE NURSERY
EXERCISE
AMUSEMENTS
EDUCATION
SLEEP
SECOND DENTITION
DISEASE, ETC.
WARM BATHS
WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS
ACCIDENTS

PART III--BOYHOOD AND GIRLHOOD

ABLUTION, ETC.
MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR
CLOTHING
DIET
AIR AND EXERCISE
AMUSEMENTS
EDUCATION
HOUSEHOLD WORK FOR GIRLS
CHOICE OF PROFESSION OR TRADE
SLEEP
ON THE TEETH AND GUMS
PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
INDEX

ADVICE TO A MOTHER.

PART I.--INFANCY

_Infant and suckling._--I. SAMUEL
_A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded._--BYRON.
_Man's breathing Miniature!_--COLERIDGE.

PRELIMINARY CONVERSATION

1. _I wish to consult you on many subjects appertaining to the
management and the care of children; will you favour me with your
advice and counsel_?

I shall be happy to accede to your request, and to give you the fruits
of my experience in the clearest manner I am able, and in the simplest
language I can command--freed from all technicalities. I will
endeavour to guide you in the management of the health of your
offspring;--I will describe to you the _symptoms_ of the diseases of
children;--I will warn you of approaching danger, in order that you
may promptly apply for medical assistance before disease has gained
too firm a footing;--I will give you the _treatment_ on the moment; of
some of their more pressing illnesses--when medical aid cannot at once
be procured, and where delay may be death;--I will instruct you, in
case of accidents, on the _immediate_ employment of remedies--where
procrastination may be dangerous;--I will tell you how a sick child
should be nursed, and how a sick-room ought to be managed;--I I will
use my best energy to banish injurious practices from the nursery;--I
will treat of the means to prevent disease where it be possible;--I
will show you the way to preserve the health of the healthy,--and how
to strengthen the delicate;--and will strive to make a medical man's
task more agreeable to himself,--and more beneficial to his
patient,--by dispelling errors and prejudices, and by proving the
importance of your _strictly_ adhering to his rules. If I can
accomplish any of these objects, I shall be amply repaid by the
pleasing satisfaction that I have been of some little service to the
rising generation.

2. _Then you consider it important that I should be made acquainted
with, and be well informed upon, the subjects you have just named_?

Certainly! I deem it to be your imperative duty to _study_ the
subjects well. The proper management of children is a vital
question,--a mother's question,--and the most important that can be
brought under the consideration of a parent; and, strange to say, it
is one that has been more neglected than any other. How many mothers
undertake--the responsible management of children without previous
instruction, or without forethought; they undertake it, as though it
may be learned either by intuition or by instinct, or by
affection. The consequence is, that frequently they are in a sea of
trouble and uncertainty, tossing about without either rule or compass;
until, too often, their hopes and treasures are shipwrecked and lost.

The care and management, and consequently the health and future
well-doing of the child, principally devolve upon the mother, "for it
is the mother after all that has most to do with the making or marring
of the man." [Footnote: _Good Words_, Dr W. Lindsay Alexander, March
1861.] Dr Guthrie justly remarks that--"Moses might have never been
the man he was unless he had been nursed by his own mother. How many
celebrated men have owed their greatness and their goodness to a
mother's training!" Napoleon owed much to his mother. "'The fate of a
child,' said Napoleon, 'is always the work of his mother;' and this
extraordinary man took pleasure in repeating, that to his mother he
owed his elevation. All history confirms this opinion..." The
character of the mother influences the children more than that of the
father, because it is more exposed to their daily, hourly
observation.--_Woman's Mission_.

I am not overstating the importance of the subject in hand when I say,
that a child is the most valuable treasure in the world, that "he is
the precious gift of God," that he is the source of a mother's
greatest and purest enjoyment, that he is the strongest bond of
affection between her and her husband, and that

"A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure,
A messenger of peace and love."--_Tupper_,

I have, in the writing of the following pages, had one object
constantly in view--namely, health--

"That salt of life, which does to all a relish give,
Its standing pleasure, and intrinsic wealth,
The body's virtue, and the soul's good fortune--health."

If the following pages insist on the importance of one of a mother's
duties more than another it is this,--_that the mother herself look
well into everything appertaining to the management of her own child_.

Blessed is that mother among mothers of whom it can be said, that "she
hath done what she could" for her child--for his welfare, for his
happiness, for his health!

For if a mother hath not "done what she could for her
child"--mentally, morally, and physically--woe betide the unfortunate
little creature;--better had it been for him had he never been born!

ABLUTION

3. _Is a new-born infant, for the first time, to be washed in warm
or in cold water_?

It is not an uncommon plan to use _cold_ water from the first, under
the impression of its strengthening the child. This appears to be a
cruel and barbarous practice, and is likely to have a contrary
tendency. Moreover, it frequently produces either inflammation of the
eyes, or stuffing of the nose, or inflammation of the lungs, or
looseness of the bowels. Although I do not approve of _cold_ water, we
ought not to run into an opposite extreme, as _hot_ water would weaken
and enervate the babe, and thus would predispose him to disease. Luke
warm _rain_ water will be the best to wash him with. This, if it be
summer, should have its temperature gradually lowered, until it be
quite cold, if it be winter, a _dash_ of warm water ought still to be
added, to take oft the chill [Footnote: A nursery basin (Wedgwoode
make is considered the best), holding either six or eight quarts of
water, and which will be sufficiently large to hold the whole body of
the child. The baton is generally fitted into a wooden frame which
will raise it to a convenient height for the washing of the baby.] (By
thermometer = 90 to 92 degrees.)

It will be necessary to use soap--Castile soap being the best for the
purpose--it being less irritating to the skin than the ordinary
soap. Care should be taken that it does not get into the eyes, as it
may produce either inflammation or smarting of those organs.

If the skin be delicate, or if there be any excoriation or
"breaking-out" on the skin, then glycerine soap, instead of the
Castile soap, ought to be used.

4. _At what age do you recommend a mother to commence washing her
infant either in the tub, or in the nursery basin_?

As soon as the navel string comes away [Footnote: Sir Charles Locock
strongly recommends that an infant should be washed _in a tub_ from
the very commencement. He says,--"All those that I superintend _begin_
with a tub."--_Letter to the Author_.] Do not be afraid of water,--and
that in plenty,--as it is one of the best strengtheners to a child's
constitution. How many infants suffer, for the want of water from
excoriation!

5. _Which do you prefer--flannel or sponge--to wash a child with_?

A piece of flannel is, for the first part of the washing very
useful--that is to say, to use with the soap, and to loosen the dirt
and the perspiration; but for the finishing-up process, a sponge--a
large sponge--is superior to flannel, to wash all away, and to
complete the bathing. A sponge cleanses and gets into all the nooks,
corners, and crevices of the skin. Besides, sponge, to finish up with,
is softer and more agreeable to the tender skin of a babe than
flannel. Moreover, a sponge holds more water than flannel, and thus
enables you to stream the water more effectually over him. A large
sponge will act Like a miniature shower bath, and will thus brace and
strengthen him.

6. _To prevent a new-born babe from catching cold, is it necessary to
wash his head with brandy_?

It is _not necessary_. The idea that it will prevent cold is
erroneous, as the rapid evaporation of heat which the brandy causes is
more likely to give than to prevent cold.

7. _Ought that tenacious, paste like substance, adhering to the skin
of a new-born babe, to be washed off at the first dressing_?

It should, provided it be done with a soft sponge and with care. If
there be any difficulty in removing the substance, gently rub it, by
means of a flannel, [Footnote: Mrs Baines (who has written so much and
so well on the Management of Children), in a _Letter_ to the Author,
recommends flannel to be used in the _first_ washing of an infant,
which flannel ought afterwards to be burned; and that the sponge
should be only used to complete the process, to clear off what the
flannel had already loosened. She also recommends that every child
should have his own sponge, each of which should have a particular
distinguishing mark upon it, as she considers the promiscuous use of
the same sponge to be a frequent cause of _ophthalmia_ (inflammation
of the eyes). The sponges cannot be kept too clean.] either with a
little lard, or fresh butter, or sweet-oil. After the parts have been
well smeared and gently rubbed with the lard, or oil, or butter, let
all be washed off together, and be thoroughly cleansed away, by means
of a sponge and soap and warm water, and then, to complete the
process, gently put him in for a minute or two in his tub. If this
paste like substance be allowed to remain on the skin, it might
produce either an excoriation, or a "breaking-out" Besides, it is
impossible, if that tenacious substance be allowed to remain on it,
for the skin to perform its proper functions.

8. _Have you any general observations to make on the washing of a
new-born infant_?

A babe ought, every morning of his life, to be thoroughly washed from
head to foot, and this can only be properly done by putting him bodily
either into a tub or into a bath, or into a large nursery basin, half
filled with water. The head, before placing him in the bath, should be
first wetted (but not dried), then immediately put him into the water,
and, with a piece of flannel well soaked, cleanse his whole body,
particularly his arm pits, between his thighs, his groins, and his
hams, then take a large sponge in hand, and allow the water from it,
well filled, to stream all over the body, particularly over his back
and loins. Let this advice be well observed, and you will find the
plan most strengthening to your child. The skin must, after every
bath, be thoroughly but quickly dried with warm, dry, soft towels,
first enveloping the child in one, and then gently absorbing the
moisture with the towel, not roughly scrubbing and rubbing his tender
skin as though a horse were being rubbed down.

The ears must, after each ablution, be carefully and well dried with a
soft dry napkin, inattention to this advice has sometimes caused a
gathering in the ear--a painful and distressing complaint, and at
other times it has produced deafness.

Directly after the infant is dried, all the parts that are at all
likely to be chafed ought to be well powdered. After he is well dried
and powdered, the chest, the back, the bowels, and the limbs should be
gently rubbed, taking care not to expose him unnecessarily during such
friction.

He ought to be partially washed every evening, indeed it may be
necessary to use a sponge and a little warm water frequently during
the day, namely, each time after the bowels have been relieved.
_Cleanliness is one of the grand incentives to health_, and therefore
cannot be too strongly insisted upon. If more attention were paid to
this subject, children would be more exempt from chafings,
"breakings-out," and consequent suffering, than they at present
are. After the second month, if the babe be delicate, the addition of
two handfuls of table-salt to the water he is washed with in the
morning will tend to brace and strengthen him.

With regard to the best powder to dust an infant with, there is
nothing better for general use than starch--the old fashioned starch
_made of wheaten flour_--reduced by means of a pestle and mortar to a
fine powder, or Violet Powder, which is nothing more than finely
powdered starch scented, and which may be procured of any respectable
chemist. Some others are in the habit of using white lead, but as
this is a poison, it ought _on no account_ to be resorted to.

9. _If the parts about the groin and fundament be excoriated, what is
then the best application_?

After sponging the parts with tepid _rain water_, holding him over his
tub, and allowing the water from a well filled sponge to stream over
the parts, and then drying them with a soft napkin (not rubbing, but
gently dabbing with the napkin), there is nothing better than dusting
the parts frequently with finely powdered Native Carbonate of
Zinc-Calamine Powder. The best way of using this powder is, tying up a
little of it in a piece of muslin, and then gently dabbing the parts
with it.

Remember excoriations are generally owing to the want of water,--to
the want of an abundance of water. An infant who is every morning well
soused and well swilled with water seldom suffers either from
excoriations, or from any other of the numerous skin diseases.
Cleanliness, then, is the grand preventative of, and the best remedy
for excoriations. Naaman the Syrian was ordered "to wash and be
clean," and he was healed, "and his flesh came again like unto the
flesh of a little child and he was clean." This was, of course, a
miracle; but how often does water, without any special intervention,
act miraculously both in preventing and in curing skin diseases!

An infant's clothes, napkins especially, ought never to be washed with
soda; the washing of napkins with soda is apt to produce excoriations
and breakings-out. "As washerwomen often deny that they use soda, it
can be easily detected by simply soaking a clean white napkin in fresh
water and then tasting the water; if it be brackish and salt, soda has
been employed." [Footnote: Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the
Author.]

10. _Who is the proper person to wash and dress the babe_?

The monthly nurse, as long as she is in attendance; but afterwards the
mother, unless she should happen to have an experienced, sensible,
thoughtful nurse, which, unfortunately, is seldom the case. [Footnote:
"The Princess of Wales might have been seen on Thursday taking an
airing in a brougham in Hyde Park with her baby--the future King of
England--on her lap, without a nurse, and accompanied only by Mrs
Brace. The Princess seems a very pattern of mothers, and it is
whispered among the ladies of the Court that every evening the mother
of this young gentleman may be seen in a flannel dress, in order that
she may properly wash and put on baby's night clothes, and see him
safely in bed. It is a pretty subject for a picture."--_Pall Mall
Gazette_.]

11. _What is the best kind of apron for a mother, or for a nurse, to
wear, while washing the infant_?

Flannel--a good, thick, soft flannel, usually called
bathcoating--apron, made long and full, and which of course ought to
be well dried every time before it is used.

12. _Perhaps you will kindly recapitulate, and give me further advice
on the subject of the ablution of my babe_.

Let him by all means, then, as soon as the navel-string has separated
from the body, be bathed either in his tub, or in his bath, or in his
large nursery-basin, for if he is to be strong and hearty, in the
water every morning he must go. The water ought to be slightly warmer
than new milk. It us dangerous for him to remain for a long period in
his bath, this, of course, holds good in a ten fold degree if the
child have either a cold or pain in his bowels. Take care that,
immediately after he comes out of his tub, he is well dried with warm
towels. It is well to let him have his bath the first thing in the
morning, and before he has been put to the breast, let him be washed
before he has his breakfast, it will refresh him and give him an
appetite. Besides, he ought to have his morning ablution on an empty
stomach, or it may interfere with digestion, and might produce
sickness and pain. In putting him in his tub, let his head be the
first part washed. We all know, that in bathing in the sea, now much
better we can bear the water if we first wet our head, if we do not do
so, we feel shivering and starved and miserable. Let there be no
dawdling in the washing, let it be quickly over. When he is thoroughly
dried with warm _dry_ towels, let him be well rubbed with the warm
hand of the mother or of the nurse. As I previously recommended, while
drying him and while rubbing him, let him repose and kick and stretch
either on the warm flannel apron, or else on a small blanket placed on
the lap. One bathing in the tub, and that in the morning, is
sufficient, and better than night and morning. During the day, as I
before observed, he may, after the action either of his bowels or of
his bladder, require several spongings of lukewarm water, _for
cleanliness is a grand incentive to health and comeliness_.

Remember it is absolutely necessary to every child from his earliest
babyhood to have a bath, to be immersed every morning of his life in
the water. This advice, unless in cases of severe illness, admits of
no exception. Water to the body--to the whole body--is a necessity of
life, of health, and of happiness, it wards off disease, it brace? the
nerves, it hardens the frame, it is the finest tonic in the world. Oh,
if every mother would follow to the very letter this counsel how much
misery, how much ill-health might then be averted!

MANAGEMENT OF THE NAVEL.

13. _Should the navel-string be wrapped in SINGED rag_?

There is nothing better than a piece of fine old linen rag,
_unsinged_; when singed, it frequently irritates the infant's skin.

14. _How ought the navel-string to be wrapped in the rag_?

Take a piece of soft linen rag, about three inches wide and four
inches long, and wrap it neatly round the navel string, in the same
manner you would around a cut finger, and then, to keep on the rag,
tie it with a few rounds of whity-brown thread. The navel-string thus
covered should, pointing upwards, be placed on the belly of the child,
and must be secured in its place by means of a flannel belly-band.

15. _If after the navel-string has been secured, bleeding should (in
the absence of the medical man) occur, how must it be restrained_?

The nurse or the attendant ought immediately to take off the rag, and
tightly, with a ligature composed of four or five whity-brown threads,
retie the navel-string; and to make assurance doubly sure, after once
tying it, she should pass the threads a second time around the
navel-string, and tie it again; and after carefully ascertaining that
it no longer bleeds, fasten it up in the rag as before. Bleeding of
the navel-string rarely occurs, yet, if it should do so--the medical
man not being at hand--the child's after-health, or even his life,
may, if the above directions be not adopted, be endangered.

16. _When does the navel-string separate from the child_?

From five days to a week after birth; in some cases not until ten days
or a fortnight, or even, in rare cases, not until three weeks.

17. _If the navel-string does not at the end of a week came away,
ought any means to be used to cause the separation_?

Certainly not, it ought always to be allowed to drop off, which, when
in a fit state, it will readily do. Meddling with the navel string
has frequently cost the babe a great deal of suffering, and in some
cases even his life.

18. _The navel is sometimes a little sore, after the navel-string
comes away, what ought then to be done_?

A little simple cerate should be spread on lint, and be applied every
morning to the part affected, and a white-bread poultice, every night,
until it is quite healed.

NAVEL RUPTURE--GROIN RUPTURE.

19. _What are the causes of a rupture of the navel? What ought to be
done? Can it be cured_?

(1) A rupture of the navel is sometimes occasioned by a meddlesome
nurse. She is very anxious to cause the navel-string to separate from
the infant's body, more especially when it is longer in coming away
than usual. She, therefore, before it is in a fit state to drop off,
forces it away. (2) The rapture, at another time, is occasioned by the
child incessantly crying. A mother, then, should always bear in mind,
that a rupture of the navel is often caused by much crying, and that
it occasions much crying, indeed, it is a frequent cause of incessant
crying. A child, therefore, who, without any assignable cause, is
constantly crying, should have his navel carefully examined.

A rupture of the navel ought always to be treated early--the earlier
the better. Ruptures of the navel can only be _cured_ in infancy and
in childhood. If it be allowed to run on until adult age, a _cure_ is
impossible. Palliative means can then only be adopted.

The best treatment is a Burgundy pitch plaster, spread on a soft piece
of wash leather, about the size of the top of a tumbler, with a
properly-adjusted pad (made from the plaster) fastened on the centre
of the plaster, which will effectually keep up the rupture, and in a
few weeks will cure it. It will be necessary, from time to time, to
renew the plaster until the cure be effected. These plasters will be
found both more efficacious and pleasant than either truss or bandage;
which latter appliances sometimes gall, and do more harm than they do
good.

20. _If an infant have a groin-rupture (an inguinal rupture), can that
also be cured_?

Certainly, if, soon after birth, it be properly attended to. Consult a
medical man, and he will supply you with a well-fitting truss, _which
will eventually cure him_. If the truss be properly made (under the
direction of an experienced surgeon) by a skilful surgical-instrument
maker, a beautiful, nicely-fitting truss will be supplied, which will
take the proper and exact curve of the lower part of the infant's
belly, and will thus keep on without using any under-strap whatever--a
great desideratum, as these under-straps are so constantly wetted and
soiled as to endanger the patient constantly catching cold. But if
this under-strap is to be superseded, the truss must be made exactly
to fit the child--to fit him like a ribbon; which is a difficult thing
to accomplish unless it be fashioned by a skilful workman. It is only
lately that these trusses have been made without under-straps.
Formerly the under-straps were indispensable necessaries.

These groin-ruptures require great attention and supervision, as the
rupture (the bowel) must, before putting on the truss be cautiously
and thoroughly returned into the belly; and much care should be used
to prevent the chafing and galling of the tender skin of the babe,
which an ill-fitting truss would be sure to occasion. But if care and
skill be bestowed on the case, a perfect cure might in due time be
ensured. The truss must not be discontinued, until a _perfect_ cure be
effected.

Let me strongly urge you to see that my advice is carried out to the
very letter, as a groin-rupture can only be _cured_ in infancy and in
childhood. If it be allowed to ran on, unattended to, until adult age,
he will be obliged to wear a truss _all his life_, which would be a
great annoyance and a perpetual irritation to him.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26