Read Ebook: Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children by Chavasse Pye Henry

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If a baby were suckled at stated periods, he would only look for the bosom at those times, and be satisfied. A mother is frequently in the habit of giving the child the breast every time he cries, regardless of the cause. The cause too frequently is that he has been too often suckled--his stomach has been overloaded, the little fellow is consequently in pain, and he gives utterance to it by cries. How absurd is such a practice! We may as well endeavour to put out a fire by feeding it with fuel. An infant ought to be accustomed to regularity in everything, in times for sucking, for sleeping, &c. No children thrive so well as those who are thus early taught.

Fresh milk, from ONE cow, Warm water, of each a quarter of a pint, Sugar of milk one tea spoonful

Another good food is the following--Take about a pound of flour put it in a cloth, tie it up tightly, place it a saucepanful of water, and let it boil for four or five hours, then take it out, peel off the outer rind, and the inside will be found quite dry, which grate. Another way of preparing an infant's food, is to bake flour--biscuit flour--in a slow oven, until it be of a light fawn colour. Baked flour ought after it is baked, to be reduced, by means of a rolling pin, to a fine powder, and should then be kept in a covered tin, ready for use. An excellent food for a baby is baked crumbs of bread. The manner of preparing it is as follows--Crumb some bread on a plate, put it a little distance from the fire to dry. When dry, rub the crumbs in a mortar, and reduce them to a fine powder, then pass them through a sieve. Having done which, put the crumbs of bread into a slow oven, and let them bake until they be of a light fawn colour. A small quantity either of the boiled, or of the baked flour, or of the baked crumb of bread, ought to be made into food, in the same way as gruel is made, and should then be slightly sweetened, according to the state of the bowels, either with lump or with brown sugar.

Baked flour sometimes produces constipation, when such is the case, Mr. Appleton, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon, wisely recommends a mixture of baked flour, and prepared oatmeal, in the proportion of two of the former and one of the latter. He says--"To avoid the constipating effects, I have always had mixed, before baking, one part of prepared oatmeal with two parts of flour, this compound I have found both nourishing, and regulating to the bowels. One table-spoonful of it, mixed with a quarter of a pint of milk, or milk and water, when well boiled, flavoured and sweetened with white sugar, produces a thick, nourishing, and delicious food for infants or invalids." He goes on to remark--"I know of no food, after repeated trials, that can be so strongly recommended by the profession to all mothers in the rearing of their infants, without or with the aid of the breasts, at the same time relieving them of much draining and dragging whilst nursing with an insufficiency of milk, as baked flour and oatmeal."

When the baby is six or seven months old, new milk should be added to any of the above articles of food, in a similar way to that recommended for boiled bread.

For a delicate infant, lentil powder, better known as Du Barry's "Ravalenta Arabica," is invaluable. It ought to be made into food, with new milk, in the same way that arrow-root is made, and should be moderately sweetened with loaf-sugar. Whatever food is selected ought to be given by means of a nursing bottle.

Where there is much emaciation, I have found genuine arrow-root a very valuable article of food for an infant, as it contains a great deal of starch, which starch helps to form fat and to evolve caloric --both of which a poor emaciated chilly child stands so much in need of. It must be made with equal parts of water and of good fresh milk, and ought to be slightly sweetened with loaf sugar; a small pinch of table salt should be added to it.

Arrow-root will not, as milk will, give bone and muscle; but it will give--what is very needful to a delicate child--fat and warmth. Arrow-root, as it is principally composed of starch, comes under the same category as cream, butter, sugar, oil, and fat. Arrowroot, then, should always be given with new milk ; it will then fulfil, to perfection, the exigencies of nourishing, of warming, and fattening the child's body.

Arrow-root, and all other farinaceous foods are, for a child, only supplemental to milk--new milk being, for the young, the staple food of all other kinds of foods whatever.

I have given you a large and well-tried infant's dietary to chose from, as it is sometimes difficult to fix on one that will suit; but, remember, if you find one of the above to agree, keep to it, as a babe requires a simplicity in food--a child a greater variety.

Let me, in this place, insist upon the necessity of great care and attention being observed in the preparation of any of the above articles of diet. A babe's stomach is very delicate, and will revolt at either ill-made, or lumpy, or burnt food. Great care ought to be observed as to the cleanliness of the cooking utensils. The above directions require the strict supervision of the mother.

Whatever artificial food is used ought to be given by means of a bottle, not only as it is a more natural way than any other of feeding a baby, as it causes him to suck as though he were drawing it from the mother's breasts, but as the act of sucking causes the salivary glands to press out their contents, which materially assist digestion. Moreover, it seems to satisfy and comfort him more than it otherwise would do.

Very little sugar should be used in the food, as much sugar weakens the digestion. A small pinch of table-salt ought to be added to whatever food is given, as "the best savour is salt." Salt is most wholesome--it strengthens and assists digestion, prevents the formation of worms, and, in small quantities, may with advantage be given to the youngest baby.

Many mothers are never so well as when they are nursing, besides, suckling prevents a lady from becoming pregnant so frequently as she otherwise would. This, if she be delicate, is an important consideration, and more especially if she be subject to miscarry. The effects of miscarriage are far more weakening than those of suckling.

A hireling, let her be ever so well inclined, can never have the affection and unceasing assiduity of a mother, and, therefore, cannot perform the duties of suckling with equal advantage to the baby.

The number of children who die under five years of age is enormous--many of them from the want of the mother's milk. There is a regular "parental baby-slaughter"--"a massacre of the innocents"-- constantly going on in England, in consequence of infants being thus deprived of their proper nutriment and just dues! The mortality from this cause is frightful, chiefly occurring among rich people who are either too grand, or, from luxury, too delicate to perform such duties; poor married women, as a rule, nurse their own children, and, in consequence reap their reward.

"To give to nature what is nature's due."

The above is my old form, and which I have for many years used with great success. Where the above food does not agree I occasionally substitute sugar-of milt for the lump sugar, in the proportion of a tea spoonful of sugar-of milk to every half pint of food.

Mothers sometimes say to me, that farinaceous food makes their babes flatulent, and that my food has not that effect.

The great desideratum, in devising an infant's formula for food, is to make it, until he be nine months old, to resemble as much as possible, a mother's own milk, and which my formula, as nearly as is practicable, does resemble hence its success and popularity.

A babe's salivary glands, until he be six or seven months old, does not secrete its proper fluid--namely, ptyalin, and consequently the starch of the farinaceous food--and all farinaceous food contains starch--is not converted into dextrine and grape-sugar, and is, therefore, perfectly indigestible and useless--nay, injurious to an infant, and may bring on pain and convulsions, and even death, hence, the giving of farinaceous food, until a child be six or seven months old, is one and the principal cause of the frightful infant mortality at the present time existing in England, and which is a disgrace to any civilized land!

In passing, allow me to urge you never to stuff a babe--never to overload his little stomach with food, it is far more desirable to give him a little not enough, than to give him a little too much. Many a poor child has been, like a young bird, killed with stuffing. If a child be at the breast, and at the breast alone, there is no fear of his taking too much, but if he be brought up on artificial food, there is great fear of his over loading his stomach. Stuffing a child brings on vomiting and bowel-complaints, and a host of other diseases which now it would be tedious to enumerate. Let me, then, urge you on no account, to over load the stomach of a little child.

There will, then, in many cases, be quite sufficient nourishment in the above. I have known some robust infants brought up on it, and on it along, without a particle of farinaceous food, or of any other food, in any shape or form whatever. But if it should not agree with the child, or if there should not be sufficient nourishment in it, then the food recommended in answer to No. 34 question ought to be given, with this only difference--a little new milk must from the beginning be added, and should be gradually increased, until nearly all milk be used.

Food ought for the first month to be given about every two hours; for the second month, about every three hours; lengthening the space of time as the baby advances in age. A mother must be careful not to over-feed a child, as over-feeding is a prolific source of disease.

Let it be thoroughly understood, and let there be no mistake about it, that a babe during the first nine months of his life, MUST have--it is absolutely necessary for his very existence--milk of some kind, as the staple and principal article of his diet, either mother's, wet-nurse's, or asses', or goats', or cow's milk.

I would inquire particularly into the state of her health; whether she be of a healthy family, of a consumptive habit, or if she or any of her family have laboured under "king's evil;" ascertaining if there be any seams or swellings about her neck; any eruptions or blotches upon her skin; if she has a plentiful breast of milk, and if it be of good quality ; if she has good nipples, sufficiently long for the baby to hold; that they be not sore; and if her own child be of the same, or nearly of the same age, as the one you wish her to nurse. Ascertain, whether she menstruate during suckling; if she does, the milk is not so good and nourishing, and you had better decline taking her. Assure yourself that her own babe is strong and healthy that he be free from a sore mouth, and from a "breaking-out" of the skin. Indeed, if it be possible to procure such a wet-nurse, she ought to be from the country, of ruddy complexion, of clear skin, and of between twenty and five-and-twenty years of age, an the milk will then be fresh, pure, and nourishing.

I consider it to be of great importance that the infant of the wet-nurse should be, as nearly as possible, of the same age as your own, as the milk varies in quality according to the age of the child. For instance, during the commencement of suckling, the milk is thick and creamy, similar to the biestings of a cow, which, if given to a babe of a few months old, would cause derangement of the stomach and bowels. After the first few days, the appearance of the milk changes; it becomes of a bluish-white colour, and contains less nourishment. The milk gradually becomes more and more nourishing as the infant becomes older and requires more support.

Very feeble new-born babes sometimes cannot take the bosom, be the nipples and the breasts ever so good, and although Maw's nipple-shield and glass tube had been tried. In such a case, cow's milk-water-sugar-and-salt, as recommended at page 29, must be given in small quantities at a time--from two to four tea-spoonfuls--but frequently; if the child be awake, every hour, or every half hour, both night and day, until he be able to take the breast. If, then, a puny, feeble babe is only able to take but little at a time, and that little by tea-spoonfuls, he must have little and often, in order that "many a little might make a mickle."

I have known many puny, delicate children who had not strength to hold the nipple in their mouths, but who could take milk and water by tea-spoonfuls only at a time, with steady perseverance, and giving it every half hour or hour , at length be able to take the breast, and eventually become strong and hearty children; but such cases require unwearied watching, perseverance, and care. Bear in mind, then, that the smaller the quantity of the milk and water given at a time, the oftener must it be administered, as, of course, the babe must have a certain quantity of food to sustain life.

It is a common practice to cram a wet-nurse with food, and to give her strong ale to drink, to make good nourishment and plentiful milk! This practice is absurd; for it either, by making the nurse feverish, makes the milk more sparing than usual, or it causes the milk to be gross and unwholesome. On the other hand, we must not run into an opposite extreme. The mother, or the wet-nurse, by using those means most conducive to her own health, will best advance the interest of her little charge.

A wet-nurse, ought to live somewhat in the following way:--Let her for breakfast have black tea, with one or two slices of cold meat, if her appetite demand it, but not otherwise. It is customary for a wet-nurse to make a hearty luncheon; of this I do not approve. If she feel either faint or low at eleven o'clock, let her have either a tumbler of porter, or of mild fresh ale, with a piece of dry toast soaked in it. She ought not to dine later than half-past one or two o'clock; she should eat, for dinner, either mutton or beef, with either mealy potatoes, or asparagus, or French beans, or secale, or turnips, or broccoli, or cauliflower, and stale bread. Rich pastry, soups, gravies, high-seasoned dishes, salted meats, greens, and cabbage, must one and all be carefully avoided; as they only tend to disorder the stomach, and thus to deteriorate the milk.

It is a common remark, that "a mother who is suckling may eat anything." I do not agree with this opinion. Can impure or improper food make pure and proper milk, or can impure and improper milk make good blood for an infant, and thus good health?

The wet-nurse ought to take with her dinner a moderate quantity of either sound porter, or of mild ale. Tea should be taken at half past five or six o'clock; supper at nine, which should consist either of a slice or two of cold meat, or of cheese if she prefer it, with half a pint of porter or of mild ale; occasionally a basin of gruel may with advantage be substituted. Hot and late suppers are prejudicial to the mother, or to the wet-nurse, and, consequently, to the child. The wet-nurse ought to be in bed every night by ten o'clock.

It might be said, that I have been too minute and particular in my rules for a wet-nurse; but when it is considered of what importance good milk is to the well-doing of an infant, in making him strong and robust, not only now, but as he grows up to manhood, I shall, I trust, be excused for my prolixity.

A wet-nurse is frequently allowed to remain in bed until a late hour in the morning, and during the day to continue in the house, as if she were a fixture! How is it possible that any one, under such treatment, can continue healthy! A wet nurse ought to rise early, and, if the weather and season will permit, take a walk, which will give her an appetite for breakfast, and will make a good meal for her little charge. This, of course, cannot, during the winter mouths, be done; but even then, she ought, some part of the day, to take every opportunity of walking out; indeed, in the summer time she should live half the day in the open air.

She ought strictly to avoid crowded rooms; her mind should be kept calm and unruffled, as nothing disorders the milk so much as passion, and other violent emotions of the mind; a fretful temper is very injurious, on which account you should, in choosing your wet-nurse, endeavour to procure one of a mild, calm, and placid disposition.

A wet-nurse ought never to be allowed to dose her little charge either with Godfrey's Cordial, or with Dalby's Carminative, or with Syrup of White Poppies, or with medicine of any kind whatever. Let her thoroughly understand this, and let there be no mistake in the matter. Do not for one moment allow your children's health to be tampered and trifled with. A baby's health is too precious to be doctored, to be experimented upon, and to be ruined by an ignorant person.

This, of course, must depend both upon the strength of the child, and upon the health of the parent; on an average, nine months is the proper time. If the mother be delicate, it may be found necessary to wean the infant at six months; or if he be weak, or labouring under any disease, it may be well to continue suckling him for twelve months; but after that time, the breast will do him more harm than good, and will, moreover, injure the mother's health, and may, if she be so predisposed, excite consumption.

She ought, as the word signifies, do it gradually--that is to say, she should, by degrees, give him less and less of the breast, and more and more of artificial food; at length, she must only suckle him at night; and lastly, it would be well for the mother either to send him away, or to leave him at home, and, for a few days, to go away herself.

A good plan is, for the nurse-maid to have a half-pint bottle of new milk--which has been previously boiled --in the bed, so as to give a little to him in lieu of the breast. The warmth of the body will keep the milk of a proper temperature, and will supersede the use of lamps, of candle-frames, and of other troublesome contrivances.

Any one of the foods recommended in answer to question 34.

Care in feeding, then, is the grand preventative of "wind;" but if, notwithstanding all your precautions, the child be troubled with flatulence, the remedies recommended under the head of Flatulence will generally answer the purpose.

"Things sweet to taste, prove in digestion sour."

VACCINATION AND RE-VACCINATION.

Certainly. I consider it to be one of the greatest blessings ever conferred upon mankind. Small-pox, before vaccination was adopted, ravaged the country like a plague, and carried off thousands annually; and those who did escape with their lives were frequently made loathsome and disgusting objects by it. Even inoculation was attended with danger, more especially to the unprotected--as it caused the disease to spread like wildfire, and thus it carried off immense numbers.

Vaccination is one, and an important cause of our increasing population; small-pox, in olden times, decimated the country.

I say that small-pox is a pest; it is worse than the plague, for if not kept in subjection, it is more general--sparing neither young nor old, rich nor poor, and commits greater ravages than the plague ever did. Small-pox is a disgrace: it is a disgrace to any civilised land, as there is no necessity for its presence, if cow-pox were properly and frequently performed, small-pox would be unknown. Cow-pox is a weapon to conquer small-pox and to drive it ignominiously from the field.

The same objection holds good in cutting for small pox --only in a ten-fold degree--small-pox being such a disgusting complaint. Inoculated small-pox frequently produced and left behind inveterate "breakings-out," scars, cicatrices, and indentations of the skin, sore eyes, blindness, loss of eyelashes, scrofula, deafness--indeed, a long catalogue of loathsome diseases. A medical man, of course, will be careful to take the cow-pox matter from a healthy child.

At about the fifth day after vaccination, and for three or four days, he is generally a little feverish; the mouth is slightly hot, and he delights to have the nipple in his mouth. He does not rest so well at night; he is rather cross and irritable; and, sometimes, has a slight bowel-complaint. The arm, about the ninth or tenth day, is usually much inflamed--that is to say it is, for an inch or two or more around the vesicles, red, hot, swollen, and continues in this state for a day or two, at the end of which time the inflammation gradually subsides. It might be well to state that the above slight symptoms are desirable, as it proves that the vaccination has had a proper effect on his system, and that, consequently, he is more likely to be thoroughly protected from any risk of catching small-pox.

The only precaution necessary is to take care that the arm be not rubbed; otherwise the vesicles may be prematurely broken, and the efficacy of the vaccination may be lessened. The sleeve, in vaccination, ought to be large and soft, and should not be tied up. The tying up of a sleeve makes it hard, and is much more likely to rub the vesicles than if it were put on the usual way.

Smear frequently, by means of a feather or a camel's hair brush, a little cream on the inflamed part. This simple remedy will afford great comfort and relief.

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