Chap. III.]

ON LACTATION.

Bad to I Froling, 51 Lactation

long.

When, then, the period fixed for weaning is come, it should be e commenced by leaving off lactation in the night time, and by familiarizing the child with the food which should form a portion of its regimen for the future. In this manner it is not deprived of the breast of its nurse, that is to say, of the milk, until it is in a state to hould be fed differently. Then it should be accustomed to bread; to be done

sweetened weak wine and water; to thin, weak, or nourishing broths once or twice a day; to the use of meat, which is to be given it in small portions to suck; and, lastly, when it is sufficiently accustomed to these kinds of food, at the end of about a month, suckling is suddenly stopped. At first, the child cries and is obstinate; but if it is not ill, it must be resisted, and it soon gives up, making amends in the food for the breast of which it is deprived. Some, notwithstanding, continue obstinately attached to the breast of the nurse; in order to cause a distaste for it, a bitter, but harmless, solution of gentian or aloes, the flavour of which is very disagreeable and effectually repels them, should be applied round the nipple. Instances have been observed of mothers prolonging lactation much beyond the time when it should cease, but these cases are exceptional. Thus, M. Baffos used formerly to relate to his pupils at the hospital for children, the history of a lady who much dreaded the period of her son's weaning. She continued to suckle him, and towards the age of three years, when she called him one day to give him the breast, he answered-" Really, mamma, I don't wish for any more."

["The term of nursing will depend upon various circumstances, such as the health of the child or mother, the abundance of milk, &c. Some women are not able to suckle more than six or seven months; some continue for two or three years. I know a lady who nursed a child (now a tall, strong man) until he was able to draw down the blinds and bring her a footstool, previous to his taking his meal. Astruc and others advise nursing for two years, and the lower orders occasionally practice it to avoid pregnancy. But these cases are exceptions; and I believe it will generally be found, that nursing prolonged beyond twelve months is unnecessary for the child, and positively injurious to the mother in most cases. Taking this as one extreme, we may fix the other at nine months, and conclude that it is desirable that a child should not be weaned before nine months, nor suck after twelve. By this time he will be provided, generally, with a sufficient number of teeth to make use of the proper food, and he will have retained the comfort of suckling until he has passed through the first trouble of teething."—Churchill on Diseases of Children, p. 28.-P.H.B.]

1

Graduali

After weaning, the regimen should be simple, and composed of the most delicate substances of the family food. It should include no highly flavoured or strongly spiced food, which may possibly be suitable litte for adults, but would assuredly be injurious to these young children. They should make several meals a day, for if they eat but little at a time, they should eat often; this is a fact well known to mothers of families, who are quite alive to this point.

The diseases of weaning were formerly alluded to as diseases of a special

A plast
Post like nature, in relation with the change in the alimentation of children.

These affections possess no peculiarities, and present at this period the same characteristics as in the other periods of early childhood. Most of them appear as simple phenomena of coincidence without any relation of cause to effect. There is one, however, which appears to be in special relation with weaning, this is inflammation of the

Athena alimentary canal. Its characters are not in any way modified; and its

development may be prevented by the employment of the means capable of softening the transition between lactation and independent existence.

1

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE HABITS, EXERCISE, SLEEP, AND REST OF CHILDREN.

Nothing is more dangerous than to allow children to acquire bad habits. Their cries then possess such a ready and absolute means of command, that those who surround them become their slaves, and submit to their most trivial wishes, in the dread of exciting their anger and of doing them injury.

It was formerly the custom to send children to sleep by rocking
them in the arms, or in the cradle; but proper remarks have caused
these means to be abandoned, so that we rarely have occasion to forbid
it now. However, the necessity is still pretty generally believed in,
of sending the children to sleep, either by caresses when they are
in their bed, or by holding them on the knees until sleep has weighed
down their eyelids. It then happens that if other occupations should
distract the nurse from this attention, the child cries until some one
sends it to sleep; and when it awakes in the night, they are obliged to
fly to its bed and recommence the same caresses. This is a bad habit
to allow children to acquire, who would always wish to have some
one near them during their sleep, or would sleep on the knees of
their nurse. They can be brought up differently, and their sleep
is not, on that account, the less beneficial to them.
They have

only to be placed quite awake in their cradle, and they quickly get
into the habit of falling asleep there. It costs but little to follow
this line of conduct from the very commencement of lactation; it is
very advantageous in this sense-
e-that the children become very docile,
and allow the nurse all the time necessary for her rest.

When this bad habit is established, and when it becomes irksome to the parents, it may be destroyed with a little courage and determination. All that is required is to resist the cries of the children, which

Chap. IV.]

HABITS, EXERCISE, SLEEP, REST.

53 ti

tiliy

is possible, when it is known that they are not suffering, and that they are not in want of anything. They are to be left in their cradle th! to fall asleep alone: the first day their distress is great, but their cries soon abate when they see that it is resolved not to satisfy their whim. This lasts for two or three days; and then they give in and fall asleep as soon as they are placed in their bed.

Exercise is one of the most important constituents of the hygiene of Ichildren who live in towns. It is the only means of supplying the disadvantage which exists in their not being brought up in the country. Even young children should be accustomed in all kinds of weather to the influence of the external air, care being taken to clothe them appropriately, according to the temperature. Long walks, both in summer and winter, are very advantageous to them: it favours their The sun is development, and gives tone and colour to the skin. especially advantageous to them, and it is useless to endeavour, as is frequently the case, to shade them from its rays, from which they derive a salutary influence.

There is no reason, except the presence of disease, which should prevent children from going out. It is much against their interest to believe that walking and exercise in the house, in the open air, or in a garden, can be replaced by the opening of the windows of their room. They should be taken out of doors, and if possible, the greater part of the day should be passed with them there.

Children live so rapidly, their functions are so quickly performed, that they require frequent reparation. It is on this account that often repeated feeding and sleep are so necessary to them.

Exrieise

in all

Preds

& Grastin

Henty of
Sun

good.

The night time is not sufficient for the repose of children; during the day they also sleep for some hours, and during the two first up years of their life, this sleep should be carefully attended to. The hours

of the siesta should be always so arranged as not to interrupt the daily during

promenade, especially in winter, when they can only go out at certain

times of the day. At a later period this habit must be destroyed; day

sleep in the day time is no longer necessary, and it prevents that in the night being so advantageous to them as it otherwise would be.

is

Children should lie on soft beds on account of the delicacy of their ex musit.

limbs, and their cradle should be protected and padded on the sides, so that their movements should not cause them any injury. The formation of the bedding deserves a special attention. The bed and the pillow alu should be filled with oat-straw, perfectly dry and without odour, or with fern leaves, the odour of which is very agreeable. Feathers, down, and wool are more injurious than useful, on account of the heat which they develop, and the facility with which they become impregnated by the odour of urine. Care should be taken to place the child in such a position that the eyes be not exposed to too strong a light, and they scoon

3

The air of the room in

should be directly opposite the daylight.
which it is placed should be occasionally renewed.

Covering up children too much in their cradle is unfortunately a very common error; under the pretext of guarding them from the impressions of air, they are nearly suffocated beneath heavy coverings, they are bathed in perspiration, their bodies become covered with red spots and and miliary vescicles which are sometimes taken for a serious disease,

Clined whilst they are really the results of the practice above referred to They disappear as soon as the immoderate covering of the children in up, is left off. Heep.

CHAPTER V.

ON THE CLOTHING.

It is now understood that children should be clothed to protect them from the influence of external agents, and particularly of the cold, and not to fetter the liberty of their movements. The use of swaddling clothes, as they were formerly constructed, is abandoned. Children are no longer imprisoned in their clothes, with their legs stretched out and motionless, their arms firmly fixed by the side of the body, and the head drawn down to the front of the chest. They are left nearly free in the clothes which envelop them. This is the principle which should rule over the clothing of children.

The baby linen now used is made up of the following pieces. A linen chemisette and a woollen bodice, opening behind and fastened with pins, covering the breast and arms. A napkin, also of linen, and a skirt of cotton or of wool, according to the season, destined to envelop the lower part of the trunk and the thighs. These portions of dress are fixed to the middle of the body which they should enclose. The napkin envelops the limbs, and serves to isolate them and to prevent any friction of these parts; the skirt, placed over it, covers the united limbs, and as it considerably exceeds the length of the child, it is turned in, and by folding it envelops afresh the inferior portion of the body. All these portions of the dress should be quite loose, and should be kept n position by means of strings or pins. When pins are made use of, they should be carefully introduced, so as not to injure the skin. Sometimes the point is not completely brought out, and enters the flesh on every motion of the child. The unfortunate babes cry incessantly until they are undressed. I have seen one who had the skin of the back completely transfixed, as well as the chemisette and bodice. This little being uttered dreadful cries. It continued three hours in this dreadful state, until it had a severe convulsion, and it was not until it was undressed that the cause of the symptoms was discovered. This case should serve as a

55 times pri

lesson, and it imposes on all mothers the obligation of undressing children who cry obstinately, in order to discover if perchance some misplaced pin is not the cause of this manifestation of pain.

Children should be early accustomed to keep the head uncovered, for this part is less easily impressed with cold than other parts of the body. Young children should have it but slightly covered. A woollen cap -placed under a linen one is made use of for this purpose, both of them dead hints sufficiently large so as not to impede the development of the head and Head Should compress the brain. It is important to attend to this recommendation, Murly le

so as to avoid the accidents which may result from compression of the head during infancy. In fact, an attempt has been made, but without much reason, to refer to this cause the development of many diseases of the brain, and especially mental alienation.

I shall not bring the subject of children's dress to a conclusion without referring to flannel, and without condemning the use of it, if it become too frequent for the requirements of infancy. This soft woollen tissue, which is immediately applied to the skin, is only proper for children born before their time, for those who are very feeble, and, lastly, for laun those who may be considered weak chested, in consequence of the original vitiation of the parents. In these cases it is truly serviceable to those who use it, and who derive benefit from the genial warmth in which they live.

On the contrary, children who are tolerably well developed, and who inspire no fear on account of their constitution, should not be clothed in flannel. It is the means of enervating them, and rendering them too susceptible of the influence of cold. It is much better to adopt an entirely opposite method of rearing them, by washing them every day with cold water at 68° Fah. Flannel is an injurious clothing for them, one which keeps the skin at too high a degreee of heat, especially when the external temperature is high, and thence abundant perspirations result, and sudatorial eruptions, sometimes accompanied by intolerable itching.

Y

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE TOILETTE AND CLEANLINESS OF CHILDREN.

The state of the body of children in relation to cleanliness cannot be too attentively cared for. The care employed with this object forms one of the fundamental conditions of a good physical education, and it also possesses the advantage of strengthening the individuals, and of putting them in a condition to resist more easily the unfavourable influences which may attack them during their existence. These precautions