Getting ready to be a mother

by Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom

TRAINING YOUR BABY

Bowels. It is possible to train even a very young baby to have regular, daily bowel movements; and this training should be started when the baby is about a month old. At the same hour each day he may be laid on a padded table, or taken in your lap, a small basin being placed against or under the buttocks and a soap stick introduced an inch or two into the rectum and moved gently in and out. This slight irritation will usually result in the baby’s emptying his bowels almost immediately. Another method is to hold the baby in a comfortable, reclining position, on a small chamber in your lap, as in Fig. [58] or with his back supported against your chest, and the desire to empty his bowels stimulated by using the soap stick as described. (A soap stick is simply a piece of soap about three inches long whittled down to about the size and shape of a lead pencil with a blunt point.)

Fig. 58.—A comfortable position for the baby who is being trained to use a chamber.

It is of considerable importance that the position and method which are adopted, be employed at exactly the same time each day in order to establish a habit. If this is done and the baby is being properly fed, it will usually be found that before he is many months old, his bowels will move freely and regularly without the stimulation of the soap stick and only when he is resting on the small chamber or basin that he is accustomed to using. This establishment of a regular bowel movement not only simplifies the laundry work and the care of the baby but is of great moment to his health.

Fig. 59.—Stiff cuffs on the baby’s elbows keep him from sucking his thumbs.

Thumb Sucking. It is scarcely necessary nowadays to tell a mother that her baby must not be allowed to suck on an empty bottle or a pacifier nor be permitted to suck his thumb. These habits are very dirty and help to spread disease. The baby may swallow air while practicing them, with colic as a result, and he may so deform the shape of his upper jaw that later in life, the upper and lower teeth will not meet as they should for satisfactory mastication; his front teeth may protrude in a disfiguring manner; and by narrowing and elongating the roof of his mouth, the structure of the air passages may be altered, with respiratory troubles and adenoids as a probable consequence. Thumb sucking may be prevented by the simple procedure of putting stiff cuffs on the baby’s elbows, such as are shown in Fig. [59], and which make it impossible for him to reach his mouth with his thumb. These cuffs are easily made by covering pieces of cardboard with muslin and attaching tapes with which to tie them on the baby’s arms. Another method is to put the baby’s hands into celluloid or aluminum mitts made for this purpose, or little bags made of stiff, heavy material, which in turn are tied to his wrists; or his sleeves may be drawn down over his hands and sewed or pinned with safety-pins. It should be borne in mind that a baby sometimes sucks his thumb because he is hungry or thirsty and will give up the practice when his food is increased or when he is regularly given water to drink.

Ear pulling is not uncommon among young babies and, if allowed to continue, a long, misshapen ear may result. This may be prevented by using a thin close fitting cap which ties under the chin, or by using the same kind of elbow splints as for thumb sucking.

Crying. It is very easy to allow the baby to develop the crying habit but very difficult to break it up. The first step toward prevention is general good care, for a baby who is properly fed and exercised, kept dry and warm, but not too warm, and whose clothes are comfortable, will usually cry very little if wisely handled in other respects. But a baby may cry because he is hungry, thirsty, wet, cold, overheated, sick or in pain or simply because he wants to be taken up and entertained and has learned that the way to realize his wish is to cry. By examining the baby’s condition and observing his habits, it is usually possible to discover the cause of his crying. Very often a drink of fairly warm water will quiet him, particularly at night. But unless he seems to have colic and stops crying because of the relief due to the upright position in your arms, you should hesitate to take the crying baby up and carry him about and hold him when it is discovered that this attention stops his crying.

Persistent crying should be reported to your doctor as it may be of some significance.