Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children

by Pye Henry Chavasse

ABLUTION.

116. At twelve months old, do you still recommend a child to be PUT IN HIS TUB to be washed?

Certainly I do, as I have previously recommended at page 6, in order that his skin may be well and thoroughly cleansed. If it be summer time, the water should be used cold; if it be winter, a dash of warm must be added, so that it may be of the temperature of new milk: but do not, on any account use very warm water. The head must be washed (but not dried) before he be placed in a tub, then, putting him in the tub (containing the necessary quantity of water, and washing him as previously recommended), [Footnote: See Infancy-Ablution, page 6.] a large sponge should be filled with the water and squeezed over his head, so that the water may stream over the whole surface of his body. A jugful of water should, just before taking him out of his bath, be poured over and down his loins; all this ought rapidly to be done, and he must be quickly dried with soft towels, and then expeditiously dressed. For the washing of your child I would recommend you to use Castile soap in preference to any other; it is more pure, and less irritating, and hence does not injure the texture of the skin. Take care that the soap does not get into his eyes, or it might produce irritation and smarting.

117. Some mothers object to a child's STANDING in the water.

If the head be wetted before he be placed in the tub, and if he be washed as above directed, there can be no valid objection to it. He must not be allowed to remain in his tab more than five minutes.

118. Does not washing the child's head, every morning, make him more liable to catch cold, and does it not tend to weaken his sight?

It does neither the one nor the other; on the contrary, it prevents cold, and strengthens his sight; it cleanses his scalp, prevents scurf, and, by that means, causes a more beautiful bead of hair. The head, after each washing, ought, with a soft brush, to be well brushed, but should not be combed. The brushing causes a healthy circulation of the scalp; but combing the hair makes the head scurfy, and pulls out the hair by the roots.

119. If the head, notwithstanding the washing, be scurfy, what should be done?

After the head has been well dried, let a little cocoa-nut oil be well rubbed, for five minutes each time, into the roots of the hair, and, afterwards, let the head be well brushed, but not combed. The fine-tooth comb will cause a greater accumulation of scurf, and will scratch and injure the scalp.

120. Do you recommend a child to be washed IN HIS TUB every night and morning?

No; once a day is quite sufficient; in the morning in preference to the evening; unless he be poorly, then, evening instead of morning; as, immediately after he has been washed and dried, he can be put to bed.

121. Ought a child to be placed in his tub whilst he is in a state of perspiration?

Not whilst he is perspiring violently, or the perspiration might he checked suddenly, and ill consequences would ensue; nor ought he to be put in his tub when he is cold, or his blood would be chilled, and would be sent from the skin to some internal vital part, and thus would be likely to light up inflammation—probably of the lungs. His skin, when he is placed in his bath, ought to be moderately and comfortably warm; neither too hot nor too cold.

122. When the child is a year old, do you recommend cold or warm water to be used?

If it be winter, a little warm water ought to be added, so as to raise the temperature to that of new milk. As the summer advances, less and less warm water is required, so that, at length, none is needed.

123. If a child be delicate, do you recommend anything to be added to the water which may tend to brace and strengthen him?

Either a handful of table-salt, or half a handful of bay-salt, or of Tidman's sea-salt, should be previously dissolved in a quart jug of cold water; then, just before taking the child out of his morning bath, let the above be poured over and down the back and loins of the child—holding the jug, while pouring its contents on the back, a foot distant from the child, in order that it might act as a kind of douche bath.

124. Do you recommend the child, after he has been dried with the towel, to be rubbed with the hand?

I do; as friction encourages the cutaneous circulation, and causes the skin to perform its functions properly, thus preventing the perspiration (which is one of the impurities of the body) from being sent inwardly either to the lungs or to other parts. The back, the chest, the bowels, and the limbs are the parts that ought to be well rubbed.