Better babies and their care

by Anna Steese Richardson

Among the nursery emergencies which are not contagious croup may be mentioned first, because it is the most common. This is the spasmodic contraction of the larynx, and may accompany a severe cold or may manifest its presence before the mother realizes that the child has taken cold. Some babies go through their nursery days without a single attack of this terrifying malady. Others are subject to it.

Usually the patient wakes suddenly, gasping for breath. The mother who has once heard the sound never fails to recognize it in its first stages. The breathing is slow, noisy, and heavy. The patient is greatly distressed. Sometimes there is a metallic, barking cough; again this may be missing.

Mothers who are experienced in handling this ailment keep on hand what is known as a croup-kettle, which can be purchased either at houses which deal in physicians’ supplies or through first-class druggists or house-furnishers. When the mother does not have this convenient utensil at hand she can use other forms of treatment.

First, take a piece of soft cloth, cotton or linen, wring it out very dry in cold water about 60° F., and fold it in six or eight thicknesses. Lay this under the chin, covering the neck from ear to ear. Cover it with a strip of very heavy waxed paper, or a piece of oiled silk, and tie it all on with a big handkerchief. Change this in half an hour, when it will be found that the folds of cloth are hot. Have ready fresh folds of cloth dipped in cold water. If the attack of croup is light this treatment will generally control it. If not, the mother or nurse must rig up a croup-kettle.

A sheet must be arranged over the crib or bed like the top of a tent. Close to the crib, so that the spout will be under the improvised tent, rig up your tea-kettle, filled with water and kept at the boiling point by an alcohol or gas stove. The stove can be set on a table beside the bed. The steam pouring out of the spout of the kettle relieves the croup. The child begins to feel easier immediately this steaming process starts. But the mother must be very careful not to have the stove near enough to set fire to the bed clothing. If she will bear in mind that croup is not a very serious ailment and that it seldom results fatally, she will be clear-headed enough to relieve her baby in a very short time.

If neither the cold compresses nor the steaming process bring relief, then the mother may give syrup of ipecac—from one to two teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the child. This will cause vomiting. It is especially effective if the ordinary croup is accompanied by indigestion, as it is frequently. The next day the mother should have a doctor look the child over and decide on what treatment she shall use during another attack.

There is no emergency so terrorizing to a mother as convulsions. As the child becomes unconscious the mother, who has never seen a child pass through convulsions, believes that her baby is dying. In reality convulsions are a symptom rather than a disease, and the cause is easily traced and removed. They represent, first, an irritation of the nervous system. Back of this may lie disturbances of the digestive organs, rickets, and, in boys, tight foreskin. They occur with whooping-cough, and sometimes indicate the approach of an acute fever, such as accompanies pneumonia, scarlet fever, etc. Though it is commonly supposed that both teething and worms will cause convulsions, they can rarely be traced to such causes. If they occur during teething they are due not to the normal process of teething but to indigestion from which the child suffers, regardless of teething.

Convulsions have no preliminary symptoms and give the mother little warning. The first change in the child’s appearance is a sudden rigidity, with the hands clenched. The face turns pale; the eyes roll up or back and are fixed; and, although the child is apparently unconscious, the muscles of the face, arms, and body twitch in a way that horrifies the mother. The convulsion may pass in a few seconds or it may last several minutes. In the latter case the child breathes feebly; the lips take on a ghastly bluish tone; the forehead is moist and chill. After the convulsion passes the child is greatly exhausted; and often before it has time to react and become normal a second convulsion follows.

To prevent this the first convulsion should be treated promptly; and it is especially essential that in this emergency the mother maintain her self-control. Many a child in no real danger from a light convulsion has been seriously burned by the frightened mother’s plunging it into hot water. A physician should be summoned immediately; but in the meantime the mother will act for herself.

A hot bath should be prepared, with water at a temperature of 105° F. If there is no thermometer the mother must test the water by thrusting her bared elbow into it. If she cannot bear the heat of the water she may be sure that her child will suffer if immersed in water of such high temperature. If she uses the ordinary bathtub made for infants she should add to the warm water a tablespoonful of dry mustard, dissolved in a cup of warm water. If there is no small bathtub and she uses the family bathtub, the water should be six inches high, and the same amount of mustard should be added to it. The little patient should then be held under the water from five to ten minutes, the water being kept at the same temperature. While the mother rubs his body and limbs under the water, her assistant should dip a small towel or piece of old linen in cold water and lay it on the top of the child’s head and forehead.