Package of sterile gauze (5 yards).
Sterile gauze bandages—½ dozen in assorted lengths.
1 lb. absorbent cotton, in small rolls.
1 bottle corrosive sublimate tablets (7½ grains).
1 bottle of creolin.
1 bottle of sweet-oil.
1 bottle of castor-oil.
1 jar of vaseline, or lard.
Mustard flour for making an emetic.
The various antidotes mentioned in connection with poisons.
This represents a comparatively small investment, yet it is invaluable for the mother to use while waiting for the arrival of the physician.
One of the real terrors of the nursery is the realization that the baby has swallowed something more or less dangerous to his digestive organs—safety-pins, tacks, pennies, buttons, etc. Nature provides to a certain extent for carrying such things off. Food and juices form a coating around these foreign objects. Do not make the mistake of administering drastic cathartics. It is far better to give the child coarse food, such as bran, whole wheat, graham-flour bread, oatmeal, and other coarse cereals, and plenty of potatoes. Watch the stools, and if an object, like a safety-pin or a tack, does not pass within a reasonable time, take the baby to an X-Ray specialist and the foreign body will be located. This does not always mean an operation. Very frequently, if the object is not passed off in the bowels, it is located in some part of the child’s anatomy where it will do no harm.
The most careful of mothers have to face nursery emergencies in raising their children. The most important thing to remember is that coolness and courage are as useful in saving the child’s life as the remedies named in this chapter. This is particularly true in cases like croup, convulsions, or poisons, when, in the excitement of the moment, the mother may scald her child, or give what she thinks is an antidote but which in reality hastens the fatal action of the poison.
Children pass successfully through many of these emergencies; the mother should never give up hope until the family physician has told her that there is nothing more to be done.
CHAPTER XV
DIET FOR OLDER CHILDREN
MILK FOR GROWING CHILDREN—EGGS, MEAT AND FISH—BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS—RECIPES FOR NOURISHING DISHES
The emphasis laid on correct diet for babies throughout this book has doubtless impressed its readers with the realization that on good digestion the health and happiness of a child are built. The vigilance which guarded the bottle feedings and the diet of the child under three years of age should become a guard against indiscretions in feeding between his third year and his adolescence. By the time the boy passes into his teens he should be thoroughly grounded in good habits of eating—the careful mastication of food, the avoidance of extremes and excesses, regularity in meals; and let us hope that he has learned the folly of eating between meals, especially sweets. He should have a normal taste for normal, wholesome food; and he should still be eating lightly before he goes to bed. Even in the big cities, where dinner is eaten at night so that father may enjoy one good meal a day with his family, the young child should have his heaviest meal at noon, and a light supper.
From the fourth to the tenth year milk should still play a considerable part in the child’s diet. It should be served once between breakfast and dinner, or dinner and supper. A glass of milk with the meal is much better than water. Tea and coffee should never be given to the growing child. He may have, all told, from one pint to one quart of milk daily; and to this may be added thin cream on his cereal and with certain simple desserts, such as baked apples.
Eggs are a dependable food for the growing child. They may be soft-boiled, poached, coddled, or shirred, the latter being eggs baked in a dish that has been lightly buttered. Children should never be given fried eggs or omelets. If eggs agree with a child—and they agree with nearly all human beings—they may be given twice a day, one for breakfast and one for supper.