8 oz. boric acid solution.
8 oz. benzoated lard.
Paper bags for waste.
Pitchers and basins.
Fig. 114.—A, standard breast pump; B, standard nursing bottle; C, the breast tray; D, the Wansbrough lead nipple shield; E, the Brophy nipple for harelip and cleft palate.
Weight.—The weighing of the child should precede, for convenience, the first cleaning of the skin and the daily bath. The child is either put on the scale naked or weighed in a blanket, and the weight of the blanket, ascertained before or after, is subtracted. The daily weight record is just as important as the temperature. A scale that registers ounces and fractions thereof must be used, and the child should be guarded from falling during the performance. Usually the child loses from eight ounces to a pound the first week, but it should gain back to its birth weight, by the end of the second week. If the child does not gain, it may be due to lack of milk from the breast, and the weight may be taken before and after feeding to verify or refute the suspicion.
The mouth should be inspected each morning, but not cleansed with the boric acid solution unless definitely indicated. Spots or any unusual appearance should be reported.
The Genitals.—The vulva of the female infant usually requires but little care besides cleanliness. There is sometimes a whitish discharge which disappears spontaneously in a few days. It is a drainage of vernix, smegma and epithelium from the vagina and labia.
With a male, the prepuce must be inspected when the child is about a week old. If it is long and the orifice small, circumcision may be suggested. Under any circumstances, the foreskin must be retracted, the adhesions broken up, and the smegma removed. This must be repeated daily until the adhesions do not recur. The maneuver should be done the first few times by the physician, for fear of a paraphimosis.