Health on the Farm: A Manual of Rural Sanitation and Hygiene

by H. F. Harris

Nowhere do we see the bad results of false conceptions more marked than in our treatment of infants and children.

Particularly do young infants suffer in this way, as they are pounced upon as soon as they enter the world by every old “granny” and negro “mammy” in the neighborhood, and plied with abominable concoctions that would be productive of homicide if we were to attempt forcibly to administer them to grown men, and whose only effect on the defenseless little sufferer is to cause colic and indigestion. Many times has the writer seen a wee, tiny little mortal, who was too young and weak to even protest, bundled up with a mountain of flannels in the hottest weather of July and August. True to the superstition that the warmer we kept an infant the better, too frequently we see them confined to hot stuffy rooms when they should be out in the sunshine, or under the trees. Instead of being allowed to gain health and strength in the forests, which are the schoolhouses of nature, the miserable little wretch is later sent to a public school as soon as he or she can be trusted to go alone on the streets, and the tiny victim too frequently contracts diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping-cough, measles, or some other disease as a reward of merit. Truly we see to it that the helpless innocents early realize the truth of the melancholy and hopeless biblical lament that “man's days here are few and full of trouble.”

We should rear our children with as little interference as possible, allowing them the utmost freedom compatible with their safety, and permitting them to do those things that nature and instinct demand. Above all let them sleep as much and as long as they will, insist that they live in the open air, and encourage them in every possible way to perfect their physical education by those active amusements that they instinctively prefer. After they have established a sound and rugged constitution ample time will be left for them to develop mentally.

Feeding of Nursing Infants.—The most important thing in connection with the feeding of infants is to always remember that nature has provided in their mother's milk, when sufficiently abundant and normal in quality, everything in the way of food and drink that they require. During the three days that usually intervene between birth and the coming of the milk in the mother's breast, infants may be given from time to time small quantities of pure water, but under no circumstances should anything else be allowed. During this period the child may be put to the breast four or five times in the twenty-four hours, for, while it gets but little in the way of nourishment, there is even at this time a watery fluid secreted in the breast that goes far towards supplying everything that the infant needs for the time being.

A child should never nurse longer than twenty minutes at one time. It is likewise of importance that the time of nursing be strictly regulated.

Particularly during the first year it is of the utmost importance to watch with an intelligent eye the growth and development of the child. Where the milk agrees with it it has a good color and gains regularly in weight; it cries but little, and is good natured, and thoroughly contented. Should it, on the other hand, lose weight, appear fretful and listless, and sleep badly, there is something wrong, and the mother should at once have her milk examined by a competent physician.

In case the mother does not give sufficient nourishment there is no objection to partially feeding the infant on modified cow's milk—the method of the preparation of which will be considered later on.

Where colic occurs it generally means that the infant is getting a diet too rich in albuminous foods, which should be corrected by advising the mother to take an abundance of out-door exercise, and to avoid all causes of worry so far as is possible.

Vomiting freely is a very common occurrence in small children, and is usually the result of too much food being taken at a time. It also occurs, particularly some time after feeding, as a result of indigestion, which is frequently the consequence of the milk being too rich in fats. Wherever an infant shows signs of trouble it is well to advise the mother to use a diet less rich in meats, and to caution her against over-eating.

Children should be weaned at the end of their first year. This had best be brought about gradually, by, in the beginning, feeding the child once daily, and then gradually increasing the frequency, at the same time proportionately leaving off the nursing. Where children are not thriving, it is often a good practice to wean earlier, in which case modified cow's milk, taken from a bottle, must be substituted.