The furniture in the playroom should be substantial and of such a character that it can easily be cleaned and kept in a sanitary condition.
Sleeping Rooms or Nurseries
When it is possible in a home a room should be set aside for the nursery. This room should be well lighted, properly ventilated, and the heat and humidity should be carefully regulated. This room is to be the chief home of the infant for the first few months. Therefore it should meet the needs of the infant. It should receive the direct rays of the sun during the day. No processes, such as preparation of food, or washing of diapers, for example, should be permitted in this room. As far as possible gas plates, heaters, or gas lights should be avoided.
The nursery should not be kept too warm. A temperature of 70° F. is proper during the day. During the first few weeks it should not be allowed to drop below 65° F. through the night. For children over two months of age the temperature during the night may go as low as 60° F. but not below 50° F.
It is more sanitary for the infant to have a separate bed. Both mother and babe will rest better and there will not be the tendency for the baby to nurse too frequently during the night. The infant should be placed in a crib without rockers. A basket or bassinet is very convenient and sanitary. The sides of the bassinet may be lined and this will prevent drafts and assist materially in keeping the baby warm. The pillow should be small and soft. It is advisable to change the position of the child occasionally while sleeping. It must be remembered that the child is unable to turn should he become cramped or should he become tired from lying in one position. The average mother knows how to take care of her child in a general way and nurses have had special training in this respect, but these simple necessities should not be beneath the notice of the chiropractor. Especially is this of importance in determining the cause of irritability in the infant. Attention must be given to skin irritation, especially resulting from carelessness in the changing of the diaper and in keeping the body of the child otherwise clean. It is not, however, the intention of the author to present in this text complete instruction in the care of infants except from the general viewpoint of hygiene. The chiropractor is not to be a nurse, but he must know the rules of hygiene since there are many conditions of infancy which result from a violation of these rules.
After the first week or two the infant should be taken out of doors if it is in the summer. The open air is healthful for the young children and they should be kept outdoors a part of each day. The eyes must be protected from the sun and the head from the wind. The child, of course, should be properly dressed for out of doors. At first the child must be kept out only a few minutes, since sufficient time must be allowed for adaptation to take place, or in other words, for the child to become accustomed to the change. Before children are taken out the first time it is well to get them accustomed to the change by opening the doors and windows of the room that there may be a gradual cooling of the temperature. The child born in the fall or winter must not be deprived of fresh air even though the weather will not permit the outside airing. The child may be dressed as for an outdoor airing, then the doors and windows opened. Great care must be exercised or the child will take cold.
Control of Bowels and Bladder
While the chiropractor will have little if anything to do in advising mothers how to train their children to answer the “call of Nature,” yet he should be familiar with methods that are suggested for such training and certainly he should recognize the importance from a hygienic standpoint of such regular habits. It might be stated here that the normal movement of the young infant’s bowels should be at least twice a day.
At a very early age children learn to evacuate the bowels when placed upon a nursery chair. This requires a great deal of patience and regularity on the part of the mother or nurse. Even at the early age of three months the child may be trained to such a degree that the napkin will seldom be soiled from the movements of the bowels. This saves an enormous amount of work and certainly is more pleasant for the child, and much more sanitary. There is, however, another advantage having the young child form this regular habit; it is very probable that a habit formed this early will be followed the entire life, and thus the tendency for the educated mind to neglect this very important innate function will be averted. The best time to place the child upon the nursery chair is immediately following feeding.
Training the child to empty the bladder at stated times is more difficult, although with patient and intelligent effort this may be accomplished. Many children at the age of one year are able to indicate when they desire to empty the bladder. This adds materially to the comfort of the child and certainly makes it very much easier to care for him. Some mothers are able to dispense with the diapers during the day by the time the child is a year old and some even at an earlier age. If there is no special effort put forth to train the child in this respect it will be necessary to keep him in diapers as late as two and a half years. After this age the child should have no difficulty in holding the urine during the night. If there is such difficulty adjustments should be given to correct the cause for the nocturnal enuresis.