Nothing is so important as the baby’s diet. Of course the mother’s milk is the food nature intended for him, but frequently the supply is not sufficient for his needs, and there are many cases where it is impossible for a mother to nurse her baby. Cow’s milk is sometimes used, but the result is seldom satisfactory. It sours so easily in warm weather and is then really poisonous to the little one. Then we can never be sure that the cow is healthy, and we seldom have any means of knowing what kind of food she eats, or if the water she drinks is pure. All these things seriously affect the child’s health. Various prepared foods are good, but what agrees with one baby may not agree with another, so the effects of the one chosen should be carefully watched. It should be freshly prepared for each meal; there will then be none of the bad effects that so often follow the use of stale food. Do not get into the habit of offering the baby the bottle every time he cries, regardless of the cause. He may be thirsty, and a few spoonfuls of cold water will quiet him.
Do not feed the baby with a spoon. It is not nature’s way, and the sucking motion of the lips and mouth is needed to mix the food with the fluids of the mouth and keep it from getting into the stomach too fast. Use a plain nursing-bottle with a rubber nipple, which should be taken off after each feeding so that both bottle and rubber may be washed thoroughly. Let them soak in hot water two or three times every day to destroy any germs that may be left in them. Under no circumstances ever use a bottle with a long tube of rubber. Absolute cleanliness in everything pertaining to his food is necessary to keep the baby healthy.
Do not put anything in his mouth that needs chewing, until he has his teeth. In fact until he is seven months old the prepared food will be all that is necessary for him. After that he will take a little oatmeal gruel that has been strained through a coarse wire sieve to remove the husks, or some of the excellent preparations of wheat now on the market. If he is constipated, the juice of stewed fruit is beneficial in small quantities.
RULES FOR ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES
Poisons and Their Treatment—Bites, Stings, Bruises, Splinters, Cuts, Sprains and Burns—Lockjaw—Poison Ivy—How to Bring the Drowned to Life—Suffocation—Fainting—Sunstroke—Freezing—The Eyes and How to Care for Them—Earache and Toothache—Felons, Warts, Corns and Boils—Home Remedies for Diphtheria—Treatment of Smallpox—Convenient Disinfectants—Sick Room Suggestions—Fruit in Sickness—An Antidote for Intemperance—Milk Strippings for Consumption—Stammering Cured at Home
Here are some short and simple rules for quick action in the event of accidents:
For Dust in the Eyes, avoid rubbing, and dash water into them. Remove cinders, etc., with the rounded end of a lead pencil or a small camel’s hair brush dipped in water.
Remove Insects from the Ear by tepid water; never put a hard instrument into the ear.
If an Artery Is Cut compress above the wound; if a vein is cut compress below.
If Choked get upon all fours and cough.
For Light Burns dip the part in cold water; if the skin is destroyed cover with varnish.