What to do.—In the first place, if the gums be red, hot, and swollen, let them be lanced; in the second, if the secretion from the bowels be either unhealthy or scanty, give him a dose of aperient medicine, such as caster oil, or the following:—Take two or three grains of powdered Turkey rhubarb, three grains of pure carbonate of magnesia, and one grain of aromatic powder—Mix. The powder to be taken at bed-time, mixed in a tea-spoonful of sugar and water, and which should, if necessary, be repeated the following night. In the third place, if the food he be taking does not agree with him, change it (vide answer to question 33). Give it in smaller quantities at a time, and not so frequently; or what will be better still, if it be possible, keep him, for a while, entirely to the breast.
What NOT to do.—Do not let him overload his stomach either with breast milk, or with artificial food. Let the mother avoid, until his sickness be relieved, greens, cabbage, and all other green vegetables.
109. What are the causes, the symptoms, the prevention, and the cure of Thrush?
The thrush is a frequent disease of an infant, and is often brought on either by stuffing or by giving him improper food. A child brought up entirely, for the first three or four months, on the breast, seldom suffers from this complaint. The thrush consists of several irregular, roundish, white specks on the lips, the tongue, the inside and the angles of the mouth, giving the parts affected the appearance of curds and whey having been smeared upon them. The mouth is hot and painful, and he is afraid to suck; the moment the nipple is put to his mouth he begins to cry. The thrush, sometimes, although but rarely, runs through the whole of the alimentary canal. It should be borne in mind that nearly every child, who is sucking, has his or her tongue white or "frosted," as it is sometimes called. The thrush may be mild or very severe.
Now with regard to what to do.—As the thrush is generally owing to improper and to artificial feeding, if the child be at the breast, keep him, for a time, entirely to it. Do not let him be always sucking, as that will not only fret his month, but will likewise irritate and make sore the mother's nipple.
If he be not at the breast, but has been weaned, then keep him for a few days entirely to a milk diet—to the milk of ONE cow—either boiled, if it be hot weather, to keep it sweet; or unboiled, in cool weather—fresh as it comes from the cow, mixed with warm water.
The best medicine is the old-fashioned one of Borax, a combination of powdered lump-sugar and borax being a good one for the purpose: the powdered lump-sugar increases the efficacy, and the cleansing properties of the borax; it tends, moreover, to make it more palatable.—
Take of—Borax, half a drachm;
Lump Sugar, two scruples;
To be well mixed together, and made into twelve powders. One of the powders to be put dry on the tongue every four hours.
The best local remedy is Honey of Borax, which ought to be smeared frequently, by means of the finger, on the parts affected.