Mother's Remedies / Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada

by Thomas Jefferson Ritter

Should the baby continue to nurse? Yes, but the mother should thoroughly cleanse her nipple with a solution of boric acid after each nursing.

What should be done for it? It should be washed before and after every feeding with a solution of baking soda or boric acid of the strength of one even teaspoonful to twenty-four teaspoonfuls of water, or listerine, one teaspoonful to twenty-four teaspoonfuls of warm water, can be used. (This will be treated more fully later under diseases). A solution of borax (twenty grains to eight teaspoonfuls of water) can be applied every two hours with a camel's hair brush. Borax, sage and honey are good old remedies.

Should the scalp have special care at birth? It should then and afterward be kept clean to keep scurf from accumulating. It should be wet before the body is immersed in the bath. The hair should always be dried carefully; brush first with a soft towel and then with a fine, smooth hair-brush. Never use a comb on an infant's head.

Should any dressing be put on the scalp? No, for if the hair is washed and brushed, the oil from the scalp will keep it soft, glossy and healthful.

[ALL ABOUT BABY 551]

QUESTIONS AND REMEDIES FOR SORE MOUTH. CANKER. THRUSH.

Explain more about thrush or sprue? It is an inflammation of the mouth where small particles looking like milk curds appear on the tongue, gums and cheek. This is really a more severe type of sore mouth, and is of a fungus origin.

Causes of sore mouth. Uncleanness, failing to keep the mouth—especially of bottle-fed infants—and the nipples and bottles, clean. Babies who are allowed to suck a "pacifier" or rag with sugar on it. Thrush is parasitic in origin and is always due to uncleanness in bottles, nipples and the mouth, and is commonly associated with the stomach trouble. Diarrhea frequently goes with it.

(See Mothers' Remedies for Sore Mouth, Canker, etc., in general department).

PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Thrush. Severe Sore Mouth. 1. Boric acid in a saturated solution (five teaspoonfuls to a pint of distilled water) is a specific for it.