Anna Steese Richardson

“ Most of us can look back to the day when weaning the family baby was almost a domestic tragedy. The mother, more through fear than sentiment, wept and declared that, once her child did not nurse from the breast, life would never be quite the same! ”

“ The progressive mother works with the progressive physician, and the baby profits by the combination. To-day there is little excuse for a colicky, crying, sickly baby in the family circle. Except in rare cases, when the baby’s poor condition does not improve under intelligent mother-care, modern medical science can effect a cure. What generally stands between the sick baby and its cure to-day is ignorance or tradition on the part of the parent, who clings to the belief that strong babies are born to live, that weak babies are born to die, and that the Creator has decreed it! ”

“ Most crying can be traced to physical discomfort which can be relieved, or to spoiling and indulgence which can be checked. In this day of intelligent care and disciplining of children, there is absolutely no excuse for having a screaming baby in the house. The modern mother not only realizes that behind the crying lies a good and sufficient cause, but she traces the cause to its lair—and lays it low. ”

“ In infancy the most dreaded disease is whooping-cough. A normal, healthy baby under six months of age can hardly survive this disease; and there is nothing more pitiful than to see the family baby, who has caught this racking ailment from older children, slowly but surely choke up as it becomes too weak even to cough. I regard it as nothing short of criminal to expose a healthy baby to whooping-cough. As many babies die of whooping-cough, in New York City, as from measles, scarlet fever and diphtheria combined. Never allow any child with a cough to come near your baby. ”

“ In choosing artificial food for your baby, remember that even physicians differ on this question. Most American specialists for children insist that fresh cow’s milk, properly modified, is the only substitute for mother’s milk. European authorities recommend goat’s milk. And there are other recognized authorities on baby-health who have found it advisable to prescribe for delicate bottle-fed babies a combination of milk and patent food. Not only must the mother consult her family physician on this question, but, with the physician, she must watch the effect of the chosen food on the baby. ”

“ If the baby is normally healthy and has been made comfortable, it now falls sound asleep. This is nature’s way of permitting the mother to recuperate before nursing the baby for the first time. When the baby wakens, the mother will have regained her strength in that amazing way which is appreciated only by those who have watched her pass from the ordeal of labor into the joys of maternity as through a miracle. The baby should be given the breast when it awakens from its first sleep, and if there is any flow of milk whatever, no artificial food should be supplied. ”

“ The well-nourished body of a properly fed child does not furnish an abiding-place for disease-germs.
Through watching the conferences between mothers and physicians at Better Babies Contests, I have come to realize that, while 75 per cent. of the ailments from which babies suffer can be traced to some form of stomach or bowel trouble, comparatively few women recognize symptoms of malnutrition or overfeeding for the menace which they really are. Many mothers seem to consider that a slight digestive trouble is almost as casual a feature of baby’s career as teething. ”

“ Baby’s comfort, and, incidentally, the peace and quiet of the entire household, may be increased by intelligent selection and care of clothing. Every adult has experienced more or less discomfort from ill-fitting or unsuitable underwear, tight bands and shoes, yet in many homes where babies are deeply and truly loved clothing for the tender little bodies is chosen thoughtlessly and adjusted carelessly. Even the mother who threatens her own eyesight, embroidering dainty bits of linen for the layette, may fairly torture her baby by supplying underwear that irritates the delicate skin. ”

“ Most of us can look back to the barbarous practice of soothing a baby with paregoric and then trusting to nature to relieve the condition which made soothing necessary. We really seemed to think that a miracle would be worked while the baby slept!
If a baby had any terrible deformity or acute disease we turned to a surgeon or physician, but we took long chances when the baby was merely good. We never stopped to figure that a good baby could be made a better baby by intelligent care, a better baby transformed into a well-nigh perfect baby. ”

“ Science wrangles over the rival importance of heredity and environment, but we women know what effects prenatal influence works in children. And, knowing this, what a mystery that we do not mold each thought and act in the interest of the children whose up-bringing will be our real life-work! How strange that mothers do not realize that the burden of maternal and domestic duties can be lightened by prenatal care and character molding.
Science has done much for the modern mother. ”

“ Therefore, the first step in preparation for motherhood is the firm belief that it is a privilege, not a duty; a joy, not a sacrifice; an investment that will pay big dividends. Thus armored, the prospective mother enters upon the nine months of pregnancy insured against anxiety and ill-health. The joy she finds in carrying her child provides a splendid foundation for the child’s health. The woman who frets brings forth a nervous child. The woman who rebels generally bears a morbid child. ”

“ You cannot rear a generation of sturdy mothers from girls who drink soda-water instead of milk, who eat candy instead of custards, rich fried potatoes instead of nourishing baked ones, fancy dishes of meat, gravy, and pastry instead of wholesome beefsteak and mutton chops. It is a mistake to think because a child who is growing will eat almost anything, that almost anything will nourish a growing body.
Better babies mean better children in the public schools; but neglect in the matter of diet will soon turn those better children into sickly citizens. ”

“ When we realize that the man who has passed his eightieth birthday has a better chance to live than the child eight hours old, we realize how many dangers surround the young baby. A shock may wreck a child’s nervous system. A sudden chill may cause an attack of bowel trouble that will prove fatal within twenty-four hours. A kiss, laden with infection, may cause death or lifelong deformity for the child. Very few children are born nervous. ”

“ To-day, unless a baby is born with some inherited weakness or chronic disease, science teaches how to protect the child from ordinary ailments—colic, convulsions, summer complaint, and contagious diseases. This is the day of preventive medicine, particularly in the care of infants. Prevention lightens the burden of motherhood. When young women are trained to ward off illness in children, not to nurse them through illness, motherhood will mean what it should mean to women—Joy. ”

“ After all, habits of eating, sleeping, bathing, the regular movements of the bowels, the control of the urine, even the control of the temper, are the result of regularity on the part of the mother. She starts her baby in life by establishing a regular routine for feeding, sleeping, bathing, clothing, and exercise in fresh air. The baby fits into this little routine complacently.
When a child is irregular in any of its habits, it is simply because the mother has not realized the importance of routine. The mother waits on the child when she has time, and neglects him when she has not. ”

“ HOW TO GIVE THE BABY’S BATH—CARE OF THE VARIOUS ORGANS—THRUSH AND ITS TREATMENT—SPECIAL BATHS FOR DELICATE CHILDREN—HABITS OF CLEANLINESS
Cleanliness is one of the foundation-stones on which is reared the beautiful structure of baby’s good health and good temper. When it is neglected, all sorts of weaknesses, discomforts and irritations creep in.
Uncleanliness invites disease and furnishes a lodging-place for germs. Moreover, the baby that starts off life by being comfortable through cleanliness forms habits of neatness, which it never loses. ”

“ Many mothers who spend hours embroidering tiny frocks or sewing on yards of lace will hurry through the process of bathing, or be careless in the handling of diapers and other clothing which will chafe the baby’s delicate skin. Love which expresses itself in the overdressing of the child is far less practical than that which expresses itself in cleanliness and sweetness for all that surrounds the child. ”

“ I have seen mothers actually start babies in this fatal habit of finger-sucking by giving them what is known as a “pacifier,” or rubber nipple on a ring. It is natural for a baby to suck at something. He is born hungry. When he is very young he will continue making sucking motions with his mouth after the breast or bottle has been taken from him. If he happens to whimper the mother thinks the little sucking motion must be satisfied; she gives him the pacifier, or actually sticks his thumb into his mouth, and the mischief is begun. ”

“ She has so many other things to do that she cannot superintend her baby’s exercise. So long as he is safe from danger, and is amused and quiet, she does not realize that he is suffering from lack of exercise. I have seen babies strapped in carriages and high-chairs for long stretches of time, without any change of position, without any opportunity to use their muscles, simply because they were amused and quiet, not disturbing “Mother.” An occasional change of toys, a cracker or a sweet, even a “pacifier,” are offered in lieu of what the child needs, exercise for its cramped muscles. ”

“ The chairman of the committee in charge of the work wrote me that this mother had lightened the quality of the baby’s food and the rash had disappeared. She had cleared the house of mosquitoes, and the baby’s skin was smooth as a rose petal! Which shows that a Better Babies Contest makes mothers think—and act. Also, that a child can be made healthier and happier with just a little thought and attention.
Your child has a right to all the beauty with which you can endow it. If your baby has thin eyebrows and lashes, try to encourage their growth. It can be done. ”

“ Start your maternal career right by preparing your body and your mind for motherhood. Start your baby right in life by studying sanitation, hygiene, the care and feeding of infants. Know your business as a mother, and motherhood will have no terrors for you. ”

“ Mouth breathing always justifies an examination of the baby’s throat by the best specialist at command.
A mother should know why her baby does not speak distinctly from the day it first forms words. The normal child is born a mimic. It tries its best to speak precisely like the older persons with whom it comes in contact. If the speech is defective, thick, guttural, and unintelligible, a physician should examine the mouth, throat, and nose. There may be a growth in the passageway, enlarged tonsils, trouble with the palate, or the child may be tongue-tied. ”

“ They should not be fed to a baby on the advice of a neighbor or a druggist. I have known many mothers who, at the first sign of indigestion, dosed the baby’s milk with quantities of lime water and peptonizing powder. This should not be done without consulting a physician.
Above all things, the mother of the baby artificially fed should keep calm and cool-headed. Even breast-fed babies have occasional attacks of indigestion, vomiting, colic, and diarrhea, which yield quickly to treatment. The same trouble in bottle-fed babies will yield to treatment. ”

“ The busy house-mother who is nursing her baby is particularly warned against nursing the child when greatly exhausted. It is far better to keep the baby waiting a few minutes, while the mother sits down and rests or sips a glass of milk. Nursing a baby when overtired or overheated, or extremely nervous and angry, is positively injurious and unjust to the child.
Of the utmost importance in regulating the condition of the baby’s health through breast milk is the condition of the mother’s bowels. These should move once daily and, if possible, the movement should be natural. ”

“ As one who has been her own housekeeper and cook, I know that it seems very hard to stop in the middle of a busy morning, when every room in the house calls for attention, and give half an hour or more to bathing the baby, but if this becomes a habit with mother and child it means a quiet, comfortable baby, and several peaceful hours in which the mother can catch up with her household duties. ”

“ Is it not vitally important, therefore, that every mother should make an earnest, unremitting study of infant feeding as health-insurance for her family circle?
The nourishment of the child begins before it is born. Ailments in digestion accompany it into the world. For this reason, in Chapter I, special stress was laid on diet for the pregnant mother. But it is not enough to bring the baby into the world blessed with a sound digestion. The mother must study the science of keeping her child’s digestion sound. ”

“ When the baby begins to sit up and play, a similar padded box or small fenced enclosure should be built on the porch for a nursery. It is a positive injustice, nothing short of criminal, to keep a delicate baby in the kitchen.
Many a mother worn out by a fretful baby will secure rest for herself and good health for the baby by making it comfortable outdoors. The sleep in fresh air is restful, and babies that will not sleep well indoors acquire the habit if placed on the quiet porch or under a shady tree. ”

“ Frankly, feeding a baby deprived of breast milk often resolves itself into an experiment; but an experiment which must be conducted in an intelligent manner, with the advice of a physician. Do not consult your neighbor, no matter how many babies she has raised successfully. The bottle food which was nourishment to her babies may be poison to yours. There are no hard and fast rules for bottle foods. Each baby is a case unto itself and requires the most delicate attention and unrelenting vigilance. ”

“ As the little body is indescribably tender and sensitive at this time, the nurse must handle it with exquisite care, always supporting the head and back and protecting it from draughts; she must be very careful not to let a strong light strike the eyes. ”

“ The mother who guards her child’s diet not only during that danger period of teething and weaning but during those years when he seems to sprout like a young human weed, demanding the very highest form of nourishment, may feel assured that she is laying the foundation for his future health and happiness. You cannot make good citizens out of dyspeptics. ”

“ Remember that your own physical condition and the health of the baby you will bring into the world depend largely upon your mental attitude. Cast out all fear of childbirth and all dread of maternal duties and sacrifices. Fretting, grieving, or rebellion will not purchase immunity from maternal duties. Rather it will increase them. The child will be born and laid in your arms to be fed, cared for, and reared, whether you weep or smile through the months of pregnancy. ”

“ The next day the mother should have a doctor look the child over and decide on what treatment she shall use during another attack.
There is no emergency so terrorizing to a mother as convulsions. As the child becomes unconscious the mother, who has never seen a child pass through convulsions, believes that her baby is dying. In reality convulsions are a symptom rather than a disease, and the cause is easily traced and removed. They represent, first, an irritation of the nervous system. Back of this may lie disturbances of the digestive organs, rickets, and, in boys, tight foreskin. ”

“ Preparation for motherhood must rise above the practical instruction in the care and feeding of infants which leads to efficiency. It requires a certain mental and spiritual adjustment of the woman to the environment and conditions of maternity. She who is obsessed by the fear of physical suffering which motherhood may entail, who regards the coming of a child as the end of her individual career, her social life, her personal pleasures, will be neither efficient nor joyous. ”

“ Half her battle for baby’s good health will be won if she nurses it. The natural, the almost unfailingly safe food for the new-born babe is mother’s milk. The Creator, who made woman the mother of the human race, provided also the first means of nourishing the children brought into the world. The average woman has the strength to nourish her child in the natural way; and only a real physical inability, admitted by the family physician, should lead her to deprive the child of its rightful nourishment. ”

“ One reason why it is more prevalent in summer than in winter is the fact that heat affects milk quickly and unfits it for the baby’s digestion. When the breast-fed baby has diarrhea, the mother must immediately look to her own diet. The mother of the bottle-fed baby must look to the source and care given to the cow’s milk fed to the baby. ”