Some notions of therapeutics
The first essential point to be in mind is that the child is not to be treated in the same way as an adult. Children vary far more than adults, both physically and mentally. Each child presents an individual problem; fixed rules cannot be applied. In the treatment of children, the physician’s methods must be flexible and adaptable.
The use of drugs particularly requires much judgement. The possible harm that may result from a given prescription should always be considered.
But good prescriptions are by no means the only objective. The physician who orders the medicine indicated for his little patient, and then dismisses the case from his mind, will find his results frequently disappointing, for details play a large role in the treatment of children.
The parents must be made to understand the results cannot always be immediate. Delicate, nervous children, or those who have serious digestive trouble, may require many months of careful supervision, with little evidence of improvement. The physician, on the other hand, should not permit himself to be too easily encouraged by slow results. Patience and persistence must be combined with a thorough understanding of the problems involved. Without these factors, success in the treatment of children will be difficult to achieve.
Hygiene and sanitation are such familiar subjects that it is only necessary to emphasize their relation to treatment. The patient’s surroundings should be clean, well ordered, and cheerful. This accomplishes not only the obvious purpose of avoiding infection as much as possible, but also reacts beneficially on the child’s mental attitude.
In any infectious disease, extreme care should be taken to prevent spread of the infection. Fresh air and sunlight are valuable disinfectants, and should be used abundantly. Contact with other people should be avoided.
Rest is an important aid, both as a preventive and as a cure. Adequate sleep at night, and a quiet period after dinner, should be insisted upon. A child with fever, however slight, ought to be kept in bed until his temperature becomes normal, sometimes for several days thereafter. This will often avert a serious disease.
An adequate diet is one of the essentials of good health. Its importance in illness is likely to be even greater. Some conditions can be controlled, and many others improved, by changes in diet alone.
In any illness, one of the first considerations is the maintenance of nutrition without causing gastro-intestinal disturbance. Only those foods which are easily assimilated and do not produce distention should be permitted. Fluids should be given liberally, as they dilute toxins and increase elimination. It is advisable to keep the bowels open, if possible, by laxative food such as fruit juices and vegetables. The mineral content of the diet should be adequate. The vitamins should be liberally supplied, particularly vitamin A, as this food factor is thought to build resistance to respiratory infections.
MEDICAL AND NURSING CARE
Nowadays babies are born in a hospital. There the doctor is closer at hand when needed, and he is assisted by interns, nurses, technicians and consultants. A hospital offers all the complicated equipment, like incubators and oxygen tents, to cope with sudden emergencies. All this makes the mother feel very safe and well cared for. The babies are usually in a nursery, where they can be cared for. The babies are usually in a nursery, where they can be efficiently watched and cared for by the nurses. The mother begins taking care of her baby holding him, feeding him. She has the chance to practice these things while she is among experienced people who can explain things to her and help her. She learns about her baby’s hunger patterns, his sleep, his cry, his bowel movements.
When the mother takes her baby home she is visited by a visiting nurse who will show how to make the formula, bathe the baby, diaper him, help her in other practical child-care matters, and follow directions of the doctor.
The way to be sure that your baby is doing well is to have him checked by a doctor regularly. The visits should be once a month in the early months. The doctor will want to weigh and measure the baby to see how he is growing, examine him to see that he is developing well, give him his inoculations. The mother will have five or ten questions that she wants to ask, with her first baby anyway. It’s a good idea to have a little notebook for writing down questions when they come to your mind at home and also for noting developments, such as teething or a rash, that you may want to know the date of later.
There are hundreds of different diseases and injuries such as fever, colds, hoarseness of voice, difficulty in breathing, vomiting, pain, diarrhea, rashes and so on which should always be reported to the doctor immediately.
By far the most important rule is to consult the doctor promptly if a baby or a child looks differently. By this it is meant such signs as unusual paleness, unusual tiredness, unusual drowsiness, lack of interest, unusual irritability, anxiousness, restlessness, prostration.