CHAPTER VIII.

DROPPING OF THE NAVEL CORD.

It would more than pay me, if in this section I could say aught that would effect the removal of the anxiety generally shown concerning the healing of the navel.

There is a late custom recommended by some physician, that of soaking of the lint, to apply clean each day. This, in my judgment, is risking too much, unless it be with the guidance of an experienced person. I deem it much safer to wipe close around the wound daily; then on the third day slip a clean piece of soft cotton or linen beneath and around the soiled pad; as about this time the cord, unless very thick, is dry and will soon drop off, leaving the clean pad as a protecting ring around the navel. The navel should then be looked after each day until healed. But it is an error to suppose that the navel should be healed in any certain number of days. The usual time is from five to seven days; but I have known many to drop on the third day, and more to remain unhealed till after the twelfth or fourteenth day. In the former case the cords were very small; in the latter they were very large and strong.

Many years ago, I learned of an accident that occurred to a midwife of much usefulness: Because the cord remained eight days, she cut what she supposed was a piece of thread; in consequence of which the child bled to death. It would be well to state here that keeping the babe too hot retards the drying of the umbilical vessels. Ordinarily the healing of the navel is simple and natural, and it should never be tampered with. Should unnatural growths appear, any regular physician can detect the cause, and direct the cure at once. Far more accidents occur by the reluctance of friends around to call medical aid in time, than from the cause itself. Selfish prudence is too often allowed to come between duty and human life.

If at any time a white fluid should be discharged from the vagina, or private parts, of a girl child, it should be washed away as often as seen, and the parts washed out with a solution of common salt I have seen mothers become greatly frightened at this common occurrence. Cleanliness and perseverance will remove the trouble. If families would make it a rule to have a thermometer in the nursery or the sleeping-room, by which to regulate the temperature of the body, many of these baby-ills would be banished from our midst. The nervous system of babes deserves a large share of our sympathy. But if one were to judge from the treatment they sometimes undergo, it might be inferred that, like dolls, infants have no nerves or rights which men are bound to respect. Children of the same family differ much. One may be sprightly, making frequent music by crying; the other may be comparatively docile. And if a child is quiet and does not cry, or act silly, it is called stupid, and everything is done to arouse its ire.

Children cry for pastime; so they should. It develops the lungs and relieves the air-tubes of any collections of phlegm. Besides, it causes them to be noticed by some one who might forget their existence. There cannot be any comfort in being rocked, tossed, shook and kissed, and that, too, without any regard to the odor of the breath. It is decidedly injurious to wake babes from a quiet sleep, or even to excite their attention while lying quiet. Mothers should early learn to listen and become familiar with the different tones produced in the cries even of the same child. Listening should be cultivated more; then the possibility of making a crying baby more noisy, by shocking it with additional noises, will need no more explanation. “Oh,” says one, “they get used to it and look for it.” True,—bred, born, aye and raised in excitement; never can hear or understand anything but noise, noise, noise.

Currents of cold air from a window or door should not be permitted to pass over the exposed body of infants; as, by so doing, the sudden change may, like electricity, direct the irritation to some vital organ. It is considered much safer, when the weather permits, to put on suitable wraps and take them in the open air. The most trouble arises from keeping the infant too warm from birth. Hot-house plants rarely endure the changes of the open air, until it becomes equal to what they have been used to.