S96 DR. CEASE'S RECIPES. 



annually save many lives which are now sacrificed. The number returned 

 every year as having been found dead in bed is astounding. Sometimes both 

 mother and child fall asleep, while the child is at the breast, whereupon the 

 child's face gets pressed so closely against the mother's body that both nose and 

 mouth are covered, breathing becomes impossible, and the child is smothered; 

 sometimes fatal asphyxia is produced by the child nestling down in the bed and 

 going to sleep with its head completely covered by the bedclothes; and some- 

 times, though of course very rarely, the cause of death in these cases is over- 

 lying. These dangers are best avoided by letting the child sleep by itself. 



During the first month or two a healthy child sleeps the greater part of 

 both day and night. 



Children should not be allowed to form the habit of being put to sleep on 

 the nurse's lap, but should be placed in their cot awake, and soothed to sleep 

 there. This is a lesson learnt without difficulty, if taught from the earliest 

 days. 



On no account should any kind of soothing medicine be given, except 

 under medical advice. 



Young babies require to be kept very warm, and yet need abundance ol 

 fresh air. Nursery windows should be opened very frequently, and the room 

 kept pure and wholesome. After the first two or three weeks children should 

 be carried in the arms out of doors every day in fine weather. In winter they 

 should be well wrapped up, and in summer the head should be carefully pro- 

 tected from the rays of the sun. 



When the navel-string is an unusually long time in separating, no force is 

 to be used; all will go on properly if left to Nature. Separation having taken 

 place, a small rotmd piece of linen should be covered with a little vaseline or 

 simple ointment, and applied to the navel. If the process be accompanied or 

 followed by bleeding, the medical attendant should be informed without delay, 

 as children occasionally die from this cause. He should also be told if, after 

 the separation, the navel is found to project more than usual. 



It is by no means an unfrequent occurrence for the breasts of newly-born 

 (diildren to become swollen and inflamed, and sometimes they are even found 

 to contain a few drops of milk-like fluid. In either case the nurse must care- 

 fully avoid rubbing or squeezing them. The swelling will gradually disappear, 

 and the fluid become absorbed under soothing treatment — as, for example, the 

 ordinary water di-essing; whereas rough manipulations, such as have just been 

 mentioned, increase the inflammation, and are apt to result in the formation of 



The appearance of a number of little white spots on the tongue, inside the 

 lips and cheeks, and on the roof of the mouth, known in the nursery as " the 

 thrush," is an almost certain sign that the child's food is in some way unsuit. 

 able, and ought, therefore, invariably to be reported to the medical attendant. 

 In the meantime the affected places should be painted several times a day with 

 glycerine of borax, by means of a camel-hair brush. 



