Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her ChildrenChavasse, Pye Henry
Science
Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children
Chavasse, Pye Henry
Child care; Children -- Health and hygiene; Infants -- Health and hygiene
Now, if the infant, instead of having from three to six motions,
should have more than double the latter number; if they be more
watery; if they become slimy and green, or green in part and curdled;
if they should have an unpleasant smell; if he be sick, cross,
restless, fidgety, and poorly; if every time he have a motion he be
griped and in pain, we should then say that he is labouring under
Diarrhoea; then, it will be necessary to give a little medicine, which
I will indicate in a subsequent Conversation.
Should there be both blood and slime mixed with the stool, the case
becomes more serious; still, with proper care, relief can generally be
quickly obtained. If the evacuations--instead of being stool--are
merely blood and slime, and the child strain frequently and violently,
endeavouring thus, but in vain, to relieve himself, crying at each
effort, the case assumes the character of Dysentery. [Footnote: See
Symptoms and Treatment of Dysentery.]
If there be a mixture of blood, slime, and stool from the bowels, the
case would be called Dysenteric-diarrhoea. The latter case requires
great skill and judgment on the part of a medical men, and great
attention and implicit obedience from the mother and the nurse. I
merely mention these diseases in order to warn you of their
importance, and of the necessity of strictly attending to a doctor's
orders.
101. _What are the causes of Diarrhoea--"Looseness of the bowels?"_
Improper food; overfeeding; teething; cold; the mother's milk from
various causes disagreeing, namely, from her being out of health, from
her eating unsuitable food, from her taking improper and drastic
purgatives, or from her suckling her child when she is pregnant. Of
course, if any of these causes are in operation, they ought, if
possible, to be remedied, or medicine to the babe will be of little
avail.
102. _What is the treatment of Diarrhoea_?
_What to do._--If the case be _slight_, and has lasted two or three
days (do not interfere by giving medicine at first), and if the cause,
as it probably is, be some acidity or vitiated stool that wants a
vent, and thus endeavours to obtain one by purging, the best treatment
is, to assist nature by giving either a dose of castor oil, or a
moderate one of rhubarb and magnesia, [Footnote: For a rhubarb and
magnesia mixture prescription, see page 71 (_note_).] and thus to work
off the enemy. After the enemy has been worked off, either by the
castor oil, or by the magnesia and rhubarb, the purging will, in all
probability, cease; but if the relaxation still continue, that is to
say, for three or four days--then, if medical advice cannot be
procured, the following mixture should be given:--
Take of--Aromatic Powder of Chalk and Opium, ten grains;
Oil of Dill, five drops;
Simple Syrup, three drachms;
Water, nine drachms;
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