The Physical Training of ChildrenChavasse, Pye Henry
Science
The Physical Training of Children
Chavasse, Pye Henry
Child care; Children -- Health and hygiene
Let stillness, especially if the head be the part affected, reign in a
sick-room. Nurses at these times ought to wear slippers, and not shoes.
Creaking shoes and rustling silk dresses ought not to be worn in
sick-chambers—they are quite out of place there. If the child be asleep,
or if he be dozing, perfect stillness must be enjoined, not even a
whisper should be heard:
“In the sick-room be calm,
Move gently and with care,
Lest any jar or sudden noise
Come sharply unaware.
You cannot tell the harm,
The mischief it may bring,
To wake the sick one suddenly,
Besides the suffering.
The broken sleep excites
Fresh pain, increased distress;
The quiet slumber undisturb’d
Soothes pain and restlessness.
Sleep is the gift of God:
Oh! bear these words at heart,—
‘He giveth his beloved sleep,’
And gently do thy part.”
If there be other children, let them be removed to a distant part of the
house; or, if the disease be of an infectious nature, let them be sent
away from home altogether.
In all illnesses—and bear in mind the following is most important
advice—a child must be encouraged to try and make water, whether he ask
or not, at least four times during the twenty-four hours; and at any
other time, if he expresses the slightest inclination to do so. I have
known a little fellow to hold his water, to his great detriment, for
twelve hours, because either the mother had in her trouble forgotten to
inquire, or the child himself was either too ill or too indolent to make
the attempt.
See that the medical man’s directions are, to the very letter, carried
out. Do not fancy that you know better than he does, otherwise you have
no business to employ him. Let him, then, have your implicit confidence
and your exact obedience. What _you_ may consider to be a trifling
matter, may frequently be of the utmost importance, and may sometimes
decide whether the case shall either end in life or death!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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