Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts Part 27

Mother's milk is the only perfect food for an infant during the first nine or ten months. If it is necessary to give artificial food from a bottle, the greatest possible care must be taken. The milk used should be the best obtainable. To obtain clean milk it is necessary that everything that touches it be clean, sterilized when possible, and that the cows, and men who handle the milk be healthy. In New York City all milk is cla.s.sified according to its cleanliness and b.u.t.ter fat content.

The cleanest and richest milk is called "certified milk" and is sold raw. The other milks are cla.s.sified according to cleanliness. Grade A, B and C are all pasteurized. Only certified and Grade A should be used for infant feeding. You know that sterile means free from germs or bacteria.

Milk or water may be made comparatively sterile by boiling. Pasteurized milk is milk which has been heated to 155 Fahrenheit, kept at that temperature for thirty minutes and cooled quickly by placing the bottles in cold running water.

Punctual feeding makes good digestion, and even if the baby takes an extra nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meals at regular hours than to let his digestion get out of order. Between meals a little water which has been boiled and cooled and kept covered will wash out its mouth as well as refresh the child. The average infant is fed every three hours until it is five months old. After that it is fed every four hours until it is fifteen or sixteen months old, when it is s.h.i.+fted to three meals a day with perhaps a cup of milk in long intervals. Solid food, such as zwieback and milk or cereal, is begun at seven months, and by thirteen or fourteen months the child will be eating cereal, bread, broth, beef juice, potato, rice, vegetables, etc.

Candy is harmful for children, and even older children should eat candy only after meals. Raw fruit, except orange juice, is apt to be upsetting in summer.

Keep the baby and everything around him clean. The baby's food is the most important thing to keep clean. The cleanliness of the bottle, when it is necessary to feed the baby from one, is very important. Choose a bottle of fairly heavy gla.s.s with rounded bottom and wide mouth, so that it may be easily cleaned. Short rubber nipples which clip over the neck of the bottle and which can be easily turned inside out, should be selected, and discarded when they become soft, or when the openings become large enough for the milk to run in a stream instead of drop by drop. Remove the bottle from the baby's mouth as soon as empty, rinse at once in cold water and then fill with a solution of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), about one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Before rinsing wash in hot soapsuds, using a bottle brush, rinse well in plain water, and boil for twenty minutes, placing a clean cloth in the bottom of the basin to protect the bottle from breaking. Before using new nipples they should be scrubbed inside and out and boiled for at least five minutes. After using they should be carefully rinsed in cold water and kept in a covered gla.s.s containing a solution of boric acid (one teaspoonful dissolved in a pint of boiling water), and at least once a day be turned inside out and thoroughly washed with soap and water, then rinsed. Nipples should be boiled twice a week.

_Bath_--A baby should have a bath every day, not sooner than one hour after feeding. The room should be warm; if possible there should be an open fire in the room. The temperature of the water for a baby up to six months old should be 98. Then it should gradually decrease, next temperature being 95, until at the age of two it should range between 85 to 90. Before a baby is undressed the person who is bathing the baby must be sure that everything needed for the bath and dressing is at hand. The hand basin or small tub of warm water, a pitcher of hot water in case it is needed, castile or ivory soap, soft wash cloths, towels, brush, powder, fresh absorbent cotton, boric acid solution, and the baby's clothes laid out in the order in which they will be needed in dressing the child, the soft flannel bandage, the diapers, the s.h.i.+rt, flannel petticoat, dress and shawl.

For some people it is easier to handle a baby when laid on a bed or table than on one's lap, having under the child a soft bath towel or canton flannel large enough to be wrapped around it. Its nose may be cleaned with a bit of absorbent cotton rolled to a point, using a fresh piece for each nostril. To bathe the eyes use fresh pieces of absorbent cotton dipped in boric acid solution. Wash the baby's face carefully so that the water does not drip into its ears. Dry the face carefully. Wash the head gently and thoroughly with soap, being careful to rinse completely. Soap the baby's body before putting it into the bath. As a soapy little baby is difficult to hold, support him firmly all the time he is kicking and splas.h.i.+ng, by placing the arm or hand at the baby's back between its shoulders. Wash particularly, under the arms, the creases in the back of the neck, between the legs, fingers and toes. The bath should be given quickly and the baby lifted out in the bath towel or flannel, covered and dried quickly, using a soft towel. Rub the baby very slightly. All the folds of the skin should be dried and well powdered: under the arms, behind the ears, about the neck, legs, etc. Do not put too much powder on, as it forms a paste. Dress the infant and lay it on its crib while putting away all the things used for its bath.

It is perfectly proper for a baby to exercise its lungs by crying, so do not be alarmed, but be sure that its clothing is comfortable and that the child is clean. Garments worn at night should always be different from those worn during the day. The garments next to the skin should be of wool or part wool, except the diaper, which should be soft cotton, and when new, washed several times before using. Wet diapers should be rinsed in cold water and dried before using a second time; about every twenty-four hours diapers should be washed, scalded, rinsed in cold water and hung in the air to dry.

Daily Routine--Child Under Two Years of Age

6.00 A.M. Feed warm milk.

7.30 A.M. Seat on chair or hold over chamber not more than ten minutes.

If the child has no movement of the bowels at this time, try later.

9.00 A.M. Give bath, and immediately after, feed, then put to bed in a well ventilated room, darkened, or out of doors in carriage or crib. Be sure no strong light is in the child's eyes. Child should sleep until one o'clock.

1.00 P.M. Take up, make comfortable, and feed.

2.00 P.M. Take child out of doors again, but do not stay after 3 P.M. in winter time. Later in summer. Stormy days keep in house in crib or carriage, well wrapped up in room with window open.

3 to 5 P.M. Hold child, or let it stay in crib and play or kick.

6.00 P.M. Undress, rub with soft, dry towel, put on nightclothes, feed and put to bed in well ventilated room.

10.00 P.M. A young baby should be fed at this time, dried, and not fed again until 6. A.M.

A baby needs to be kept quiet. Do not make loud noises near it. Do not play with infant too much. Leave it to itself to grow. Keep the baby clean, everything about it tidy. Do not give a child pointed toys or playthings small enough to go into the infant's mouth. Tie toys to the crib or carriage so that they do not fall on the floor.

Things to Remember

Emphasize "tidy as you go," sleep, water, bowel movements, exercise for older children, especially in cold weather, nothing in mouth, do not use pacifiers, tying toys to crib or carriage, a baby over two years of age should not be fed oftener than every four hours.

Bowel Movements

At least once a day.

Should be medium soft, not loose, smooth, and when on milk diet, light in color.

If child is constipated, give one teaspoonful of milk of magnesia clear, at night.

See doctor if child is not well.

Feedings

Children from birth to five months should be fed every three hours.

Children over one and a half years old need three meals a day, dinner in the middle of the day.

Little children need to be kept very quiet. No confusion or loud noises around them. They will then grow better and stronger.

Colds

Never neglect a cold. Do not "pa.s.s it on" to a child by coughing, sneezing, talking or breathing into its face. Do not kiss anyone when you have a cold. Never allow the handkerchief used by a person with a cold to touch a child. If you must handle a child when you have a cold, wear a piece of gauze over your mouth and nose, and be sure to keep your hands clean. Be very careful with the handkerchiefs used; see that no one touches or uses them. It is preferable to use gauze or soft paper for handkerchiefs and burn them. When a child has a cold put it to bed.

Keep quiet as long as there is any fever. Give a cathartic, such as castor oil, as soon as cold appears. Reduce the child's diet and give plenty of drinking water. Consult a doctor. Do not let the child go out until thoroughly well.

3. THE FIRST AIDE IN ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES

General Rules

The sorrow and unhappiness of the world is increased enormously every year by injury and loss from accidents, more than half of which might be prevented if someone had not been careless, or if someone else had taken a little trouble to correct the results of that carelessness before they caused an accident.

It therefore becomes the plain duty of Girl Scouts not only to be careful but to repair, if possible, the carelessness of others which may result in accident.

Let us review briefly some of the many small things in our daily lives which cause accidents, and therefore suffering and loss.

1. _Carelessness in the Street._ As, for example, taking chances in getting across in front of a car or automobile; running from behind a car without looking to see of some vehicle is coming from another direction; catching a ride by hanging on to the rear end of cars or wagons; getting off cars before they stop; getting on or off cars in the wrong way; being too interested to watch for open manholes, cellarways, sewers, etc.; reckless roller skating in the street, throwing things like banana peels on the street or sidewalk where people are likely to slip on them; teasing dogs, or trying to catch strange ones; many dogs resent a stranger petting them and use their only means of defense--biting. Other examples will occur to you of carelessness in the streets which s.p.a.ce does not allow us to mention here.

Wait until the car stops before trying to get off. In getting off cars you should face in the direction in which the car is going. A simple rule is to get off by holding a rod with the left hand and putting the right foot down first. This brings you facing the front of the car and prevents your being swept off your feet by the momentum of the car.

If you see any refuse in the street which is likely to cause an accident, either remove it yourself or report it to the proper authorities to have it removed at once.

2. _Carelessness at Home._ As for example, starting the fire with kerosene; leaving gas jets burning where curtains of clothing may be blown into the flame; leaving clothing or paper too near a fire; throwing matches you thought had been put out into paper or other material which will catch fire easily; leaving oily or greasy rags where they will easily overheat or take fire spontaneously; leaving objects on stairs and in hallways which will cause others to fall; leaving scalding water where a child may fall into it or pull it down, spilling the scalding water over himself; leaving rags or linoleum with upturned edges for someone to fall over; and innumerable other careless things which will occur to you.

3. _Disobedience_, playing with matches; building fires in improper places; playing with guns; trying the "medicines" in the closet; throwing stones; playing with the electric wires or lights; playing around railroad tracks and bridges: We could multiply the accidents from disobedience indefinitely. Remember, a caution given you not to do something means there is danger in doing it, which may bring much sorrow and suffering to yourself and others.

It is a very old saying that "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," but it is as true today as it was hundreds of years ago.

After the Accident

When the time for prevention is past, and the accident has happened, then you want to know what is the best thing to do, and how best to do it in order to give the most help and relief immediately, before expert help can arrive, and to have the victim in the best condition possible for the doctor when he comes, in order that he may not have to undo whatever has been done before he can begin to give the patient relief from his suffering.

1. Keep cool. The only way to do this effectually is to learn beforehand what to do and how to do it. Then you are not frightened and can do readily and with coolness whatever is necessary to be done.

2. Send at once for a doctor, if you have a messenger, in all except the minor accidents. This book will help you learn to judge of whether a doctor will be necessary. If in doubt send for a doctor anyway.

3. Prevent panic and keep the crowd, if there is one, at a distance. The patient needs fresh air to breathe, and s.p.a.ce around him.