DEATHS AMONG INFANTS. No true mother who cares for the welfare of her child rests easy during the summer months. She knows too well the dangers which beset the infant during hot weather and she is always fearful of signs of trouble. Her fears are only too well founded, as statistics show that during the hot months of the year, the mortality among infants is far higher than during the winter. Taking all classes of people, under all circumstances, one infant out of every five born in the United States dies during the first year of life. In the cities this proportion is much higher, and among some classes one out of every three children dies before its first birthday. While, of course, there are some children so delicate that no` amount of care and skill can save them, by far the larger percentage of infants who died during the summer months might be saved. if the mothers could be taught the few necessary precautions for the protection of the child's health. CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG INFANTS. Children ill of any disease are more liable to die during the summer than during any other season of the year, but most of the children who die during the hot months are killed by some form of bowel trouble. The complaint may be a gradual wasting of the child's strength, or it may be the fatal cholera infantum, which attacks an apparently healthy child and often kills it within twentyfour hours. All children are peculiarly liable to disturbances of the bowels during the summer months, many of which are not of grave significance. At the same time, any untoward condition of the bowels is much more dangerous in the summer than in the winter. Improper feeding is responsible for most of the bowel complaints DEATHS AMONG INFANTS. No true mother who cares for the welfare of her child rests easy during the summer months. She knows too well the dangers which beset the infant during hot weather and she is always fearful of signs of trouble. Her fears are only too well founded, as statistics show that during the hot months of the year, the mortality among infants is far higher than during the winter. Taking all classes of people, under all circumstances, one infant out of every five born in the United States dies during the first year of life. In the cities this proportion is much higher, and among some classes one out of every three children dies before its first birthday. While, of course, there are some children so delicate that no amount of care and skill can save them, by far the larger percentage of infants who died during the summer months might be saved if the mothers could be taught the few necessary precautions for the protection of the child's health. CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG INFANTS. Children ill of any disease are more liable to die during the summer than during any other season of the year, but most of the children who die during the hot months are killed by some form of bowel trouble. The complaint may be a gradual wasting of the child's strength, or it may be the fatal cholera infantum, which attacks an apparently healthy child and often kills it within twentyfour hours. All children are peculiarly liable to disturbances of the bowels during the summer months, many of which are not of grave significance. At the same time, any untoward condition of the bowels. is much more dangerous in the summer than in the winter. Improper feeding is responsible for most of the bowel complaints of infants. If the child is given proper food, which has been properly prepared and administered, it may grow up without a single digestive disturbance. If, on the other hand, it is given unsuitable food, or food carelessly prepared and administered, it has practically no hope of going through the summer without bowel trouble. Hence the chief duty of the mother is to see that the child has suitable food, prepared according to proper directions and administered as prescribed by a good physician. The labor of preparing this food and the necessary attention to small details will always be repaid in the good health of the child. WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BABY IS SICK. When the baby shows any signs of sickness during the summer.or indeed, at any time,-the first duty of the mother is to send for a physician, preferably for one who has had some experience in treating children. No mother should delay an hour in sending for the physician at such a time: the life of the child may depend upon prompt treatment. While waiting for the doctor, the mother should not give the child any food, except a little water that has been boiled. If the coming of the doctor is much delayed, a teaspoonful of castor-oil may be given to a child under fifteen months of age. If the child is older, two teaspoonfuls may be given without danger Beyond this, the mother should give the child no medicine and should especially avoid patent medicines, paregoric or soothing syrups. These remedies may sometimes do the child incalculable damage, and they practically never do any good. Nor should the mother trust to the advice of some near-by druggist. The druggist, no matter how competent, is not a physician, and he knows no more about what should be done for the child than the mother. For twenty-four hours after any bowel-trouble, the child should have no food; after that time, it may be given, with great care, a little barley-water or a few spoonfuls of weak broth. Milk should never be resumed until the bowels are in order. On these points. however, the advice of the doctor, who is familiar with the condition of the child, should be followed, rather than any general rules. |