Ferdinand Gregorovius - "Lucretia Borgia"

Grace Livingston Hill - "The City of Fire"

United States Department of the Interior - "The Nation's River"

G. K. Rose - "The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Mother and Her Child

W >> William S. Sadler >> The Mother and Her Child




An enameled pitcher for extra supply of warm water.
A small cup for boracic acid solution.
Castile soap.
A soft wash cloth.
Several warmed soft towels.
A bath thermometer.
A medicine dropper for washing baby's eyes.
Talcum powder.
Oil or vaseline.
Sterile cotton.
Tooth picks.
A needle and thread for sewing on the band.
All of the clean clothing needed.

See that the bathtub is clean and enamel unbroken, and if it has been
used by another babe, freshen it with a coat of special enamel sold
for that purpose.


BATH TEMPERATURES

During the first eight weeks Temperature 100 F.
From two to six months Temperature 98 F.
From six to twenty-four months Temperature 90--97 F.

A bath at ninety-eight degrees is a neutral bath, and after the baby
is six months and over, the bath may be given at this temperature, and
at the close quickly cooled to ninety degrees.


NURSERY CLEANLINESS

The nursery should furnish the baby's first protection from
contagious diseases. It must be a veritable haven of safety.
Therefore, no house work of any kind should be done in the room,
such as washing or drying the baby's clothes. The floors and the
furniture should be wiped daily with damp cloths. A dry cloth or
feather duster should never be used to scatter dust around the
room.

All bedding and rugs should receive their daily shaking and airing out
of doors, remembering that particles of dust are veritable airships
for the transportation of germs. In every way possible avoid raising a
dust. So much of the lint which commonly comes from blankets may be
avoided with the daily shaking out of doors.

Soiled diapers should not accumulate in a corner or on the radiator;
their removal should be immediate, and if they must await a more
opportune time, soak them in a receptacle filled with cold water. Even
those diapers slightly wetted should never be merely dried and used
again, but should be properly washed and dried. No washing soda should
be used in the cleansing of diapers--just an ordinary white soap, a
good boil, and plenty of rinse water, with drying in the sun if
possible. They require no ironing. Hands that come in contact with
soiled or wet diapers must be thoroughly cleansed before caring for
the baby or preparing his food.

As before mentioned, and it will bear repetition often, all windows
and doors must be well screened, for flies and mosquitoes are dreaded
foes in any community and in babyland in particular. All used bottles
and nipples as well as used cups, pitchers, bits of used cotton,
should be removed at once. The washcloth is a splendid harbinger of
germs. There should be one for the face, and one for the body and
bath, and both should receive tri-weekly boiling. Bath towels should
not be used more than twice, better only once.

The technic of bathing, together with the location, furnishings, and
cleanliness of the baby's sick room, will be taken up in later
chapters.




CHAPTER XIV

WHY BABIES CRY


It is surprising how soon even a young and inexperienced mother will
learn to distinguish between the _pain_ cry and the _plain_ cry of her
baby; for most crying can easily be traced to some physical discomfort
which can be relieved, or to some phase of spoiling and indulgence
which can be stopped.


NORMAL HEALTHY CRYING

The young baby can neither walk, talk nor engage in gymnastics, except
to indulge in those splendid physical exercises connected with a good
hearty cry. To be good and healthy, an aggregate of an hour a day
should be spent in loud and lusty crying. He should be allowed to
kick, throw his arms in the air and get red in the face; for such
gymnastics expand the lungs, increase general circulation and promote
the general well-being of the normal child. As the child grows older
and is able to engage in muscular efforts of various sorts, these
"crying exercises" should naturally decrease in frequency and
severity. When baby cries, see that the abdominal band is properly
applied, that rupture need not be feared.


THE BIRTH CRY

The sound most welcomed by both doctor and nurse is the cry of the
newly born child, for it shows that the inactive lungs have opened up
and the baby has begun to use them, for all the time baby was living
in the uterine room he did not breathe once, the lungs having been in
a constant state of collapse; and not until now, the very moment the
air comes in contact with his skin, do the lungs begin to functionate
as he emits his first lusty holler.


ABNORMAL CRYING

The cry is said to be abnormal when it continues too long or occurs
too often. It may be strong and continuous, quieting down when he is
approached or taken up; or it may be a worrying, fretful cry, a low
moan or a feeble whine. And now as we take up the several cries, their
description, cause, and treatment, we desire to say to the young
mother: Do not yourself begin to fret and worry about deciding just
which class your baby's cry belongs to; for help, knowledge, and
wisdom come to every anxious mother who desires to learn and who is
willing to be taught by observation and experience.


THE HUNGER CRY

The continuous, fretful cry, accompanied by vigorous sucking of the
fists, both of which stop when hunger has been satisfied, is without
question the hunger cry.

If this cry is constant with regular feedings, then the quantity of
the food must be increased, or the quality improved. The tired,
fretful hunger cry must not be neglected; the cause must be removed,
for it points to malnutrition.


THE CRY OF THIRST

One day when lecturing at an Iowa chautauqua, I remained in the
beautiful park for the noonday meal. It was a warm day and the tables
in the well-screened dining tent were filled with mothers who, like
myself, preferred the cool shade of the park to the hot ride through
the city to the home or hotel dinner. At my table a baby was pitifully
crying. The mother had offered the little child seated in a small
uncomfortable go-cart, milk, bread, and a piece of cake--all of which
were ruthlessly pushed aside. My little son, then only four and a
half, said "Mamma, maybe the baby's thirsty," and up he jumped,
hurried to the mother's side with his glass of water, saying, "I
haven't touched it, maybe the baby's thirsty." The mother brushed the
boy aside, saying, "No, I never give the baby water." In spite of the
mother's remonstrance, the baby cried on and on, and finally on
"trying" the water, the child drank fully one-half the glass and the
crying was hushed.

Babies should be given water regularly--many times every day--from
birth, in varying amounts from two teaspoons to one-half cup,
according to the age of the child. The water should be boiled for the
first few months, and longer if there is any suspicion of impurities.

Milk to the nursing infant is like beefsteak and potatoes to the
adult; and many times the milk bottle or the breast is just as
nauseating to the thirsty babe, as meat would be to the very thirsty
adult whose hunger has previously been fully satisfied.


THE FRETFUL CRY

The babe who is wet, soiled, too hot, or is wrapped too tightly, or
who has on a tight, uncomfortable belly band, or whose clothing is
full of wrinkles, has only one way to tell us of his discomfort, and
that is to cry. It is a fretful cry and should command an immediate
investigation as to the possible cause. It takes but a moment to
discover a wet diaper; to run the hand up the back under the clothes;
to sprinkle with talcum if perspiring; to straighten out the wrinkled
clothing; to find the unfastened pin that pricks; or to loosen the
tight band. Acquire the art of learning to perform these simple tasks
easily, and any or all of these services should be rendered without
taking the child from its bed.

Let the child early learn to rest happily and quietly in his own bed.
The pillow or mattress may be turned or perhaps the mattress be raised
nearer the edge of the basinet. One poor youngster instantly stopped
his fretful cry when his mattress was raised four or five inches so he
could get the air, at the same time taking him out of his hot room to
a cooler room with raised windows. Babies like cold air. They cry when
the air is hot, or even warm and close. Every day--rain or shine, wind
or sleet--babies should nap out of doors on the porch, in a
well-sheltered corner. A screen or a blanket protects from the wind,
sleet, or rain; and if the baby's finger tips are warm, you can rest
assured the feet and body are warm. Scores of babies will sleep out on
the porch, on the protected fire escape, or in a room with opened
windows, from one bottle or feeding to another; being aroused at the
end of the three or four hour interval just enough to nurse, when
back they go to their delightful, warm nest in the cool, fresh air to
sleep for another period. Babies should never sleep in a room with
closed windows.

One of the incidents that surprised me most in my early work with
dispensary babies was the utter misconception of the purpose of the
belly band. Invariably it was put on so tightly that I could not slip
a finger between it and the babe. It is not a surgical instrument,
neither is it a truss. These tight belly bands are a source of much
fretting and crying.


THE PAIN CRY

The little pinched look about the face, the drawing up of the legs,
the jerking of the head, arms, or legs, associated with a strong,
sharp, unceasing or intermittent cry, demands immediate attention Our
first work should be to go about quietly, painstakingly, and
systematically to locate the cause of this "cry of pain."

There are often some accompanying symptoms to the cry of pain which
demand skilled medical advice and attention, such as the arching of
the body backward, the drawing of the head strongly to one side, the
inability to use one side of the body, or the presence of fever. There
may be an earache, an abdominal complication, or a sore throat, any
one of which will be detected by the skilled doctor.

Earache frequently occurs in young babies who have been taken out of
doors without proper protection to the ears; or, it may be associated
with a cold in the head, which is not detected until the mischief has
already been done, while the resulting running ear tells the tale of
woeful suffering. Earache must always be thought of as a possible
cause when the cry of pain accompanies a cold in the head, and if
medical aid is secured early, the abscess may be aborted and the
deafness of later years entirely avoided. There is only one home
remedy for earache, and that is the application of external heat,
either by a hot-water bottle or hot-salt bag. Medical advice should be
sought before anything whatsoever is dropped into the baby's ear.

In this connection should be mentioned the wild cry at night which so
often accompanies tuberculosis of the bone. A careful X-Ray
examination will reveal the disease, and proper medical measures
should be instituted at once. Other fretful night crying will be
mentioned further on.


HABIT CRYING

By the frequent repetition of actions, habits are formed. When the
baby is two or three days old, he is so new to us and we have waited
for him so long, and it is such a great big world that he has come
into, that we jump, dance, and scramble to attend to his every need
and adequately to provide for his every want. At this very early,
tender age whenever he opens his mouth to cry or even murmur--some
fond auntie or some overly indulgent caretaker flies to his side as if
she had been shot out of a gun, grabs him up and ootsey tootsey's him
about as she endeavors to entertain and quiet him. The next time and
the next time and the succeeding time he whimpers--like a flash
someone dashes to the side of the basket, and baby soon learns that
when he opens his mouth and yells, somebody comes. In less than a week
the mischief has been done and baby is badly spoiled. No other factor
enters so largely into the sure "spoiled" harvest as picking a new
baby up every time he cries. Often in the early days some indulgent
parent will say, "Oh, don't turn out the light, something might happen
to the dear little thing"--and old Mother Nature sees to it that a
constant repetition of "leaving the light on" brings its sure harvest
of "he just won't go to sleep without the light." And then, "just
once" he had the pacifier--perhaps to prevent his crying disturbing
some sick member of the family--and so we go on and on. If a thing is
bad, it is bad, and a supposedly good excuse will not lessen the evil
when the habit has been thus started and acquired.

The rocking of babies to sleep may be a beautiful portrayal of mother
love, but we all pity the child who has to be rocked to sleep as much
as we do the mother who sits and rocks, wanting, Oh, so much! to do
some work or go for a walk--but she must wait till baby goes to
sleep.


THE TEMPER CRY

And so now we come to the temper cry--that lusty, strong outburst of
the cry of disappointment when he finds that all of a sudden people
have stopped jumping and dancing for his every whim. The baby is not
to blame. We began something we could not keep up, and he--the
innocent recipient of all our indulgences--is in no sense at fault. It
is most cruel to encourage these habits of petty indulgence, which
must cause so much future disappointment and suffering on the part of
the little fellow as he begins to grow up.

Nobody is particularly attracted to the spoiled baby. After the
over-indulgent parent and caretaker have completed their thoughtless
work, they themselves are ashamed of it and not infrequently begin to
criticise the product of their own making--the formation of these
unpleasant bad habits. More than anything else, the spoiled child
needs a new environment, new parents, and a new life.


THE SPOILED BABY

Seek to find out if possible--and it usually is possible--just what he
is crying for. It may be for the pacifier, for the light, or to be
rocked, jolted, carried, taken up and rocked at night, or a host of
other trifles; and if he is immediately hushed on getting his soul's
desire--then we know he is "spoiled."

The unfortunate thing about it all is that the one who has indulged
and spoiled the baby usually does not possess the requisite nerve,
grit, and will power to carry out the necessary program for baby's
cure. And the pity of it all is that overindulgence in babyhood so
often means wrecked nerves and shattered happiness in later life. So,
fond, indulgent parents, do your offspring the very great kindness to
fight it out with them while they are young, even if it takes all
summer, and thus spare them neurasthenia, hysteria, and a host of
other evils in later life.

This sort of "spoiled baby crying" can be stopped only through stern
discipline--simply let the baby "cry it out." The first lesson may
require anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and thirty minutes.
The second lesson requires a much shorter time, and, in normal babies
with a balanced nervous system, a third or fourth lesson is not
usually required.


THE CRY OF SERIOUS ILLNESS

The cry of the severely sick child is the saddest cry of all. The low
wail or moan strikes terror to the saddened mother-heart. It is often
moaned out when the child is ill with "summer complaint" or other
intestinal disturbances. Instant help must be secured, and, if medical
help is not obtainable, remember, with but one or two exceptions, you
are safe in carefully washing out the bowels, in applying external
heat and giving warmed, boiled water to drink.

Another cry which demands immediate attention, and the faithful
carrying out of the doctor's orders, is the hoarse, "throaty" cry
indicative of croup or bronchitis.


THE COLICKY CRY

Perhaps the greatest cause of the most crying during infancy, next to
that of over-indulgence, is ordinary colic which--

... manifests itself in every degree of disturbance from mere
peevishness and fretfulness to severe and intensely painful
attacks in which restlessness passes into grunting, writhing, and
kicking; the forehead becomes puckered and the face has an
agonized expression; the baby tends to scream violently and draws
his thighs up against his belly, which will usually be found to
be hard and more or less distended.

A colicky baby completely upsets the household and greatly disturbs
the mother, who requires both quiet and rest that she may the better
produce the life-sustaining stream so much needed for the upbuilding
and development of the growing child.


COLIC IN THE BREAST-FED

While colic is so often seen in the bottle-fed babe, it often occurs
in the breast-fed child, and is usually traceable to some error in the
mother's diet or to some other maternal nutritional disturbance. One
mother who was sure she had eaten nothing outside the diet suggestions
she had received, was requested to bring to the office a fresh
voiding of her own urine which was found to be highly acid. The
administration of an alkaline such as simple baking soda or calcined
magnesia to the mother, corrected this acidity, and the colic in the
baby entirely disappeared. I recall the case of one mother who ate her
dinner in the middle of the day, with a light meal in the evening and
thereby stopped the colic in her babe.

Another source of colic in the breast-fed baby is the unclean nipple.
The nipples should be washed with soap and water and rinsed in boracic
acid solution before each nursing. If the mother worries greatly, or
thoughtlessly "gets very angry" just before the nursing hour, there is
a substance known as "epinephrin" secreted by the glands located just
above the kidneys which is thrown into the blood stream and which
raises the blood pressure of the mother and often produces not only
colic in the babe, but many times throws him into severe convulsions.


COLIC IN BOTTLE-FED BABIES

There are many opportunities for colic in the bottle-fed baby; for
instance, dirty bottles, dirty nipples, careless cleansing of utensils
used in the preparation of baby's food, improper mixtures, too much
flour, the wrong kind of sugar, too much cream or too little
water--all these things help to produce wind under pressure in the
intestine, which is commonly known as colic. Underfeeding or
overfeeding, too rapid feeding or too frequent feeding also contribute
their mite in producing colic.

As a rule, the bottle-fed child is fed too often. In the new born, the
interval between feeds should be three hours from the start; after six
months the interval may be lengthened to four hours.


COLIC AND CHILLINESS

Hiccough--a spasm of the diaphragm--often accompanies colic, and, in
the case of infants, is usually due to the swallowing of air or
over-filling the stomach; gentle massage, external heat, and a few
sips of very warm water usually corrects the condition.

The chilling of the skin very often produces a temporary intestinal
congestion with colic as the result. Cold feet, wet diapers, and
loitering at bath are all very likely to produce colic; and when it is
thus caused by chilling, quickly prepare a bath at 100 F., and after
immersing the child for five minutes, wrap up well in warm blankets.


THE TREATMENT OF COLIC

Those of my mother readers who have electric lights in their home,
will find the photophore to be a source of great comfort and
convenience; for this simple contrivance is usually able to banish
colic in a few moments. The photophore is simply radiant heat--heat
plus light (See Fig. 3)--and as this heat is applied to legs and
buttocks of the crying child the diaper is warmed, the abdomen
relaxes, gas is expelled, intestinal contractions relieved, and the
baby is soon fast asleep.

Occasionally with the aid of the photophore, and even without it, the
warm two-ounce enema containing a level teaspoon of baking soda and a
level teaspoon of salt to a pint of water when allowed to flow into
the bowel, will soon bring down both gas and feces to the great relief
of the baby. Warm water to drink is also very helpful. Putting the
feet in very warm water is also quieting to the crying colicky babe.

It is often necessary in cases of repeated and persistent colic, to
give a full dose of castor oil to clear out the bowel tract. Do not
jolt or bounce the baby, do not carry him about, and don't walk the
floor with him.

Heat him up inside and outside, warm his clothing and his bedding, and
thus bring about relief without sowing seeds for future trouble--the
sorrow of a spoiled child.

One very quiet little baby was one day brought to the dispensary whose
mother said: "Doctor, I didn't bring him 'cause he's sick, but 'cause
he looks so pale; he's as quiet as a mouse; he never cries any more
since I got to giving him medicine." On examination of the baby and on
inquiring about the medicine, we found that the baby was dead drunk
all the time. Some "neighbor friend" had told the tired out mother,
"Give him a teaspoon of whiskey at each feeding and that'll fix him
all right." If a few more states go dry maybe it will not be so easy
for the ignorant mother to dope and drug her helpless baby.

And neither is paregoric to be administered wholesale for colic. It
contains an opiate, and should not be given without definite orders
from a physician. And so as a parting word on "Why Babies Cry," we ask
each mother to run over the following summary of the chapter, and thus
seek to find out why her baby cries.


BABY CRIES BECAUSE:

He is hungry.
He is thirsty.
He has been given a dirty bottle.
His mother has failed properly to cleanse the nipples.
His food is not prepared right.
His food is too cold.
His bowels are constipated.
His band is too tight.
His clothes are wrinkled.
His diaper is wet.
He is too hot.
He wants fresh air.
He is too cold.
He is in pain.
He is very sick.
His throat is sore.
His ear aches.
He has been rocked, carried, or bounced.
He has been given a pacifier.
He has had too much excitement.
His mother has eaten the wrong food.




CHAPTER XV

THE NURSING MOTHER AND HER BABE


Happy is the mother, and thrice blessed is the babe when he is able to
enjoy the supreme benefits of maternal nursing. The benefits to the
child are far reaching; he stands a better chance of escaping many
infantile diseases; the whole outlook for health--and even life
itself--is greatly improved in the case of the nursing babe, as
compared with the prospect of the bottle-fed child. Maternal nursing
lays the foundation for sturdy manhood and womanhood.

Out of every one hundred bottle-fed babies, an average of thirty die
during the first year, while of the breast-fed babies, only about
seven out of every one hundred die the first year. At the same time,
nursing the babe delivers the mother from all the work and anxiety
connected with the preparation of the artificial food, the dangers and
risks of unclean milk, and the ever-present fear of disease attendant
upon this unnatural feeding. The mother who nurses her child can look
forward to a year of joy and happiness; whereas, if the babe is
weaned, she is compelled to view this first year with many fears and
forebodings. Mother's milk contains every element necessary for the
growth and development of the child, and contains them in just the
proportions required to adapt it as the ideal food for that particular
child.

A dirty baby, properly fed, will thrive. A baby deprived of fresh
air, but wisely fed, will survive and even develop into a strong
healthy man or woman. But the baby raised according to the latest
and most approved rules of sanitation and hygiene, if improperly
fed, will languish and die.


HYGIENE OF NURSING MOTHERS

_Outings and Exercise._ It is most highly important that the nursing
mother should be able thoroughly to digest her food; otherwise the
flow of milk is likely to contain irritants that will disturb the
baby's digestion, even to the point of making him really sick. In
order to avoid these complications, exercise and outings are
absolutely essential for the mother. A vigorous walk, gardening, light
housework or other light athletics, greatly facilitate digestion and
increase the bodily circulation, as well as promote deep breathing,
all of which are of paramount importance to a good appetite and good
digestion.

_The Bowels._ The bowels should move regularly and normally once or
twice during the twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, this is not usually
the case: and in this connection we would refer our reader to the
chapter on "The Hygiene of Pregnancy," particularly those sections
relative to the care of the bowels, recipes for bran bread, lists of
laxative foods and other suggestions pertaining to the hygiene of the
nursing mother.

_Sleep._ Nothing less than eight hours sleep will suffice for the
nursing mother, and during the day she should take at least one nap
with the baby.

_Care of the Skin._ Salt-rub baths are very beneficial taken once a
week. The daily cold-friction rub described elsewhere, will tone up
the system and increase digestion and improve the general well being.
The soap wash may be taken once a week. The thorough cleansing of the
breasts, and the frequent changing of the undergarments, will help to
keep the baby happy; for oftentimes it is the odor of perspiration as
well as the smell of soiled clothing that spoils the appetite of the
baby, causing it to refuse food.

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