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During
infancy.
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Infants are very
susceptible of the impressions of cold; a proper regard, therefore, to
a
suitable clothing of the body, is imperative to their enjoyment of
health.
Unfortunately, an opinion is prevalent in society, that the tender
child has
naturally a great power of generating heat and resisting cold; and from
this
popular error has arisen the most fatal results. This opinion has been
much
strengthened by the insidious manner in which cold operates on the
frame, the
injurious effects not being always manifest during or immediately after
its
application, so that but too frequently the fatal result is traced to a
wrong
source, or the infant sinks under the action of an unknown cause.
The
power of generating heat in warm-blooded animals is at its minimum at
birth,
and increases successively to adult age; young animals, instead of
being warmer
than adults, are generally a degree or two colder, and part with their
heat
more readily; facts which cannot be too generally known. They show how
absurd
must be the folly of that system of "hardening" the constitution (to
which reference has been before made), which induces the parent to
plunge the
tender and delicate child into the cold bath at all seasons of the
year, and
freely expose it to the cold, cutting currents of an easterly wind,
with the
lightest clothing.
The
principles which ought to guide a parent in clothing her infant are as
follows:
The
material and quantity of the clothes should be such as to preserve a
sufficient
proportion of warmth to the body, regulated therefore by the season of
the
year, and the delicacy or strength of the infant's constitution. In
effecting
this, however, the parent must guard against the too common practice of
enveloping the child in innumerable folds of warm clothing, and keeping
it
constantly confined to very hot and close rooms; thus running into the
opposite
extreme to that to which I have just alluded: for nothing tends so much
to enfeeble
the constitution, to induce disease, and render the skin highly
susceptible to
the impression of cold; and thus to produce those very ailments which
it is the
chief intention to guard against.
In
their make they should be so arranged as to put no restrictions to the
free
movements of all parts of the child's body; and so loose and easy as to
permit
the insensible perspiration to have a free exit, instead of being
confined to
and absorbed by the clothes, and held in contact with the skin, till it
gives
rise to irritation.
In
their quality they should be such as not to irritate the delicate skin
of the
child. In infancy, therefore, flannel is rather too rough, but is
desirable as
the child grows older, as it gives a gentle stimulus to the skin, and
maintains
health.
In
its
construction the dress should be so simple as to admit of being quickly
put on,
since dressing is irksome to the infant, causing it to cry, and
exciting as
much mental irritation as it is capable of feeling. Pins should be
wholly
dispensed with, their use being hazardous through the carelessness of
nurses,
and even through the ordinary movements of the infant itself.
The
clothing must be changed daily. It is eminently conducive to good
health that a
complete change of dress should be made every day. If this is not done,
washing
will, in a great measure, fail in its object, especially in insuring
freedom
from skin diseases.
During
childhood.
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The
clothing of the child should possess the same properties as that of
infancy. It
should afford due warmth, be of such materials as do not irritate the
skin, and
so made as to occasion no unnatural constriction.
In
reference to due warmth, it may be well again to repeat, that too
little
clothing is frequently productive of the most sudden attacks of active
disease;
and that children who are thus exposed with thin clothing in a climate
so
variable as ours are the frequent subjects of croup, and other
dangerous
affections of the air- passages and lungs. On the other hand, it must
not be
forgotten, that too warm clothing is a source of disease, sometimes
even of the
same diseases which originate in exposure to cold, and often renders
the frame
more susceptible of the impressions of cold, especially of cold air
taken into
the lungs. Regulate the clothing, then, according to the season; resume
the
winter dress early; lay it aside late; for it is in spring and autumn
that the
vicissitudes in our climate are greatest, and congestive and
inflammatory
complaints most common.
With
regard to material (as was before observed), the skin will at this age
bear
flannel next to it; and it is now not only proper, but necessary. It
may be put
off with advantage during the night, and cotton maybe substituted
during the
summer, the flannel being resumed early in the autumn. If from very
great
delicacy of constitution it proves too irritating to the skin, fine
fleecy
hosiery will in general be easily endured, and will greatly conduce to
the
preservation of health.
It
is
highly important that the clothes of the boy should be so made that no
restraints shall be put on the movements of the body or limbs, nor
injurious
pressure made on his waist or chest. All his muscles ought to have full
liberty
to act, as their free exercise promotes both their growth and activity,
and
thus insures the regularity and efficiency of the several functions to
which
these muscles are subservient.
The
same remarks apply with equal force to the dress of the girl; and
happily,
during childhood, at least, no distinction is made in this matter
between the
sexes. Not so, however, when the girl is about to emerge from this
period of
life; a system of dress is then adopted which has the most pernicious
effects
upon her health, and the development of the body, the employment of
tight
stays, which impede the free and full action of the respiratory organs,
being
only one of the many restrictions and injurious practices from which in
latter
years they are thus doomed to suffer so severely.
Note:
While every
care is taken to provide medically accurate and up to date information
in this web site, it is to be noted that this advice is not intended to
replace the advice of your physician. Before undertaking the advice
contained in this web site, you should consult a medical professional.
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