A practical treatise on the diseases of children / By D. Francis Condie.
- David Francis Condie
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A practical treatise on the diseases of children / By D. Francis Condie. Source: Wellcome Collection.
32/730 page 42
![the flannel excites an irritation of the skin, or produces profuse perspi- ration, thick muslin may be substituted, or a soft muslin dress may be worn next to the body, and over this a flannel garment. a The fashion of a child’s clothing is a matter of perfect indifference if the material of which it is composed be sufficiently warm, and it be. made perfectly loose, and to protect effectually every part of the body. To leave the neck, shoulders, and arms of a child nearly or quite bare, however warmly the rest of the body may be clad, is a sure means of endangering its comfort and health; violent attacks of croup or bron- chitis, or even inflammation of the lungs, are often induced by this irra- tional custom; and it is not improbable that the foundation of pulmo- nary consumption is often thus laid during childhood. It is an important precaution, therefore, to have the dress worn by children so constructed as to protect the neck, breast, and shoulders, and with sleeves long enough to reach to the wrists. By having its garments of sufficient length, the lower extremities of _ an infant may be kept perfectly warm, especially if in cool weather, the feet are covered with soft woollen socks; but when it becomes old enough to be carried abroad, or commences to walk, its legs and feet should be defended by soft woollen stockings which reach above the knees, but without garters, and by easy comfortable shoes, of some soft material, with leather soles; the latter are indispensable when- ever the child is placed upon the floor, to protect its feet from being injured by any sharp substance with which they may accidentally come in contact. | The head, even from birth, may be fully protected, under every degree of exposure to which it is proper to subject an infant, without the necessity of enveloping it day and night with a cap. When on the lap of the mother or nurse, if the room be of a proper temperature, a soft woollen shaw], thrown loosely around the infant’s neck and. shoul- ders, and brought up over its head so as to form a kind of hood, will be sufficient to guard it from any accidental draft of cool air. When carried abroad, in cool weather, a similar covering will render any other than a thin, light, and soft cap, unnecessary. | Caps when worn within doors, are objectionable by keeping the child’s head too warm, and thus inviting to the brain an additional amount of blood, at a period when, from its soft texture and great vas- cularity, it is prone to hyperemia and to inflammation from slight causes. ‘I'he material of which the cap is composed, being generally lace or worked muslin, by the roughness or harshness of its surface is calculated also to fret and irritate the delicate skin with which it is in contact, and if not productive of eruptions, cannot fail to occasion con- siderable uneasiness to the child. By covering and confining the ears, and compressing them against the sides of the head, the cap, even if it occasion no other injury, is apt to produce pain and inflammation of these organs, or a disgusting, sometimes dangerous, soreness and run- ning behind them. es ae ia Pane It is all-important that every part of a child’s clothing should be sufficiently loose to give perfect freedom to all its movements, and to prevent compression of any portion of the chest, loins, or extremities ;](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33285081_0032.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
