Why Babies Cry : Illness, Chilliness

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 16 of 42)

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 up building 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 calcium 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 boric 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 "epinephrine" 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 therefore 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 - 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 therefore 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 therefore seek to find out why her baby cries.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.