Baby's Sick Room : Part 1

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

(Page 26 of 41)

Visitors should never be allowed in the sick room during the height of a disease, and during convalescence not more than one visitor should be allowed at one time, and the visit then should be only two or three minutes in length. The order and the quietness and the system of the sick room should be perfect. Visitors and loitering members of the family do no good and they may do much harm to the recuperating nervous system of the child.

Location of the Sick Room

In these days of high rents, we realize that the greater percent of our readers are living in apartments and homes just big enough conveniently to care for the family during health, and while it would be pleasant and convenient to have a spare room or an attic chamber that could be used in case of illness, it is the exception rather than the rule that the families to whom sickness comes have these extra apartments. When a contagious or an infectious disease comes to the family, it is of great importance that the sick child be isolated, preferably on another floor, from that used by the immediate family.

Those living in homes, more than likely can fix up a room on the attic floor for the isolation, and those living in apartments may put the sick child in one end of the apartment, while they inhabit the other end. One family under my observation not long ago had a child stricken with the measles. In the same apartment there lived a puny baby not quite two years old. Coming as it did in February, the mother of the child was apprehensive, fearing that measles would leave a severe bronchitis which might mean the death of the already too-delicate baby.

She was instructed to move the baby's bed to the sun parlor in the front of the flat, while the boy with the measles was put in the parents' room in the rear end of the flat. A sheet was suspended in the middle of the hall leading from the living-room to the bedrooms. Door knobs were disinfected daily, a caretaker was put in charge of the measles patient, the mother very frequently was compelled to go back and administer a treatment, but each time she donned a large apron and completely covered her hair with a towel, she administered the treatment, took off her wrappings, thoroughly washed her face and hands - disinfected them - and returned to her baby in the front part of the house.

At night this mother slept on the floor on springs and mattress in the living-room, and to that home the measles came and departed, and the baby did not get them at all, so perfect was the isolation, so vigilant the disinfection, and so scrupulous the care to prevent contamination. So you see from this one instance that it is altogether possible to make isolation complete even on the same floor. But, mind you, the dishes that the lad ate from were all kept in his room. Food was brought to the sheet and there the caretaker held her dishes while the cook poured or lifted the food from her clean dishes to the dishes the caretaker brought from the sick room.

Whether the sick room is in the attic or whether it be the rear end of an apartment, if the principles of contagion and disinfection are understood I believe it is perfectly possible to isolate even scarlet fever without danger to the other members of the family.

Necessary Furnishings

For slight indispositions and trifling disorders, it is not necessary to strip the room of its adornment, but it is well to clear off the dresser tops, protect them well with many thicknesses of newspapers covered over by a folded sheet so that alcohol, witch-hazel and other necessaries will not injure the mahogany or oak-top dresser. Whenever the children are sick, rob the room of anything that is going to be in your way. In instances of infectious or contagious diseases, take down all silk or wool hangings, replace them by washable curtains or inexpensive ones that can be burned if necessary, and remove valuable paintings and other bric-a-brac that later fumigation will harm or that may gather the dust during the days of illness.

Just as it is necessary for the man who mines the coal to wear suitable garments, and for the woman who does the scrubbing to dress accordingly, and for the nurse who cares for the case to wear washable clothes - so it is necessary to dress the sick room in garments that are suitable, convenient, and capable of being thoroughly disinfected, fumigated, or even burned if the occasion demands. Hence, expensive rugs should be replaced by rag carpets or no rug at all, while unnecessary articles and garments should be removed from closets, etc.

Remembering that the little fellow is to remain in this room for possibly two weeks or maybe six weeks, let us put up some bright-colored pictures that he will enjoy, bring in some books and magazines by which he may be entertained, secure a few simple toys that will not tax the brain, but serve as a help to pass away the long hours. There are many paper games that may be had, such as transfer pictures, picture puzzles, kindergarten papers, drawing pictures, as well as toys that may be put together to fashion new articles. A whole lot of fun can be gotten out of a bunch of burrs that can be stuck together to make men, animals, houses, etc. Scissors and pictures are entertaining as well as paper dolls with their wardrobes. Rubber balloons, or a target gun for the boy of six will be a great source of delight to him; as will a doll with a trunk full of clothes for the little girl during her convalescent days. A tactful nurse and a resourceful mother will think of all the rest that we have not mentioned - which will amuse, entertain and keep happy our convalescent children, help them to forget that they are "shut ins."

The Nursery Refrigerator

It is wise in instances of the more severe childhood troubles, such as infectious and contagious diseases, to keep as many things in the sick room as possible, and so we remind our reader of the home-made ice box, described elsewhere in this book, in which may be kept the fruit juices and the fruits, as well as the milk and the buttermilk. Many medicines, particularly the oily medicines, should be kept in this home-made ice box and five cents worth of ice a day will not only make things taste better, especially during the warm months, but will protect the other members of the family, for the family ice box is a big central station which must be protected against infections and carriers of disease.

In connection with the ice box, we are reminded that it would be a great convenience to have a simple contrivance for heating bouillon, milk, or making a piece of toast, which can be readily done with an electric heater, an alcohol stove, or a small apparatus fitting over the gas jet.

Sick Room Disinfectants

The most important thing which we are going to mention in this division of the chapter is the disinfection of the door knobs. According to the directions on the poison bottle, place an antiseptic tablet into a small amount of water which will make a solution of 1 to 1000 of bichlorid of mercury, and several times a day disinfect the door knobs, particularly in the sick end of the house - thoroughly washing and adequately rubbing with a towel moistened in this solution.

All stools and urine from the sick one will receive attention as directed by the physician. The stools from a typhoid patient should stand for one-half hour in a chamber covered with a layer of lime.

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.