Babies - Respiratory Diseases : Part 3

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

(Page 31 of 42)

The Oil-Silk Jacket, or pneumonia jacket, consists of three layers - the inside of cheesecloth, an inner thin sheet of cotton wadding, and an outside layer of oil silk (procurable at any drug store). It should open on the shoulder and under the arm on the same side. It is worn constantly (change for fresh cheesecloth and cotton every day) during the inflammatory stage; it is removed only during the mustard pastes.

A Steam Tent may be prepared by placing a sheet over the infant's crib and allowing steam to enter from a large paper funnel placed in the nose of a tea kettle of boiling water kept hot on a small stove of some sort.

The mattress and bedding are covered with rubber sheeting and the infant's clothes protected from moisture. The baby should remain in this steamy atmosphere ten minutes at a time.

Another method is to hold baby in arms near the large end of a big funnel placed in a tea kettle on the gas stove or range, and then have an assistant help hold a sheet tent over both the mother and babe. Or the baby carriage may be placed over a small tub of water into which are dropped several hot bricks. A sheet canopy spread over the carriage holds the steam in and baby reaps the benefits of the warm moisture.

Colonic Flushing is necessary when green stools accompany bronchitis. A well-lubricated end of a large Davidson's syringe is inserted into the rectum, and with the hips of the baby brought to the edge of a basin (the heels held in the hands of the assistant), water is forced into the rectum. Not more than one ordinary cup of water should be introduced at any one time. After expulsion, another may be gently injected.

The diet in bronchitis is always reduced so that no extra work will be thrown on the already overtaxed constitution of the child.

Absolute rest is necessary and perfect quiet should prevail. The humidity of the room should not be lower than 50 at any time, while the air should be moderately cool and fresh.

Numerous other details which may be necessary in the management of bronchitis will be directed by the physicians and nurses in charge of the case.

Spasmodic Croup

It is believed that children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are much more subject to croup than others. Although very sudden in its onset and very alarming, spasmodic croup, fortunately, is seldom dangerous. A little child goes to bed in apparently normal condition and wakes up suddenly with a coarse metallic cough, difficult breathing, and with a distressed expression on the face.

Alternate hot and cold compresses should be applied to the throat - first the hot cloths (wrung from very hot water) being applied over the throat, which should be covered with a single thickness of dry flannel. Then after three minutes of the hot cloths a very cold cloth is applied to the skin itself for one half minute; then more of the hot compress, followed again by the short cold, until five such changes have been made. A bronchitis tent should be quickly improvised so that the child can be "steamed."

Vomiting must be produced by kerosene (three or four drops on sugar), alum and molasses, or ipecac (ten drops every fifteen minutes). Some remedy must be administered continuously until free vomiting occurs. A good dose of castor oil should be given after the spasm. Suitable treatment should be administered through the day to prevent a recurrence of the attack the next night.

The general vital resistance should be raised by outdoor life, improved circulation, good food; adenoids if present, should be removed.

Medical advice should be sought in every case of severe croup, for membranous croup usually is indicative of diphtheria, and the diagnosis is important, as on it hangs the determination of the administration of antitoxin.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is always a serious disease. It is accompanied by high fever, painful, very short cough, and rapid breathing with a moving in and out of the edges of the nose as well as the spaces between the ribs. The possibilities of complications are always great - the dangers are many - so that the combined watchfulness of both the mother and a proficient trained nurse are required; not to mention the skill of the physician.

The steam tent, the mustard paste, the oil-silk jacket and the colonic flushing (described earlier in this chapter) may all be asked for by the physician in his untiring efforts to prevent dangerous complications during the course of the disease.

Plenty of moderately cool, fresh air (without drafts) is of great benefit. Never allow blue finger tips, or cold ear tips to exist; send at once for the doctor and administer a hot bath, or wrap in a sheet dipped in hot mustard water while awaiting his arrival. No mother should think of attempting to carry her baby through an attack of bronchitis or pneumonia without the best medical help available.

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.