Babies - Nervous Diseases : Part 1

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

(Page 31 of 42)

In this chapter we should consider a number of the more common diseases which are associated with the nervous system of the child. Some of these so-called nervous diseases are hereditary or congenital, while others are the result of infection and environment.

Sleeplessness - Insomnia

There are many conditions which cause sleeplessness or insomnia in a child aside from disturbance of the mental state or nervous system. For instance, late romping, too hearty and too late a dinner, lack of outdoor life during the day, badly ventilated sleeping rooms, too much bedding, too little bedding which causes cold extremities, too much sleep during the day, too much excitement (movies or receptions), intestinal indigestion which is associated with accumulation of gas, and constipation - any or all of these are causes of sleeplessness. Some peculiarly nervous children - those with an hereditary strain of nervousness - are easily upset or disturbed by any of the conditions above mentioned.

The treatment of insomnia consists, first, in finding the cause and removing it. Children with a nervous tendency should be let alone as nearly as possible, and just allowed to grow up as the little lambs and calves grow up. They should be fed, watered, kept clean and dry, and allowed to live their lives undisturbed and without excitement.

The medicinal remedies on the market for insomnia are all harmful if used too long or in excess, and we most earnestly urge the mother not to seek drug-store information concerning remedies for sleeplessness. The neutral bath is beneficial in ninety percent of these cases. It is administered as follows: Enough water is allowed to run into the bath tub to cover the child. The temperature should be 99 to 100 F. It should be taken accurately - and should be maintained. Bath tub thermometers may be purchased at any drug store. The restless child, after the bowels have been freely moved, is placed in the water, and, without whispering, talking, or laughing, he remains there for at least twenty minutes, after which he is carefully lifted out, wrapped in a sheet and very gently dried off with soothing strokes and placed at once into his night clothes. As before said, ninety percent of restless children will go at once to sleep after such a treatment.

Another method of treating sleeplessness is by the wet-sheet pack. Three single woolen blankets are placed on the bed and a sheet large enough to wrap the child in is wrung from warm water, about 100 F. The child is stripped and this sheet is brought in contact with every portion of his body, quickly followed by bringing the flannel blankets about him and he is allowed to remain there for twenty minutes - if he does not fall asleep before the lapse of that time. With witch-hazel or alcohol, the body is sponged off, night clothes are put on and a restful night usually follows. If fresh air is lacking, open the windows. If there is too much bedding, remove some of it. Talcum powder the sweaty back and neck and make the child perfectly comfortable. Give a small drink of water and turn out the light.

Night Terrors

Night terrors are probably due to some digestive disturbance, with a coexisting highly nervous temperament. They oftentimes, in older children, follow the reading of thrilling stories or a visit to an exciting moving-picture show. The child goes to sleep and gets along nicely for two or three hours and then suddenly jumps up out of bed and rushes to its mother with little or no explanation for the act. In his dreams the thoughts and the imaginations of his waking moments are all confounded and alarming.

We recall one little fellow who constantly feared big, black birds coming in the window and attacking him - he had been reading about Sinbad the Sailor and his experiences with the big bird. He so feared this big, black bird that he could not go to sleep. For a number of nights he did not have the courage to tell his parents that it was the fear of the big bird that kept him from going to sleep, but finally he confided in his mother and told her of his fear.

The mother and father both entered into a conversation with him through an open door which connected the two rooms, after the lights were out; they laughed and talked about the big bird, they openly talked of it and allowed their imagination to work with the child's imagination in planning how he could combat with the bird, should it really come, asking him how big it really was and what color he thought its eyes were and how big an object he thought its feet could carry. They all three planned a fairy story they might write which would rival the fairy stories of the Arabian Nights. In a very short time - possibly a week or ten days - the little fellow felt quite equal to these imaginary assaults, his fears were quieted and his slumbers were no more disturbed by visions of the big, black bird.

Everything should be done to relieve the stomach and intestines of laborious work during the sleeping hours, hence let the evening meal be light and eaten early enough to be out of the way, as far as digestion is concerned, by bed time.

Nervousness

During the formative period of the nervous system - the first few years - under no circumstances should the children be played with late at night, when they are tired and sleepy, or hungry, for it is at such times that the nervous system is so easily excited and irritated. When the baby is to be played with, if at all, it should be in the morning or after the mid-day nap. Rest and peaceful surroundings are of paramount importance to the nervous child, and he should be left alone to amuse himself several hours each day. It is a deplorable fact that the nervous child - the very one that should be left alone - is the very child that usually receives the most attention, the very one who is most petted, indulged, and pacified; all of which only tends to increase his lack of self-control and to multiply the future sorrows of his well-meaning but indulgent parents.

Headache

Headache attacks old and young alike, and the young infant that is unable to tell us he has a headache manifests it by rolling the head from side to side, putting his hand to his head, or by wrinkling up his brow. Headaches may be occasioned by disorders of the brain and spinal column, such as meningitis. It nearly always accompanies fever, and is often a result of constipation, intestinal indigestion, overeating, as well as eating the wrong kind of food.

The treatment of headache in children (aside from removing any known cause) consists of a hot foot bath, a brief mustard paste to the back of the neck, a light diet - sometimes nothing but water - and the administration of a laxative.

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.