The Care of Children in Sickness and in Health

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Overview

What this book is about

The Care of Children in Sickness and in Health is Kneipp's third major work, written explicitly for mothers. Where My Water Cure (1891) catalogued hydrotherapy for adults and Thus Shalt Thou Live (1889) gave a complete lifestyle framework, this book narrows the focus to the complete child: from pre-conception through adolescence, through illness and back to health.

The book is structured as a practical manual Kneipp explicitly invites mothers to read before any serious illness strikes, so they are not confused in a moment of panic. The underlying philosophy is consistent with his other works: the child's constitution is built or destroyed by the choices made from birth onward. Cold water, fresh air, coarse linen clothing, whole-grain food, and barefoot living build a resistant constitution; warm baths, woolly wrappings, refined flour, coffee, and overheated nurseries produce fragile, disease-prone children.

A distinctive feature of this book is its frank spiritual register. Kneipp is a Bavarian Catholic priest writing for other Catholics, and he frames parental duties in explicitly religious terms — parents are "God's deputies" and child-rearing is a sacred commission. Physical health and moral health are treated as inseparable throughout.

The book also contains Kneipp's sharpest statement of vaccination scepticism, backed by case histories of children who became severely ill immediately after vaccination, and his position that monthly hayflower-shirt applications would make small-pox vaccines unnecessary.

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Key Ideas

The core frameworks and findings

Parental health before conception is determinative

Physical disease, mental infirmities, and moral vices all transmit to children — "unto the third and fourth generation." Both parents must be sound in mind and body before undertaking marriage. Alcohol, bad nutrition, violent emotions during pregnancy, and excessive work all contribute to infant mortality. The book opens with this as foundation before discussing child care at all.

Cold water from the first day of life

A newborn should be dipped in cold water immediately — it causes a "strong concussion," expands the lungs, and braces the whole system. Country people already do this for calves and foals that cannot draw breath. The practice is to dip for 2–3 seconds, wrap in dry unwarmed cloth (do not dry), and put to bed. Warm baths debilitate; if used for cleanliness, always follow with a cold rinse.

Fresh air is as critical as water

Nurseries kept at 20–22°C are harmful; 15°C suffices. Children born in May are healthier not because of the month but because they get into fresh air sooner. Children wrapped in fur, wool caps, and throat coverings before outdoor trips are weakened, not protected. Infants should not go months without leaving the house — this is a cause of the alarming infant mortality rate.

Linen only next to skin

The infant's first shirt should be of coarse (not fine) linen. Coarse linen educates the tender skin to bear bracing, absorbs perspiration and lets it evaporate. Too-fine linen stops perspiration in the pores. Wool or synthetic garments cause disease. This extends to stockings — give thread stockings late; gloves for boys are superfluous; fur gloves "laughable." No swathing bands.

Clothing must be loose everywhere

No tight head bands (cause forehead depression and stunted brain development — skull is as soft as wax). No tight collars (can produce blood obstructions leading to epilepsy — collar must allow a whole hand between it and neck). No tight chest binding (prevents lung and organ development). No tight shoes (cause warts, corns; tight stockings stop blood and force it to the head). No India-rubber soles or galoshes.

Barefoot from infancy is medicine

Children should be barefoot in the room and outdoors as much as possible. The story of a neighbour's girl wandering happily in the snow in only a smock before age three illustrates Kneipp's position: such children grow up strong. Barefoot running races are healthy; wading in streams is a bracing pleasure children instinctively seek. Shoes are an emergency measure only.

Breastfeeding is a law of nature

The mother must breastfeed herself — it is "a law set down by God." A wet nurse transmits not only possible physical disease but character and vices. If a wet nurse is truly unavoidable, she must be young, physically and morally healthy with no history of serious illness. Kneipp's remarkable preference: artificial nourishment is better than a wet nurse because it contains nothing harmful. Recommended substitutes: acorn coffee (every 2 hours, with honey), malt coffee, diluted cow's milk (one-third water) with added barley-water, water-gruel, or grits-water to assist digestion.

No soporifics — ever

Giving children poppy tea or a brandy-dipped cork to make them sleep is "simply strong poison." Children who cry are not always in pain; crying strengthens the lungs. Parents should not rock, sing, or carry children to sleep — habit creates dependency. Regularity of feeding produces regularity of sleep. The anecdote of the father of five who never lost a night's sleep because his children were fed on a strict schedule (every 2 hours by day, once at night) is given as the model.

Simple nourishing food; no stimulants

Children's diet: milk (always boil first; add a little crushed fennel), oat or barley soup, bread soup, whole-grain pap, potatoes, fruit, small amounts of lean meat for older children. Coffee causes St. Vitus' Dance, nervousness, and other infirmities. Beer makes blood poor and bodies spongy. Wine has no nourishment. Sweet pastry ruins the stomach and causes blood poverty. Sugar turns acid in the stomach and destroys tooth enamel. Spices cause excessive blood pressure to the head. Refined white flour has had its nutritive value removed.

Strict feeding order prevents most digestive disease

No food more than 5–6 times per day; never between meals. Children must eat slowly (well-masticated food is half digested). Food must not be too hot (destroys tooth enamel; causes mouth disease). Never give reheated food (it partially decays). Prevent eating sweets and confectioners' goods.

Vaccination scepticism backed by case history

Kneipp presents cases of children who were perfectly healthy until vaccination and then developed severe, multi-year eruptions, ulcers, and eye disease that could not be cured by medicine. He documents curing one such child in four weeks with hayflower shirts and cold water — proving water can do what vaccination was claimed to do (expel disease-matter). His alternative preventive: a hayflower-water shirt worn once or twice monthly from infancy. He would "hail with joy a law compelling every child" to do this instead of vaccination.

Bone formation requires bracing, not just nourishment

Children can have poor nutrition and still have good bones if the system is braced to absorb nutrients. They can have excellent food and still have weak bones if the system is too debilitated to assimilate. Remedies for weak bone formation: bone-powder (a pinch daily in milk), powdered chalk, oak-bark tea. Mechanical instruments for spinal curvature are harmful because they compress circulation; water cure is more effective and removes the need for them.

School-age over-intellectualisation

Schools crowd too many subjects into children, leaving no time for physical exercise or practical work. Parents who push academic achievement damage children's physical and moral development. The balance is "the golden middle path." Children must be taught to value work through example and encouragement, not nagging. The school of practical life is as important as academic education.

The Tomboy/Hoyden age (adolescence) needs more supervision, not less

Most parents relax oversight when children reach their teens — exactly the wrong moment. Leisure time is more dangerous than work time. Parents must provide wholesome home entertainment, nature walks, tending bees or fruit trees, reading and innocent games — not leave young people to find their own pleasures (public houses, dance halls).

Water applications in sickness: three core tools

The Third Part introduces: (1) Compresses/bandages — wet cloth over abdomen, covered with dry cloth to trap heat; (2) Half-bath (immersion) — child dipped to armpits for 2–3 seconds from warm bed, placed back without drying; best in morning; not in evening; (3) Wet shirt — coarse linen, tolerably wet, put on warm body, stroked flat to distribute moisture, child wrapped in blanket for 1–1.5 hours. In herb decoctions (hayflower quarter-hour, oat-straw half-hour) for deeper disease-matter dissolution. ---

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Chapter by chapter — click to expand

§ First Part — Brief Advice to Parents ▾

Healthy marriages require sound mind and body in both parents
Physical and moral defects transmit to children; vices pass "unto the third and fourth generation"
Water can make diseased bodies healthy and indirectly strengthen the mind
Country poor women (eating bread-soup, whole-grain food, potatoes) are strongest and healthiest mothers
Refined flour condemned; potatoes undervalued but excellent
Avoid: excessive meat (heats and impures blood), acid foods (vinegar), heavy salt, ham, smoked meat
Recommend: milk and rye bread; black bread + sugar water between meals
Beverages: no beer (fattens, spongy body), no wine (no nourishment), no coffee/chocolate/tea, no alcohol — water only
Malt coffee acceptable; brenn-soup and bread-soup preferable
Eat less than fully satisfied; small quantities more completely digested
Dress simple; linen on the body
Not laced or tightly fastened; loose round throat
Tight-lacing ruins mother and child
Garters worn too tight cause varicose veins
Warm narrow shoes produce open ulcers via circulatory disturbance
Woollen drawers are harmful; they drive blood away from feet
Water as "medicine chest" for mothers
Whole-body washing 2–3 times per week on rising (one minute, leave to dry of itself)
Half-baths 2–3 times per week (1–3 seconds; to under the arms; not within 2 hours of main meal; not just before bed)
Hayflower-water shirt once per fortnight for deeper cleansing
Barefoot walking as sacred duty — draws blood from head; prevents headache and toothache
Religious practice; control of passions during pregnancy
Subdue anger, pride, avarice; avoid quarrels; moderate work is a blessing

§ Second Part — The Care of Children in Health ▾

Immediate cold water immersion at birth: braces system, facilitates breathing
Pure air at birth as critical as water: oxygen-rich air essential for lung expansion
Bath temperature guide: hot = over 30°R; tepid = 20–22°R; cool = 15–10°R; cold = under 10°R
Method: dip 2–3 seconds; no drying; wrap in dry unwarmed cloth; to bed
Warm baths: maximum once or twice per week for cleanliness; always end with cold dip
Overheated nurseries (20–22°R instead of 14–15°R) + over-wrapping = root cause of infant deaths
Cold air is not dangerous for infants; keeping them indoors for months is
Clothing: light, sufficient, porous — air must reach the whole body
No tight head bindings (cause forehead depression + weak intellect — skull soft as wax)
No close-fitting cap — Creator provided hair as head covering; tight caps cause scurfy head eruptions
Linen only next to skin: coarse (not fine) for the infant's first shirt
No woollen shoes or socks in bassinettes
Barefoot in room and outdoors as much as possible
Clean linen is essential; dirty linen causes disease; never dry wet clothes in nursery
Dry, light, regularly aired — minimal difference from outdoors
Not overheated: 15°R is sufficient
No pastilles or perfumes; open the window instead
Not too soft; not feather-cuirass (overheats → then child shivers in air)
Straw mattress + soft straw bolster + thin eiderdown quilt recommended
Firm, even lower surface; head only slightly raised (fill nape space)
Nightdress loose at sleeves and collar
Cradle use dying out — good; misuse causes dangerous illness
Perambulator praised; children should not sleep in adult beds
Let children sleep as long as they want; never wake a sleeping child
Do not rock, carry, or sing to sleep — creates bad habits
Regularity of feeding (every 2 hours by day, once at night) produces regular sleep
No sucking bottles, india-rubber teats, or corks
Never give poppy tea or brandy-dipped cork — these are poison
Breastfeeding is natural law; mother should feed herself
Wet nurse transmits physical disease and moral character
Artificial nourishment preferred over wet nurse: acorn coffee every 2 hours; malt coffee; diluted cow's milk (1/3 water) + barley-water or grits-water; always boil milk to destroy disease germs
70 of 100 children dying in a parish — root cause: bad marriages, parental vice, drunken fathers, immoderate mothers, excessive work in pregnancy
Coffee drinking by pregnant women causes weak children who die early
Registry of deaths reveals condition of community's Christianity
Healthy children little troubled; weak children suffer disease in the mouth
Clean mouth with cold-water linen cloth after each feeding
Daily cold bath; loose clothing; constant fresh air
Bone health requires both good nutrition AND braced constitution to assimilate it
Remedies to assist: bone-powder (pinch daily in milk), powdered chalk, oak-bark tea
All three harmless but ineffective if body too weakened to assimilate
Eyes: live in clear bright light; never read in twilight; train long sight by looking at distant objects; country/height dwellers have sharper eyes
Ears: rinse out with fresh water every time face is washed; train hearing by attending to distant sounds
Milk (boiled; add crushed fennel); oat or barley soup with whole-grain bread
Teach moderation; no more than 5–6 feedings/day; no snacking
Eat slowly — well-masticated food is half digested
No too-hot food (damages teeth and mouth skin); no reheated food
No sugar (causes stomach acid, destroys tooth enamel)
No spices (inflame digestive organs, drive blood to head)
No greasy or heavily salted food
Beverages: milk and water; occasional small chocolate; strictly no wine, beer, tea, coffee
Loose, not too warm; linen or cotton undergarment
No tight pressure on chest (prevents lung and organ development)
No tight-lacing for girls — condemned in strongest terms
Protect head from strong sun with light (not black) covering; neck left bare
No footwear while child cannot yet stand; barefoot as soon as possible; if shoes needed, must not press anywhere
Stockings: give late; never of wool, only of thread
No gloves for boys; fur-gloves "laughable"
Children naturally active; occupation leads them to think
Children raised alongside parents in practical work (father's workshop, mother's domestic work) grow into industrious adults
Movement games best: running races (barefoot), walking tours, ball games, climbing
Practical play preferred: tools, garden plots, goat-and-cart
Outdoor winter games (sleighing, snowballing) healthy; don't over-wrap children for them
Country children healthiest: long walks to school in cold air build resistance to epidemic disease
Girls' games: domestic imitation of mother is the ideal school
Half-baths 3–4 times per week or daily; 1–3 seconds
Douches (upper, knee, hip) 2–3 times per week; not on same day as other applications
Going barefoot is the most important bracing measure
Wading in streams — children love it and it is excellent for health
Kneipp presents case of 4-year-old with severe face/head ulcers and near-blindness caused (per mother) by vaccination; healed in 4 weeks with hayflower shirt + daily cold washing
His position: vaccination introduces disease rather than expelling it; water cure can achieve what vaccination claims to do
Alternative: hayflower-water shirt once or twice monthly from infancy; would prevent smallpox
Physical and intellectual education must develop in parallel
Do not overload children with school subjects; leave time for practical work and play
Warn against lifting too-heavy weights (can cripple back)
Teach respect for work by praise and example, not nagging
Continue cold water applications; never wrap head/neck warmly; keep collar loose; wide comfortable footwear; no rubber soles; barefoot as much as possible; cold washing every morning; half-bath twice per week
Young children need blind obedience; growing children need conscious, reasoned obedience
Parents must never yield to children against their stated command — doing so destroys authority
Too-strict parents produce equally bad outcomes as too-lax ones
Transition: as children mature, explain reasons for rules so they can obey from conviction
Practical religion and moral formation; against "secret sins" in adolescence
Signs of moral disorder: loss of freshness, timid eyes, indolence, crying without cause, food and sleep lose their strengthening effect
Response: keep children active and busy from morning to night; simple food; hard bed; rise immediately on waking
Adolescence is the most dangerous period; parents least attentive
Leisure time more dangerous than work time
Create wholesome home entertainment rather than prohibiting outside amusements
Encourage nature engagement, tending bees, fruit trees, flowers
Music lessons only if child will have time to continue in later life and will learn thoroughly

§ Third Part — The Care of Children in Sickness ▾

Children more delicate than adults; small bad input (breath of bad air, spoon of wrong food) quickly causes illness
Act immediately when child is ill; don't wait and deliberate; quick help is the best help
Don't show anxiety before sick children; don't allow unnecessary visitor condolences
Don't force food on a sick child — the sick system doesn't need it
Cool, airy, quiet room; keep siblings away
Core remedies explained:
Compress/Bandage: wet cloth folded over abdomen, dry cloth over wet, third cloth round whole body to trap warmth
Half-Bath (Immersion): to armpits, 2–3 seconds, from warm bed; put back without drying; best in morning; not in evening
Wet Shirt: coarse linen, tolerably wet; put on warm body; stroke flat by hand to distribute moisture; wrap in blanket 1–1.5 hours; remove when child wakes; no cold dip after
Short Bandage: towel dipped and wrung, wound from under arms to knees; must fit closely or warmth doesn't develop
Decoctions: oat-straw boiled 30 minutes; hayflowers boiled/steeped 15 minutes; always lukewarm when used for weak/small children

§ Fourth Part — Bill of Fare for Children (pp. 245–251) ▾

Acorn Coffee: best for infirm/premature infants; mix with honey; brewed like ordinary coffee
Malt Coffee: roasted malt, not burned; brewed same as acorn coffee; mixed with milk/honey
Oat Soup: oats bruised and boiled long (forms thick paste); 5–6 small portions per day; older children eat bread in it
Bread Soup: whole-grain bread cut and dried in oven, boiling water poured on, covered and steeped; a little natural fat from the bread comes out
Boiled Bread Soup: dried bread pieces boiled gently; more nourishing; may use meat stock or water
"Kraft" Soup: dried and pounded rye + wheat bread reduced to coarse flour; 2–3 spoonsful per portion; develops no gas; most nourishing of the soups
Children's Pap: oats + one third or half wheat, coarsely ground (bran retained); cooked in water or half milk half water; main daily food; give in small portions only — not to appetite
Milk: boil before giving; add a little crushed fennel; give with black bread; not in too-large quantities alone (creates spongy bodies)
Eggs: hard of digestion; belong to stimulants; recommend only for older children, cooked
Potatoes: excellent universal food; all forms (paste, soup, balls, dumplings); never harmful in moderate quantities
Fruit: wholesome raw; cooked also good; peel for little children; apples and pears with skin/cores for those who can chew
Meat: hard of digestion; do not accustom children to it early; milk dishes preferred
Wine and Beer: all alcoholic drinks hurt children; never accustom to beer or brandy
Sweet Pastry: never give children this; ruins stomach; no nourishment; destroys appetite for real food
Coffee: explicitly condemned; causes St. Vitus' Dance, nervousness, and other infirmities in children

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Practical Takeaways

What to actually do with this

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Dip newborn in cold water immediately after birth — 2–3 seconds; wrap in dry unwarmed cloth; to bed

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Use room-temperature thermometer; don't trust elbow test for bath water

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Nursery temperature: 14–15°R (approximately 17–19°C); never heated to 20–22°R

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Get infant into fresh air within weeks — never keep indoors for months

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First shirt: coarse (not fine) linen; no woolly socks in bassinette; no swathing bands

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Daily cold dip (2–3 seconds); no drying; wrap in dry cloth; to bed

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Warm bath: once or twice per week maximum; always end with cold dip or cold rinse

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Half-baths 3–4 times per week; duration 1–3 seconds; in morning; not in evening; not within 2h of a main meal

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Douches (upper, knee, hip) 2–3 times per week on days without other applications

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Monthly hayflower-water shirt from infancy as preventive

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Breastfeed if at all possible

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If not: acorn coffee (with honey, every 2 hours) or malt coffee; diluted cow's milk + barley-water/gruel; boil all milk first

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Add crushed fennel to milk

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Pap: oat + wheat flour (with bran), cooked in water/milk; give 5–6 small portions per day — never to appetite

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No coffee, tea, wine, beer, sweet pastry; no spices; avoid sugar; avoid refined white flour

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Eat at fixed times; no snacking; eat slowly; food not too hot

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Coarse linen next to skin; no wool directly against body; no wool on head or neck

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All clothing loose everywhere; collar one-hand-width loose

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No tight shoes; wide comfortable footwear; no rubber soles or galoshes

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Thread stockings only (not wool); given late; gloves for children superfluous

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Begin barefoot practice as early as possible — room and outdoors

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Wading in streams excellent; barefoot in snow harmless for healthy hardened children

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Walk barefoot before age 3 is normal and healthy

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Act immediately — do not hesitate or consult endlessly

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Identify cold or hot state: if shivering/cold → do not use cold applications; if fever/hot → cold water is fine

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Wet shirt (cold water or hayflower decoction) for fever, eruptions, consumption, breathing difficulties

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Half-bath (cold immersion 2–3 seconds) as universal strengthener

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Compresses over abdomen for stomach/abdominal conditions

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For bed-wetting: daily cold dip + wading to calves for 5 minutes daily + dry supper; cures in ~5 days

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For eye inflammation: cold head douches 3–4 times/day + cold immersion + pot-cheese (curd) poultices

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For asthma: cold washing with water and vinegar; warm baths followed by cold dip; cures in 5–6 days

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The Care of Children in Sickness and in Health

Overview

Key Ideas

Contents

Practical Takeaways

See Also