Infant illnesses often stem from overfeeding. As The Care of Parents states: "Modern parents nurture infants without discerning their digestive capacity. Hearing a cry, they assume hunger and hastily force milk into the child's mouth without regard for measure—feeding until the infant vomits. Newborns possess no other means of expression but vigorous crying!"Infants possess "delicate and fragile digestive systems, prone to both hunger and satiety." The appropriateness of milk intake significantly impacts a child's health. Insufficient milk may lead to malnutrition; excessive intake can cause food stagnation, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Since milk "is essentially watery in nature, overconsumption transforms into dampness. When dampness and heat combine, vomiting and diarrhea arise."Parents who dote excessively on their children often mistake crying for hunger or believe more food aids growth, thus overfeeding them and damaging their spleen and stomach. Once these organs are impaired, the child's growth and development suffer, and they become prone to lifelong illness. Therefore, feeding must be timely and measured—never "giving milk whenever the child shows the slightest interest in eating."Zhang believed crying helps release internal heat, benefiting the child's health. Light clothing and avoiding excessive warmth Excessive warmth breeds disease. Zhang advocated for infants to wear light clothing and avoid excessive warmth, cautioning against using fire for heating.The Classic of Filial Piety states: "Today's parents, even in midsummer, swaddle infants in thick cotton swaddling clothes, never letting them leave their embrace, causing body heat to trap and steam." They seal rooms tightly at the slightest chill, placing infants under felt curtains, on heated beds, or beside red-hot stoves—preventing slight cold from entering and excessive warmth from dissipating. Zhang argues: "This is inadvisable even for the elderly; how much more so for infants, who are pure yang energy!"" One should follow nature's course, guiding them in play and amusement to invigorate blood circulation and strengthen sinews and bones. His method for nurturing children is: "Before a child can sit, lay them on bare earth. When the weather turns cold, do not dress them in thick clothing; use cloth instead of cotton. Once they can sit, provide them with toys like iron bells and wooden pots, connected by thin strings and placed in a basin of water, so they float and sink, making sounds when played with.During intense heat, sit beside them, scoop water, and play with the bells to disperse the heat." The limbs are the foundation of all yang energies. When the hands encounter cold water, yin energy reaches the heart—this is medicine without medicine.
Preventing Illness and Avoiding Disease Requires Prudent Medication
Children's organs are delicate, their physical constitution incomplete. Conditions of cold, heat, deficiency, and excess shift rapidly, so medication must never be administered carelessly.The Classic of Filial Piety records: "In the year Bingxu, many children fell ill with diarrhea. Those treated with medication all died, for the physicians misunderstood the nature of damp-heat and applied warming and drying agents instead. Only Chen Jingzhi followed my advice and withheld medicine, thus saving the sick child."Zhang uses Chen Jingzhi's case of diarrhea to illustrate the harm of incompetent physicians' misguided prescriptions and the principle that some illnesses should not be treated with Chinese medicine. This fully demonstrates Zhang Congzheng's profound insight. As Zhang states: "With minimal medication, the illness resolves on its own, unharmed by the aggressive heat-inducing drugs of incompetent physicians." The Secrets of Infant Care states:When the illness is present and the appropriate medicine is administered, the illness is treated. Conversely, if the medicine is inappropriate, the vital energy suffers. A child's vital energy is limited; improper treatment inevitably harms the illness." Zhang also placed particular emphasis on prevention and nourishment, pointing out: "If, before illness arises, one follows the principles of nurturing and nourishment, illness will not occur. Even if a minor ailment arises, it may be left untreated without medication." In summary, it can be seen that the three pitfalls of overindulging children are:First, overfeeding; second, excessive warmth; third, excessive medication. Zhang proposed a childcare philosophy of light clothing, bland food, and minimal medication. This not only elucidates childcare principles but also greatly benefits clinical practice. While deep affection for one's child is natural, love must be expressed appropriately. Otherwise, despite loving intentions, the outcome may harm the child—how tragic!