OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2988, 27 January 1917, Page 5

OUR BABIES

fBT HIGEIA.I

Published under th« auspices of the Koyol New Zealand Society for tho health of Womon and Children. « is wiser to put a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

AN AUNT'S LETTER. who f f, ?f er I', - " 1 - 8 a c ' l,ild of 21 n 1011 " 15 falk««Br yet. In spite of all X her to Vean him two nr fl 1" givbß ]lim the breaßt |S" ! ™K losing its nourisin- pro■oafon tl J 1 ' perlla P s tlliß is the iff h« u t hl H IS Still mMe t0 W!l,kheaH r w UjnEl and seems bright and healthj-. He is not too fat, but weighs

Waned at the normal age-10 or 12 his"fc» e IVOUId have °* REPLY. The specific question which yon ask is J l '' ™.P?rtant one, but I should need some additional information More ventming to give a definite opinion as to t e mam cause of delay in walking- in Hub particular ense. One would spelialJy need information regarding the Wβ general intelligence and interest in toys, tS''n, an i w ' i l at goes on around him; whether he makes any attempt at talk- ■• *J.' a ? d l '/ 60 ', ™ hen ihis commenced, and what stage he has now reached. At what age did he first hold up his liead? lie sit alone. If so. when did this power manifest itself? etc. I should strongly advise you to consult a doctor with a view to ascertaining whether there is evidence of rickets or any other disease or ascertainable defect that would account for the baby not walking sooner, thou-h some babies are naturally late in this respect However, your letter enables me to state and mscuss certain considerations of general interest bearing on the case. Chanpe in the Quality of Mother's Milk. •j th , e . t> al >y been weaned at the 5?,, '™ IC ' l has been proved best by the all-round experience of our race, and connrmed by scientific research, the development of muscle and the timely coming into use of various activities would have been stimulated; including the power of walking. On the other hand, it must be borne.in mind that most babies crawl before the end of a year, and begm to walk at any time between then and 15 months of age, so that if defective composition of the mother's milk was the cause of delayed use of the muscles the milk must have been at laultj at a comparatively early period. In view of the fact that the 'baby has increased m weight a pound or more beyond the average, that he looke well, and has cut hie teeth in good time, it is possible that there has not been any fault with the food. By the way, you do . not mention what is given between the breast feedings. This is a most important point. The tendency of the.mother's milk is decidedly to deteriorate in quality after the ninth month. The most conspiouous falling off is 'in fleah-fonning material, which at 15 months has been shown on. analysis to average only a little over 4 por cent., as compared with 1$ percent, at the end of the first month after childbirth. Tfliis means that a little over a pint of ordiaary cow's milk would contain as much flesh-fcrming material as a gallon of milk secreted by the average human mother 15 months after tho birth, of her child. It is true that cow's milk contains too large a proportion of fleshforming material for the young human being; but by the time a baby is from 15 to 18 months old it ought to be ab'ie to take about a pint of pure cow's milk, together with bread, oat, jelly, etc., to make up a well-balanced dietary. Importance of Proper Supplementary Diet. Of course you/r sister might have chanced on a supplementary diet specially rich in the vory food constituents which would be absent from her own milk; but this is scarcely probable, and most likely tho baby has been decidedly underfed in regard to. .fleshTforniing . materials. A normal or oven an excessive increase in weight would not bo irvcompatiblo with this, because a baby, or the young of any ordinary farm stock, can be made to grow Tapidly and look well on a. diet rich, in sugars and starches and wanting in flesh-formers, the increaso in such cases being mainly in fat and not in muscle. Attention to General Hygiene Most Essential. While the composition of food is obviously a matter of the first importance for tho baby it must not be forgotten that adequate attention to air, sunlight, exercise, and bathing is scarcely of less moment. The bearing of these oo health and development has been insisted upon, again and again in previous articles. The whole question of the hygiene of the child is Mly dealt -with in the society's book, "Feeding and Care o? Baby," pages. 64 to 85.