OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3088, 19 May 1917, Page 5

OUR BABIES

fß* HYGEIA.'I

Published under the außpioes of tho Koy<U New Zealand Society for mo Health of Women and Children. "It in wiser to put up a fence at tlie top of a. precipice than to ; maintain an ambulance at the bottom. FATS AND OILS IN BABY-FEEDING. Question: Which nro raoro digestiblefats or oils? Answer.—.ln general, oils are moro readily absorbed than fats, and these fats, which are ill an oily state below tho Wood temperature—namely., f deg. Fahr —are more readily absorbed into tho system than those which have higher "melting-points." lhe. three forms of fat of main interest in baby-feeding are tho fat of Humas Milk, the fat of Cow's Milk, and th? fat of Goafs Milk. Question: Of these three futa which is tho best for tho baby,? Answer.—Unquestionably, the fat: of Human "Milk is tho most suitable, seeing that it has been designed by Naturo expressly for playing its part in tho roaring of the baby. But from tho point of view of it has been stated on good authority that tho fat of Goat's Milk tends to bo morn readily absorbed into tho system than the' fat of Human Milk, and it is certainly moro easily digested than the fat of Cow's Milk. Question: Can this bo accounted for in any way? Answer— Yes, tho explanation- is contained in tho relative meltingpoints of the fats of these three milks, the buttorfat of cow's milk being tho most solid and tho buttorfat of goat's milk being softest and nearest to iin oil at ordinary temperatures. Fat of goat's milk melts about. OOdog. Fahr.; fat of human milk molts about 95deg. Fnhr.; fat of cow's milk, or ordinary buttor-fat, molts about' lOOdeg. Fahr. Question: Is this proporty.of goat's milk ovor turned to practical account in tho feeding of babies, where preparations of cow's milk disagreo? Answer.—Yes. Tho cream of goat's milk properly used has proved of great service in such cases, and one wishes that it were more readily obtainable There nro few babies who cannot bo trainod to digest a' fair proportion of tho fat of cow's milk; but some months may elapse beforo thoy can absorb as largo a proportion of fat as they could if breastfed. In such cases ono would like to replace—at least, partially—tho fat of cow's milk by tho fat of goat's milk.

Question: Why not make'the humanised milk in such cases with goat's milk instead of cow's milk? Answer.—This could bo done by slightly modifying the formula; but the curdy or protcid portion of goat's milk is not generally so readily digested as the protoid of cow's milk. Howovdr, some gout's milk cream could bo used when preparing humanised milk from cow's milk.

Question: Seeing that goat's milk is hard to get, is there 110 nioro generally available way of meeting tho fat requirements of babies (in cases where tho fat of cow's milk persistently disagrees, and cannot bo raised to the proper proportion) without upsetting the digestion? Use of Oils in Baby-feeding. Answer.—Yes. Almost any wholesome OIL can take the place of a portion of the "milk-fat." Thus a Humanised Milk can be proparcd just as easily with ouly 2 por cent, of fat as with 3 or 3J per cent., and in such cases tho "fatty constituent" can be brought up to nearly 3 per cent, by adding about a teaspoonful of olivo oil to the pint of humanised milk. Question: Is there aDy objection to this? Answer.—Yes. Any 6iicli departure from the normal may give trouble—in fact, will always give trouble—if not to tho baby to the mother. Question: How? A'nswer.—Without resorting to special means, it is impossible to get a perfect blending or "emulsifying" of tho oil with tho milk. The oil tends to remain in coarso globules, which run together after shaking up in tho baby's bottle. This may upset tho baby more or less—indeed, oil sometimes agrees better if given plain, say, twice or three times a day, in lialf-teaspoonful doses after feeding. Another objection to the use of oil is.that it may cause vomiting or ■undue laxity of the bowels. On the other hand, tho relaxing tendency of olivo oil is sometimes an advantage in relieving a tendency to constipation. Question: Is there any ready means of ensuring the advantages without the disadvantages of oils in baby-feeding? Answer.—Yes. It is fairly easy to make an emulsion of any oil, and thou it will blend with tho milk satisfactorily. This has been done in practice by means of recipes which have been used at the Karitano Hospital, and by mothers who have followed directions given in this column. A better plan still is to what is called "homogenise" the oil—that is, cause the fat to split up into such infinitely fine microscopic partjcles that it remains blended homogeneously with tho milk if allowed to 6tand for hours or even for days. Question: How is this effected? Answer.—By an ingenious machine which has been in use for some yoara on a large scale in factories. Recently email machines have been made . in America for use in' hospitals, etc., and extensive experiments made by Dr. Maynard Ladd, of Harvard University, Boston, show excellent results from the rise of hunmnised milk made in this way with a blending of homogenised olivo oil. Very finely subdivided oil promises to play an important part in accommodating artificial fowl to the needs of those babies whose special difficulty lies in the absorption of a sufficiency of tho fat of cow's milk.