OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 269, 9 August 1919, Page 5

OUR BABIES

18/ ns'Gr.u.l

Published under the auspices of the Royal Xew Zealand Society for tho Health of V/omeu and Children'. "It iB wiser to pin up a fence at the tor of a precipice than to inuintain an ambulance at the bottom."

FOOD,

In these days of luxurious livinc amonf! all classes the 'misuse and abuse of food is very serious. Though we -ave improved somewhat of late years, there is still far too much bottle-feedinx of babies. Ilabics should bn 'orcast-l'ed unless the mother is dead or is BuQ'erius from ennsumntion, and even then a vet nurse should be procured if the best results are desired. Failliii! brcasi-iniilt. the baby should havn milk so prepared that it approximates as nearly as possible to mother's milk. The feeding-bottle should be simple- and easily cleausod; the smaller the hole in the nipple the belter, provided the baby nan tune enouirh food in 15 or 20 minutes. The feeding-battle t!:ould be'held throughout the feeding time, and n. slieht pull should be maintained so that baby is induced io suck actively, thus giving good exercise for the jaivs and stimulating the v.'hole liuav.

With regard to the fecdiii" of children beyond the baby stage, the simpler tho food, the better. Plain meals Riven regularly three times a day with no scrapß or 'pieces" between times are best, and a fair proportion of the food should be such as to require mastication. Avoid pap-feeding as much as possible Children should be taught to chew their food and to eat slowly, and this should be insisted on in the cise of school children %r ton freiiuentlv children rush home in the dinner-hour, bolt down their food, and dash off again to school. In this way the seeds oi indigestion and appendicitis are often laid. In many homes the habit of givina neones, biscuits, or cakes between meals is so usual that the children cannot enjoy their proper food. T will remember one inept mother whose children were always munching something or other, telling mo that she thought, it was the "pieces" that did them good, and not tho meals. Cakes, sweets, spiced or rich food, pastrj, condiments, sauces, pickles, and ouch like are to be strongly deprecated for children. Milk and water or fresh boiled i»»ti>r is i"uch tho bettor drink' for children. Tea and coffee should never he given to children. Tbev ere stimulants, which they would be better not to know before' adult lifo. Adults, too. would have much better health if less rich food were, taken and we did away with the intermediate meals nf morning and afternoon tea.

CLOTHING. Clothing should bo suitable to the sea son of tno'yra.'. and there should be nothing to restrict the free play of client and abdoniCu. Babies should have light, but warm clothing, and they should be made specially cosy when taken out tyi prams or gucarts in the winter-time. The present fashion of leaving uncovered most of the thighs as well as tho linees of littlo. cirls in bitter winter weather is little short of criminal. I'conlo may say that this is an exaggeration, but (-lie caiinoi wall; along the streets of any of our cities tit the nrcsent time (without seeing some such spectacle. Only tho other day when walking through the amends of Parliament Iluildings in Wellington I met a little girl of about seven years who:-e extremely short skirts left her knees and a largj portion of her thighs quite bare. ' Such exposure—in winter-time especially—is most, devitalising, and Is likely to predispose to nil sorts of ills. The remembrance that she was supposed to have looked smart when seven or eight years of age will hardly make tip to her -when a woman for tho enfecbiement. and ill-health which such a course is likely to produce. With older girls the fashion of wearing very low-necked blouses, leaving their chests exposed, is also very foolish. It is true that the loose collar is much more sensible and hygienic than the high, tightboned' collars which were usual some years ago; but Micro is a great difference between a comfortable loose collar and tho great opon expanse of bare chest which i:- rn '""union, and is. in many cases, so unsightly, EXEHOISIS. Bo we as a community take a sufficiency of open-air exercise Ido not think so. A largo amount of exercise should be tsuen from a very early age in the form of vigorous sucking, kicking, waving tho arms, etc., and later on crawling. Kvery such activity should lie- encouraged; but. of course, babies must not be over-stimu-lated by injudicious or excessive handling] nor must they bo treated as playthings. Pew children are takon out for wiil'ks nowadays. If tho parents possess a motor-car the children are generally takon out in tho car; if not, they, aro wheeled about in a go-cart long after they should be tramping sturdily on their u\vn feet. If children arc taken for a. walk it usually resolves itself into u dawdle through town, when tho mother or, nursegirl stops frequently to gaze into the shop windows. One has only to look at tho spindly legs, of our growing hoyß and girls to see that the calf muscles have not been properly grown—the limbs have not had sufficient oxercise. Ily tho way, in order to give the calf musclon a fair chance the shoos should fit the child's foot. There should bo no pinching, restriction, or discomfort. When children reach Iho school age most of tho daylight in winter is spent indoors, and no adequate exercise is provided for. Boys usually fare hotter than Uirls, as they aro naturally more active, and they eve not required to spend so much time over lessons, music, fancy work, etc. However, even tho girls would benefit greatly if tho playtime at school were organised. If, instead of aimlessly wandering about, trying, to cram in a fewextra facts for the next class, the girls were encouraged to walk round briskly or to piny sonio simple game, by such measures all their faculties would be stimulated, and they would go into school rosy, alert, and ready to assimilate any information which might be provided. This could easily be accomplished by getting a few of the more rcsnonsiblc Tirls to arrange some simple, active, and interesting games, which could be started as soon as the recess teems. After school days aro ovor wo all tond to tako too little outdoor exercise. If an hour were devoted each day lo a pleasurable outing, involving fairly activeexercise, much benefit would result. Willi regnrd to the importance of special exerrisos for prospective mothers. ■we shall refer to them in a lato.v article on prenatal care. KEGTJIjAP.ITY OP HABITS. Many parents neglect to ensure regularity of tho bodily functions from babyhood'onwards. This is a matter of paramount importance. Lack of regularity with regard to exercise, sleep, and the daily action of the bowels loads to much disability in later life. SLEEP. Too often children are allowed to remain up lont; beyond- their proper bedtime. A sufficiency of rest and siren is most essential for the proper building up of the child. Don't take your children to entertainment:) ut nifcht. but allow them to have their full night's sleep.