A COMMON MODERN DIFFICULTY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 573, 4 June 1913, Page 7

A COMMON MODERN DIFFICULTY.

HOW TO OVERCOME IT. SjgThe following letter just to hand from the back country will appeal to many mothers who find their milk supply failing before weaning-time has arrived: — To "Hygeia." ,Dear Madam.,—For some time I have been an appreciative reader of your column in the Witness, and now I am writing to ask you to send me all the Societys' literture concerning the care and feeding of babies. Ido not know the price of it, but Will send it if you let me know. My baby is nearly six months old, and has been entirely breast-fed until now; but I am afraid I have not quite enough tor her now, and would like to try one or two meals a day, of humanised milk. The recipe for it will, 1 suppose, be among the literature. REPLY, As lack of stimulation of the breaßts causes the milk supply to fail, our correspondent was advised to continue nursing her baby at each feeding-time instead of substituting one or two bottle-feedings a day. If her supply was insufficient, she was instructed to supplement at each nursing with the quantity of pro-perly-graded humanised milk required to make up the deficiency. Her attention was drawn to the passages in "What Baby Needs," which refer to the subject of her inquiries, more especially to the paragraphs dealing with "weighing immediately before and immediately after lacking." She was advised to procnre accurate scales and to weigh baby aB directed to find out exactly how much milk she was getting at each nursing. At the same time the mother was advised to attend carefully to her own health—to see that her habits were regular, that the diat was simple and nutritous (three good meals a day with no food between), that she took a sufficiency of fluid (about two pints more than when not nursing), that she took as much active outdor exercise as possible, that she had a current of pure, fresh, outside air flowing through her room all night, etc. She waß also advised to feed baby regularly every four hours in the daytime—that is five times in the 24 hours.

It T#as pointed out that, when baby

waß fed regularly with a sufficiency of food, she would ' most likely become contented and happy, and as a result the mother would cease worrying. This freedom from anxiety taken in conjunction with the effects of leading a more healthy life on the mother's part, would tend to make her milk supply improve both in quality and quantity, and in a short time she would [be able in all probability to nourish her child without the aid of supplementary feeding. Remember that the common practice of giving three or«four "breastfeedings" is a great mistake, because the stimulation of the breasts by suckling repeated regularly every three hours during the day is the best means of keeping up the flow. Further, when the supply of mother's milk is short, she should use both brests at each nursing, reversing the order of suckling every time. Thus, if the right breast i 3 taken first at one suckling, the left breast should be taken first at the next. Allow, say, five or six minuteß for emptying each breast and five or ten minutes for the bottle.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING AND WEIGHING. One of the Plunket Nurses recently sent me the following notes on cases which have such a direct bearing on our correspondent's difficulty that I quote them in full, and trust they will be helpful to their mothers also:— Case I.—The baby boy, weighed on very accurate scales, was 8&lb at birth. His mother nursed him, but at four weeks of age he weighed, only 81b lOoz. His appearance was pinched, his expression hungry. He was fretful and sleepless. The mother also wore a weary, worried expression. It was decided to procure the loan of a good, reliable grocer's scaler The baby was weighed before and after each nursing for 24 hours, and it was found that he was getting no more than ljoz at each feeding from his mother instead of his rightful 4oz. No wonder, then, that he was peevish and fretful. The mother was shown how to make a grade humanised milk, and was also instructed how best to improve her own supply by suitable diet, fresh air, exercise, sufficient rest, and to forth. She still nursed her baby every three hours but instead of leaving him hungry gave him the extra nourishment needed in the form of humanised milk diluted. Very quickly his whole appearance altered, and he lay smiling and contepted if awake, but now spent much time in sleep. By the end of the week he gained lOoz in weight. Two months later he was still improving, now weighing 12Jlb, and his mother's supply was found to have steadily increased. Case 2. —In another case where the baby weighed the same weight at four weeks that she had weighed at birth, a good grocer's scales was procured for a week, and the baby systematically weighed every three hours before and after the nursing. It was found that in the early morning baby got a fairly good supply from her mother, but as the day advanced the supply tended to decrease. This supply was supplemented by humanised milk. At the beginning of the week baby was getting 16oz of milk from her mother; at the end of the week 19oz in the 24 hours, showing a gradual increase in amount. The gain in weight was very marked at first. From 6Jlb at four weeks she had reached 12Jlb by her third month. Moreover, she was particularly bright and intelligent, laughed and cooed, and noticed everyone. She lived in the open air, and delighted in it, and was full of life and movement. By the sixth month she weighed 171b, and still waß the picture of health and contentment. Case 3. —The third case goes to show that where one breast is injured in any way (for example, if an abscess forms), the mother should continue to suckle baby at the otber,supplementing if necessary. In the following case there was, fortunately, an abundant supply from the sound breast Another mother sustained an injury in one breast, necessitating an operation, and the thought of the weaning of her baby was considered; but it was found that he was obtaining an ample supply from the other breast. Moreover, it was agreeing with him, he was gaining steadily in weigh. At a fortnight he weighed 81b: at three months 13ilb. His was an interesting case from another point of view. His mother had to go out washing, and from a very early date his |meals had frequently to be lenghtened|out to four hours. This did not distress him. Sometimes he demanded a drink of boiled; water in between, but otherwise was quite content. His limbs were particularly firm and chubby, and he looked the picture of health. At six months he weighed 16£1 b, at nine months 1821b, and at a year well over 201b. He still showed a marked liking for his drink of boiled water.