OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 599, 3 September 1913, Page 3

OUR BABIES.

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Health of Women and Children. " It is wiser to put up a fence at the top j of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." ADDRESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES AND SECRETARIES. Wellington.—Piunket Nurse Morgan ; assistant, Nurse Mackintosh. Society's Room, 86 Vivian street. Teh 2425. Hon. Sec, Mrs Me Vicar, 27 Brougham street. City. Tel. 2642. Auckland. —■ Plunket Nurses Chappell and Morgan. Tel. 851. Office of- the Society, 2 Chancery street. Tel. 829. Office hours, Tuesdays and Fridays, 2.30 to 4 p.m. Hon, Sec, Mrs W. H. Parkes, Marinoto, Symonds street. Tel. 240. Napier. Plunket Nursa Donald, Marine Parade. Hon. Sec, Mr 3 Hector Smith. Hastings. Plunket Nurse Purcell. Office of the Society at Mr Bate's Pharmacy. Hon. Sec, Mrs T. W. Lewis. Tel. 285. Dannevirke. -- Plunket Nurse Wright. Hon. Sec, Mrs Biekford, Bank of New Zealand. CORRESPONDENCE.' A '"Grateful Mother" writes: — "I feel so grateful to your Society that I must write to thank you. My baby is a lovely boy of six months past, weighing 191b. He is breastfed according to your instructions, and is never fed at night. "Kindly send me a pamphlet.; also piease let me know what is the best thing to do for a child's teeth when they don't come out —the milk ones I refer to. I am anxious about my little girl aged nine, as there are a few new ones come through at the back and they have just pushed the milk ones into the gum at the side, and they are quite firm. Since reading ycur page I give the children plenty of hard biscuits, but perhaps 1 am too late in starling for them to derive the benefit. Hoping I have not made this too long for your time. —-.1 am, etc., Grateful Mother." REPLY. You ought to take your little girl to a good dentist without delay. He will do what is necessary, and will advise you with regard to the future care of her teeth. It would, of course, have been better had you given your children food which required matiscation earlier, but they will derive great benefit if you get them to take a fair quantity of dry food henceforward. You must not worry about not having done so before, because it is only quite recently that attention has been drawn to the great necessity for exercise of the jaws and teeth, and the fact that such exercise, by increasing the blood supply, ensures proper development and . growth of both, thus preventing any tendency to crowding or decay. It is most gratifying to find such wide spread interest in the subject. and we are sure that there will be a great improvement in children's teeth in the near future. Biscuits are sai.i to be not sc good as crusts, toasts, etc., because they are apt io become pasty and stick to the teeth; but plain unsweetened, hard biscuits afford good exercise and can do no harm, unless they are given last thing at night, and the teeth are not cleaned afterwards. Don't give your children cakes, sweets, or chocolates, except in the smallest quantity. One sweet occasionally is almost as much appreciated as a boxful, and the child runs almost no risks of having its digestion up3et and its teeth damaged. Always clean the tsath at night, and don't give anything to eat till morning. MASTICATION. The following additional hints with regard to mastication may be helpful. In order to ensure exercise of the teeth and jaws, the first part of each meal should consist of some dry food such as toast crusts, unsweetened rusk, and, later, raw ripe apple, oatcake, etc.. and the parents or nurse should bite and chew their food many times in the presence of the child, thus enticing it to do the same. No fluid should be taken until the end of the meal, and, of course, plenty of time must be allowed. It is a good thing to give a baby a bone from six month of age onwards. A child who has been thoroughly habituated to munching at and gnawing bones, and chewing bard, dry materials, as the first solid food allowed, will chew even soft food, and keep it a fair time in the mouth, rather than swallow i* without any mastication at all, provided always that reasonable trouble is taken to foster and encourage this highly necessary habit. NUTS. Later, nuts may be added to the diet. If these are not merely bitten and chopped by the teeth, but are thoroughly chewed and ground up by the molars until they become quite creamy they not only give plenty of Work to teeth and jaws, but they are highly nutritious and quite digestible. They may be held out as a food to work up to when the child can be trusted to masticate properly. Thus one can say to a child: ''lf you chew your toast and crusts sufficiently we shall be able by and-bye to give you oatcake or nuts of different kinds, but if you do not use your teeth and jaws yen cannot have them: besides that, you will not grow up strong and well." GIVE THE CHILDREN TIME. Plenty of time ought to be allowed for meals, and there should be no hurrying over them. No doubt it i 3 difficult to let the children have sufficient time for bathing, dressing, taking exercise, and breaking and then to get them off to school punctually, but it is well worth the trouble of starting the day half an hour earlier to accomplish this. If ths morning meal is late the high-strung child gets into a fever of excitement lest she should be late for school. When breakfast comes her appetite is gone, ...j,.,.. .L.-u .....■•,ii TrjftMnmlMH

off post haste It does not require much imagination to conjure up the train of evils to which such a course gives rise. An extra quarter of an hour allows enjoying her meal and be in penty of time for school.