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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 of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." PUTTING UP OF FOOD. "Anxiuua", Canterbury, Benda me a letter this week about her baby, now eleven months old who has been more or ks=s troubled with the "putting up of food" or vomiting ever since birth. Though he has been improving of late, she feels that all may not bo well. "Some people tell me the sickness h nothing to worry about, tvhils others Bay his food should be changed." ADVISED NOT TO WORRY. The advice "not to worry" about a child being sick or otherwise upßct would bs all right if it meant that j the mother Was not to let herself bc-Jj come over-anxious; but nine ttmesW out of ten what is meant is: "All ■ babiea have their little troubles and grow out of them. I wouldn't take any notice of it if I were you so long as ho seems to be doing all tight." This 13. tbe worst advice possible. A baby never has sickness or any other disturbance without a cause, and the proper course to pursue is to get at the root of the matter ut once. Instead of saving "Don't worry," it would have been much wiser to recommend Hi 3 calling in of a doctor. ADVISEDTO CHANGE THE FOOD. As for the other well-meant advice that the mother should make a change in the nature of the food, one can only say that chopping and changing from one for of food to another ia the beset! ing Bin of a largo proportion of mothers in the present day. SICK EVER SINCE BIRTH. "Anxious" says that hor baby was Bick from birth, and this continued throughout the first two months, though, ho was at that time entirely breßst-fed. Next there was mixed feeding for two months, and since then he has bad Humanised Milk, etc. Change of food and in any way of feeding Peem to have made little difference. The baby always grew well, but ho continued to be troubled with putting up of food. HAPPY AND SEEMS HEALTHY. Ho is described as "a thoroughly healthy child, never troubled with any pain?. Though slightly under the average weigh't, he is a very happy baby, sleeping all night and amusing himself in the daytime. Ha has had no trou&le whatever in cutting his teeth." All that appears to be wrong now is the putting up of food. "It comes up curdled from time to time atfer he has been fed about an hour." There is an almost universal idea among mothers that mill? ou«ht not to curdle in the baby' 6 stomach, ( whereas- in reality there would something very wrong if the milk did > rot curdle almost at once after entering the stomach. Curdling is a nccessery preliminary to digeßtion—is, in fact, the first stage in the process of stomach digestion. The mother snvs she ha 3 tried giving less food, but without causing the tendency to vomit to disappear. The question is, "Did Bho persevero long enough?" Probably not. In the absenco of a more complete and detailed history of the cose, 1 do not think I can do better than give the following extract from an article which I wrote for this culumn nearly seven years ago:— "Probably the the baby does not suffer from what would ordinarily be culled vomiting, but from a much commoner and less serious condition viz., the almost passive putting up or returning of some of his food soon afier it has besn taken. In the great of cases this is due to too much be'ng given at each feeding, and it most frequently occurs where the baby is fed partly on the breast and partly from a bottle—the mother failing to make due allowance for the double source of supply. However, thu putting uo of a little food after meals not infrequuily occurs in purely bsrenet-fed babies when the supply of milk is over-abundant—indeed, there is a common saying among nurses that "sick babies always flourish." This saw is not altogether justified, and if a baby may put up some food several times a day from an over-full stomach, and may continue to grow and flourish in spite of the over-load-ing. Of courae, the baby would do better if given only the proper quantity of food. The course to pursue in such cases is obvious. The baby should bo given, bbv, an ounce lesa food at each feeding. . • • Nothing is snid as to such symptoms as wind, colic, constipation, etc., and it may he that the baby is handled too soon after feeding, la the clothing light, warm, and loose? Bues tbo baby have enough outing and exercise? Is there a free current of ait through the bedroom, etc? The thing clear is that the baby is given more food than it can retain and digest, and that for the present the supply should be lessened; but it is quite probable that tho child s stremzth and digestive capacity could be increased by nayitig more attention to all matters conducing to health- See pages 1 and 2. "Feeding BruHjuip-of Baby." As'"Anxiouß" did not uend her name and address I have no means of ascertaining certain things wnicn it would have been desirable to know before answering her letter. As a rule, we do not answer letters at all, unless accompanied by name and address.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19141219.2.26

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 731, 19 December 1914, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
928

OUR BABIES. King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 731, 19 December 1914, Page 6

OUR BABIES. King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 731, 19 December 1914, Page 6

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