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."
REARING BABIES WITHOUT FRESH MILK. The reader may well,- exclaim, '"What possible use can there be in discussing the question of rearing any infant without fresh milk in a country "overflowing with milk and honey'?" Is not the "dairy industry" the pride of New Zealand? Are not our butter and cheese finding their way into all the markets of the world? Is there any spot in the Dominion where —felling mother'B milk--good fresh cow's milk cannot be obtained? Places where Good Preßh Milk may be Unprocurable, Especially at MidBummer.—Strange as it may seem, there are a good many places in New Zealand where all mothers cannot rely on getting sufficiently fresh and pure cow's milk duiing the three or four warmest months of the year. In some
Auckland and Gisborne, and even as far south as Wellington —the conditions of the city milk supply are such that the Plunket Nurses sometimes fiud it practically impossible to secure safe milk in certain quarters. They do their best by getting in touch with the most reliable dairyman; but, do what thsy can, there are times and places where the badness of the local milk supply subject babies to undue risks of diarrhoea, especially in very hot weather. However, no improvements with regard to city dairies will help the mothers who live in sume of ths most uut-6f-the way part of the* Dominion, or in tropical countries where cowb do not happen to be kept. v Some years ago we were asKed to give advice aa to what the mothers should do whose husbands were employed tunnelling at the great southern mountain gorge of Otira. Neither cows nor goats were available. Babies who could not be suckled were being fed by means of patent foods or condensed or dried milk in one form or another. They were not doing well, and the question was asked whether the Society could suggest anything that would tend to save these children from the universally recognised evils attendant on the ordinary use of such foods. Preparing Humanised Milk from Unsweetened Condensed Milk.—Dr Truby King made careful investigations, and advised feeding for the time being on lines which 1 shall describe presently. The Salvation Army at Auckland also adopted this method for use in the middle of summer, and the results were reported on all hands to be highly satisfactory. Either "dried milk" or liquid "con densed milk" may be used, but on no account must the condensed milk contain any cane sugar. Ordinary condensed milk has between a quarter and half a pound of cans sugar in each tin. ,
The essential of *he process recommended by Dr King consists in combining unsweetened condensed milk with defiinte quantities of sugar-of-milk and oil, so as to bring th"e proportions of each necessary, fqod-con-stituerit into accord with what is found in mother's milk. The value of a simple recipe of this kind for modifying the most reliable form of condensed milk in sucb a way as to make it conform as nearly as possible to the composition of human milk, will. I am Bure, be appreciated by many mothers who are compelled to resort tu ariicifial teeding, and who, for one reason, cannot obtain fresh cow's milk. However, ii musi always ba borne in mind that nothing can justify the use of any form of artificial feeding, and who for one reason or another cannot obtain fresh cow's milk. However it must always be borne in mind that nothing can justify the use of any form of artificial food for babies in the first nine months of life if mother's milk is to be had; and further that a humanised milk prepared from fresh cow's milk is a more wholesome and natural nutriment than any preparation that can be made from tinned milk, whether dried or merely condensed. Where avoidable, superheated tinned foods are not to be recommended, either for babies or adults. They are sometimes highly convenient and satisfactory for temporary use; but fresh food is always a matter of supreme importance, especially for babies. If we are forced to resort to tinned food for a time, it should be
safeguarded by the daily use of some fresh raw food—for instance, raw white of egg or fresh fruit juice—and tho use of the tinned food should be replaced by suckling, or feeding with humanised milk prepared from fresh cow's milk if opportunity offers. Next week I shall give Rimple instructions —which can be eaily followed by the mother—for preparing Humanised Milk from unsweetened condensed milk. In the meantime I may give a rough idea of the process and the cost. Any mother can readily prepare the day's food for her babv in a quarter of an hour, and it will be seen that the cost is about the same ia that of Humanised Milk prepared from fresh milk. An ordinary tin of unsweetened condensed milk combined with nearly a quarter of a pound of sugar-of-milk and on ounce and a-half of oil—say, cod liver oil or olive oil—will yield four pints of Humanised Milk, baving as near as possibl3 the same composition as mother's milk, and on this the baby will bo found to thrive. However, if an infant has to bs fed on such a food for more? than a few weeks, some fresh fruit juice should be gradually introduced into the regimen once a day, beginning with a few drops, working up gradually to a teaapoonful, and eventually to a tablespoonful a day. The cost of the whole of the ingredients for tho above recipe will be just over a shilling for making the four pints of Humanised Milk, or, roughly speaking, threepence a pint.
What Oil to Use.—Almost any form of pure, sweet, wholesome oil ia readily digested by baies if thoroughly incorporated with the milk. Castor oil would be obviously unsuitable; but cod liver oil, olive oil, or even raw linseed oil ore all BUitable for bringing tho fat element up to the requisite standard. Babies rarely object to the taste of any form of oil, unless it is rancid.
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King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 736, 13 January 1915, Page 6
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1,053OUR BABIES. King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 736, 13 January 1915, Page 6
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