OUR RABIES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 218, 14 August 1937, Page 13

OUR RABIES

(By “Hygeia.”)

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society tor the Health of AVonien and Children (Pluuket Society).

“It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain ah ambulance at the bottom.”

THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

The “transitional period” is the name we sometimes apply to the stage following file end of baby’s ninth month. It is a stage of transition in many ways —transition from mixed feeding to .mixed foods, from suckling to eating and drinking, from comparative inarticulateness to possession or powers of speech, from complete dependence to the joys of free locomotion.

AVhat stirring times 1 AVliat rapid development! So rapid indeed that rye are apt to forget the “transition” in the accomplished facts. Nevertheless, all this development is accompanied by a gradual merging of one stage into the next, and it is' very important not to lose sight of that fact that baby's digestive and nervous system needs safeguarding from strain during this period of rapid development. It is well to keep the idea of “gradualness” always in mind. Remember tlie axiom, “Never make sudden changes.” Tho digestive organs have so far been accustomed to deal only or almost only with milk in some form. They need educating lo deal with other foods by a process of “gradual transition.” Much digestive trouble at a later stage is attributable to too, sudden and , too early introduction of a large variety of foods. Somewhat the same thing applies to methods of taking food. Hitherto the baby has been accustomed solely or almost solely to . obtaining his food by suckling, often at the breast. Sudden weaning throws a strain on the nervous system, as well as on the digestion. AArise is the mother who has trained her baby to drink water or his fruit or vegetable juice from a cup previous to this period (this applies to the artifically fed baby as well as the breast fed), as the few minutes spent daily at this task will have prepared her baby for the gradual change from suckling to drinking from a cup. The second nine months of babv’s life are supremely important from the point of view of education —the child is learning all the time. It is the hounden duty of parents to see that he learns to do right things in a, right wav. The foundations of character and good or bad mental health are laid down during this period no less surely than the foundations of purely physical health. LEARNING TO EAT.

To come hack to practical consideration of the question of food, a point which is often overlooked is the fa.et that a properly graded milk mixture continues to supplv all the essential food elements and by for the greatest part of the actual nourishment needed during the whole of the first year. Food other than milk is mainiy of importance from the point of view of educating baby to feel and taste and digestion of solid a.nd semi-solid foods. The essential thing during this period is that he should learn how to eat.

He should learn how to eat from a spoon and drink from a cup and, most important of all, should learn to .chew his crusts and tones, and to.reject solid objects which he cannot reduce to pulp by biting. tearing, mouthing and chewing: Once learnt, this lesson will sta.nd him in good stead throughout his life. : helping to protect him from indigestion, decayed teeth, and many other evils which come in the train of these two. Also he will be much less likelv to swallow foreign bodies off the floor or else-, where than the baby with whom the act of swallowing is .almost automatically simultaneous with the placing of anything in the mouth. THE BEST KIND OF HARD FOODS.

Twice-baked bread is the best form of "hard" food for the baby of this age. The bread should be about one 'day old, and a slice about threequarters of an inch thick should be cut in fingers and baked dry in a slow oven. Enough may be done for several days and kept in a well-shut tin. These home-made rusks are hard and yet not tough, and do not have the tendency to break off in the leathery, slithery lumps which make ordinary crusts so dangerous. All the same,, the baby should never be left alone with any sort of crust. Tf the gums are sore for a few weeks, he may be able to tackle the softer kinds of crusts, but as soon as possible teach him to eat the twice-baked bread. . • GENERAL FOODS. In addition to milk and crusts, the baby should eat semi-solid cereal foods, the most important of which is well-cooked oatmeal porridge—"oat jelly." This may be varied by barley, rice, or wheatmeal, etc.. but oatmeal is the main standby. It should be given as firm jelly, unsweetened, and the milk it is served with poured over, not mixed into it. HUMANISED MILK. Mothers, often ask: It is necessary to make humanised milk after nine months or after the baby is weaned? Without exception, babies under one year should be weaned on to humanised milk, and every baby should continue to have part of the day'.s allowance of milk humanised (or modified) until the end of the first year or later. The additional sugar and fat used in making humanised milk is a necessary part of the ' baby's diet. Thei small amount of mixed foods taken before a year of age do not make up for the lack of these ingredients in the food if the milk is given simply diluted without suitable, additions of sugar and fat. During; this period properly modified milk is the most important part of the diet from the point of view of nutrition, whilst from the point of view, of education various hard foods and cereal foods are, specially important. Neither can replace the other". The child must have an adequate amount of milk, and also daily lessons: in chewing and eating, if he is to reach his first birthday well up to tlie mark in every way. Next week' we will describe in detail a few practical points in connection with the introduction "of new foods between nine and ' eighteen months of agesmall points which sometimes present difficulties. -