OUR BABIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24399, 10 September 1940, Page 10

OUR BABIES

By Hygcia

Published • undei tlie auspices o£ the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and children (Plunket Society) "It ts wiser to put up a fence .at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom. FOODS FROM NINE MONTHS TO ONE YEAR (Continued from Last Week) By the time baby is nine months old he usually has one or two teeth, and others are ready to come through in turn. So it is important to give hard foods on which he can gnaw and bite, so that.his gums will have plenty of exercise and so bring good blood to them. Twice-baked bread is the best form of hard food. The loaf should be about one day old, and a slice. about three-quarters 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 wellshut tin. These home-made rusks are, hard yet not tough, and, do not have the tendency to break' off in the leathery, slippery lumps which make ordinary crusts dangerous. At the same time. ,the baby should never be left alone with any kind of crust. If the gums are sore he may be able to eat the softer kinds of crusts, but as soon as possible teach him to eat twice-baked bread.

In giving baby his crusts be prepared to spend 10 minutes or so at feeding time teaching baby how to eat the bread till he becomes expert. I stress the point that crusts should be given 10 minutes before the rest of the meal, as it is not the actual food value one should be concerned with, but the education of baby's masticatory organs. Give one of these crusts before the 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. feeds, and when he is taking them well give one before the 2 p.m. meal. At about 10 months give butter — about one or two teaspoonfuls each day.

From nine to ten months the cereal jelly is increased from two to three tabiespoonfuls and bone or vegetable broths to two tabiespoonfuls. Humanised Milk Mothers often ask if it is necessary to make humanised milk after nine months or after 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 baby's milk mixture is a necessary part of his diet. The small amount of mixed foods taken before a year do not make ud for a lack of these ingredients in the food if the milk is given diluted without the addition of suitable sugars and fats. During the nine to 12 months' period the properly modified milk is the most important part of his diet from the point of view of nutrition, whilst the various hard foods and cereals are the most important from the point of' view of education. 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 come up to the mark of his first birthday. When commencing to wean baby from the breast it is safest to omit one breast feed each week, thus taking Ave weeks to complete the process. No trouble will be experienced if the child has been accustomed to taking boiled water and orange juice, etc.. from bottle and teat or cup and spoon since six months of age. Space out the feeds so that good intervals, are left between the suckling at the breast —e.g.: First week omit 10 a.m. breast feed

Second „ ~•'•.2 p.m. „ „ Third „ „ 6 p.m. „ - „ Fourth „ „ 10 p.m. „ Fifth „ „ 6 a.m. „

This allows the milk to decrease naturally in the breasts. For your own comfort take less to drink, however, and it may be necessary to wear a tight breast binder also. Start the humanised milk feed with a little more water than milk in the bottle—say, 3oz of milk and soz of water; add the correct amount of Karilac ordered by yourPlunket nurse. In two days give equal parts of milk and water. The mixture should be boiled for five minutes for "a week and then scalded.

Gradually the milk mixture is strengthened and increased. Kariol is added when baby has two bottle feeds, and so by the time he is a year old he should be having the following as a typical day's dietMilk, 240 z Water, 6oz Karilac, one tablespoonful and a-half Kariol, four teaspoonfuls About eight tablespoonfuls of cereal jelly divided into two Jots—one at 10 a.m. and the other at 6 p.m. Bone or vegetable broth, three to four tablespoonfuls . Apple or prune pulp, one to two tablespoonfuls Crusts, baked bread Butter, two teaspoonfuls Junket, loz or 2oz with fruit pulp Top milk or cream on his fruit pulo Egg yolk, three teaspoonfuls on vegetables or in his bottle Orange juice, two tablespoonfuls. By this you will see that his total amount to drink has been decreased from 40oz to 30oz, and the amounts of Karilac and Kariolvery considerably decreased as the baby takes more and more thickened foods. In this period, too. the number of feeds can be reduced from five to fourcutting out the 10 p.m. feed—when you are certain that baby will take all his milk mixture and other food well in four feeds; but do not omit the 6 n m. feed until a little later.

Next week we will carry on with the feeding of baby after he is a year old. " ■