OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 4030, 9 June 1931, Page 60

OUR BABIES.

By

Hygeia.

Publi»hed under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

PLUNKET NURSES. ETC.. DUNEDIN BRANCH. NURSES’ SERVICES FREE. Nurses O'Shea (telephone 23-348). Isbister (telephone 10-866), Thomson, Scott, and Ewart (telephone 10-216). and Mathieson (telephone 23-020). Society’s Rooms: Jamieson’s Buildings, 0 Lower Stuart street (telephone 10-216) Office hours: Daily from 2 to 4 p.m. (except Saturday and Sunday) and 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays. Thursdays, and Fridays; 315 King Edward street. South Dunedin. 2 to 4 p.m daily (except Saturday and Sunday), and 10 a.m to noon on Fridays; also 125 Highgate. RoslynMonday and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m.; Gospel Hall, Mailer street. Mornington— Monday and Wednesday. 2 to 4 p.m.; Kelsey Yaralla Kindergarten — Monday and Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.; Baptist Sunday School. Sunshine—Monday and Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m.; 211 Main North road. North-East Valley—Tuesdays. 2 to 4 p.m.; Kindergarten Caversham—Thursdays. 2 to 4 n.m Out-stations; Baptist Church. Gordon road. Mosgiel—Tuesday afternoons from 3 to 4 o’clock; Presbyterian Church Hall. Outran)—alternate Fridays. 2 to 4 p.m.; Municipal Buildings Port ChalmersWednesday afternoons from 2 to 4 o’clock; also Hall. Macandrew’s Bay—Fridays. 2 to 4 p.m. Administrative Secretary, Miss G. Hoddinott, Jamieson’s Buildings. Stuart street (telephone 10-216). Karitane-Harris Babj’ Hospital. Anderson’s Bay (telephone 22-985). Matron. Miss Hilditch. Demonstrations given oh request every Wednesday afternoon from 2.30 by Plunket Nurses and Karitane Baby Nurses. Visiting hours: 2to 4 p.m., Wednesday. Friday and Sunday.

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

What stirring times ! What rapid development! So rapid indeed that we are apt to forget the “transition" in the accomplished facts. Nevertheless all this development is accomplished by a gradual merging of one stage into ’ the

next, and it is very important not to lose sight of the fact that the baby’s digestive and nervous system need safeguarding from strain during this period of rapid development. It is well to keep .the idea of “ gradualness" always in mind. Remember the axiom, “ Never niako sudden changes.’’ The digestive organs have so far been accustomed to dealing only, or almost only, with milk in some form; they need educating to 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. The second nine months of baby’s life are supremely important from the point of .view of education—the child is learning all the time. It is 'the bounden duty of parents to see that he learns to do right things in a right way. The foundations of character and good or bad mental health are laid down during thia period uo less surely than the foundations of purely physical health. Learning to Eat. To come back to practical consideration of tho question of food, a point which is often overlooked is the fact that a properly graded milk mixture continues to supply all the essential food elements and by far the greatest part of the actual nourishment needed during the whole of the first year. Food other than milk is mainly of importance FROM THE POINT OF VIEW’ OF EDUCATING BABY TO THE FEEL AND TASTE AND DIGESTION OF SOLID AND SEMI-SOLID FOOD. 1 he essential thing during this period is that he should learn now to eat. He should learn to eat from a spoon and drink from a cup, and, most important OF ALL, HE SHOULD LEARN TO chew’ his crusts and bones, and reject solid objects which he cannot reduce to pulp by biting, tearing, mouthing, and chewing. Once learnt, this lesson will stand him in good stead throughout bis 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 likely to swallow foreign bodies off the floor or elsewhere 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 Food. Twice-baked bread is the best form of " hard tack ’’ for the baby of this age. The bread should be about one day old, and a slice about 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. If the gums are sore for a few weeks he may only be able to tackle the softer kind of crust, but as soon as possible teach him to eat the twice-baked bread. Cereal Foods. In addition to milk and crusts, the baby should learn to eat semi-solid cereal foods,the most important of which is wellcooked, strained 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 a firm jelly and unsweetened. Humanised Milk. Mothers often ask, “ Is it necessary to make humanised milk after nine months or after baby is weaned ? ”

VI ithout 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 ” 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. The 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, THE 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 the mark in every way. Raw Ripe Apple. One cannot lay down a hard-and-fast rule as to exactly when raw apple may be given for the first time; it all depends on how quickly the individual baby learns to masticate. As a general guide one maj- say that as soon as the baby has four teeth and has learnt to use them properly he can start raw apple—under supervision and tuition, of course. The best way is to peel a small ripe apple, and let baby have it in both hands to nibble and chew round it for a time. In this way he gets good exercise for teeth and jaws without actually eating a great deal of apple. Next week we will go on to describe in detail a few practical points in connection with the introduction of new foods between nine and eighteenth months of age —small points which sometimes present difficulties.

In the Police Court at Timaru on Tuesday last Percy Clifford Holland, a labourer, was charged with having at Beautiful Valley, near Geraldine, stolen 90 sheep, valued at £5l Bs, the property of Smith Bros. The accused, who took the sheep from a paddock and trucked them to Burnside for sale, as he explained, to pay a private debt, pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.