OUR BABIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 67, 12 November 1912, Page 8

OUR BABIES.

(i>y Hygeisi.)

j Published under the auspices of j 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.” MOTH [Oil'S INQUIRY AS TO \LVE-MOTTHS-OLD TACT. The following letter has been received from a mother in .Ashburton : ‘‘l have gained nmeh valuable help from the ‘f eeding and Cars of Baby,’ hut should be glad if you will kind!;, give mo advice on the introduction oi some sol d food into baby’s food. QUESTION I.—Tic is nine months old, entirely breast-fed. liy health it good. I should like to continue breastfeeding. Is tliis wise? Q 1 iCSTIOX 2.—When is barley jelly to lie given? Just before the breast feeding, or instead? Ql KSTIO.X y.—How many times ; day and what quantify? Should it Ik g von plain or with cow’s milk? Will or without sugar?”

QUITS'! lOX I.—He is nine month! old, entirely breast-fed. Ah health is good. I should liln to continue breast-feeding. I; tin’s wise?

ANSY* Hit.—Before answering or would have to know more about tla baby. Is lie satisfactory? He should b, putting on an average of about i quarter of a pound a week, thong) ■some weeks-he might gain little o: nothing owing to teething, etc. How ever, lie should be gaining' about ; pound a month. If this is the rare and if he is a bright, happy, laughing arm, chubby little cherub, you may Ik sure be is getting enough from tin breast, and that your milk is still tin best nutriment for him. On the othe. hand, if lie seems unsatisfied or if b. .shows signs of falling off in- any dire.ion you ought to ascertain the differ cnee in bis weight before and afte; each feeding for a whole day, in ordc to make sure a-s to the quantity <,. milk lie is drawing off in the 24 hour: (see ‘‘Heeding and Care of Baby,’ page 51, or “What Baity Needs,’ pages 5 and !j).

If the child is getting too much fro-r. die breast, the remedy is obvious but if ho is getting too little sever.; courses are open.' As you say yoi are in good health, and nursing seem.' to /agree with you, the hast plan i, the breast supply is inadequate woulf be to supplement with humanised milt No. 2, giving at caeli feeding the equivalent of a fifth of the quantity that your supply is short in the day Mins, assuming the baby’s normal ration to bo 42. J ounces in the 24 hour, (which would be met by giving five

feedings of St ounces each), and you found that you bad been supplying only T7i ounces, you ought then to give in addition an. ounce by bottle after caeli suckling, or more probably baby would need nothing additional with to. first three feedings, but, say, two ounces and three ounces respectively will, ilie evening feedings. The proper course of procedure and the reason'for it is clearly indicated in the following extract from the society’s pamphlet. “What Baby Needs” :

•■idea! Feeding. “Tise ordinary routine advice give) lt> mothers is that tise baby must have only one breast at each suckling, tlx breasts being used alternately. This is right where the mother lias an ample supply of milk-—where the baby get; all he needs from one breast. Tut where tlrs is not the case—whore the breast supply tends to fall short of what is needed, and one breast does not supply enough for one feeding—the baby should certainly be pnt to both sides at each suckling, the right breast being used first at one feeding time and the left first at the next, i his is the best means of stimulating the secretion of milk, from eight to ten minutes being allowed for each breast. In any case, the breast first suckled should he emptied; hut with

■in increasing supply less and less time should he allowed in regard to rlie second breast, and if the euppK becomes ample only one breast should be used at each nursing.” In giving the above instructions 1 have assumed that you want to continue at least partial breast-feeding for a considerable time longer. How To Wean Quickly.

If, on the contrary, you want to get your baby completely weaned in the course of a month, the best means of drying off the breast supply will be to replace first one feeding a day by Humanised -Milk (diluted at first with

an equal quantity of boiled water), then two bottle feedings, then throe, and -so on. The lessened stimulation of the breasts causes the secretion to slack off much quicker than if you were to continue with partially breastfeeding five times a day. Prolonged Suckling.

The pros and eons of weaning at nine months or continuing to partially suckle up to 12 or IS months, whvro feasible, are adequately dealt with in an extract from the forthcoming ■edition of the “Feeding and Care of !?ahy,” which will appear in next week’s columns. Qt'KSTION 2.—When is liailey jelly to be given—just before the breast-feeding, or instead I- 1 A .NSW 101 C Fluids are generally best given just after suckling; solids, on the other hand, such as dry crus is, etc., should rather he given before suckling, as the hahy then tends to work more vigorously at them. Harley jolly or oat jelly «hou!d not he given as the sole food in place of any ordinary feeding, because its food-value, hulk for bulk, is less than a third that of human or hiimanjsod milk, and it is not in itself a complete food. Commencing with an ounce or so a day, the use of barley jelly may be gradually increased up to about a

I -pi.aim' oi a pi of in tae 21 hours by i the time a cliild is a voar old. At tiial I ■ , I age, ii mla were t;>c omy u«;a m:.u given, the ordinary allowance oi miU would be rather less than a quart, assuming that the baby was then taking a fair quantity of dry food in the way of crabs and toast. A suitable allowance of ‘laid food in these circumstances might be as follows: -Mother’s milk or humanised milk ..\o. 2, 20 ounces; cow’s m Ik, 15 ounces ; barley or oat jelly, 7 ounces. It cannot be too strongly insisted on that every baby should be trained to masticate a progressively increasing allowance of hard, dry, resistive food from the ago of nine months onwards. But if for any reason the baby took very little solid food, lie might need a quarter of a pint more human o'r humanised milk than is shown above. QUESTION 3. How many times a day should barky or oat jelly lie given, and in what quantity? Should it be given plain or with cow’s milk, with oi without sugar?

ANSWER.—The jelly may be given mixed with the milk as shown above, or may be given just before or aft M r the supplementary milk, cither plain or rendered more appetising witn a little salt or sugar. Salt is preferable. If sugar is used allow very little indeed.

Next week 1 shall deal with the desirability of training the baby, even carper than J have hitherto recommended, to oat raw apple and other solid food.