OUR BABIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 84, 30 June 1927, Page 5

OUR BABIES

By Hygeia. Published 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 fenco at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

“WORRIED MILK

This week we republish an extract from an article which appeared some years aco, because it affords an interesting comment on a difficulty we have not so far mentioned —the difficulty caused by worry or neivous upsets on the part of the mother. This is an intangible, but none the <ecs real trouble, and one which calls or thought, courage, and self-masterv hi the overcoming. If the mother could realise the tremendous importance of the Irst few months of the baby’s life, and put aside worries and the minor irritations of life for his sake—putting him first for that time, a very short time when all the years to come are considered; if husbands, relations and friends would* rally round the mother, pouring oil on troubled waters when sary, or at least refraining from rocking the family b. it. how man- ts of early unnecessary weaning could be avoided! The following is the extract referred to, which commences with a quotation from “Feeding and Care of Baby.” “Every means should be taken to avoid undue excitements, worries, and sources of annoyance because the emotions have so much to do with determining the composition and quantity of the milk, and affecting in other ways the health of both mother and offspring.

“The following passage from Charles Reade’s ‘The Cloister and the Hearth,' is most suggestive and entirely true: “ ‘The child is poisoned.’ “‘Poisoned! By whom?' “‘By you. You have been fretting!' “ ‘Nay, indeed, mother. How can I help fretting?’ “ ‘Don’t tell me, Margaret. A nursing mother has no business to fret. She must turn her mind away from her grief to the comfort that lies in her lap. Know you not that the child pines if the mother vexes herself?’ ”

Many, cases of premature weaning or failure of suckling can be traced to domestic and emotional upsets, which should never occur if people understood how important it is for the nursing mother to keep calm and placid.

The following examples from real life show how easily the flow of milk can be interfered with, and how simply the matter can be set right by those who know how to deal with the cases. Illustration I Years ago the mother of several young children was expecting an addition to her family. She made all her arrangements, and as she had a very devoted maid who had been in the family for several years, she felt quite happy about everything. The baby arrived safely, and there was a good supply of milk. Hardly had the mother taken her place again in the family circle than the “devoted” maid gave notice and left. This worried tfie mother so much that her milk dried up, and her baby was subjected to the perils of bottle-feeding. Any capable friend with sufficient knowledge to realise what was taking place could have gone into the house, taken over the responsibilities of it and the other children for a few days, got competent help, and thus have saved the situation, and the baby would have been breast-fed instead of bottle-Lod. Illustration II An interesting case took place in a mothercraft training institution. The matron wanted to prove to t.iose in training that even where a mother had to work for her living she could still nurse her baby well. From a Salvation Army Home the matron got a young mother with a normal, healthy baby to act as housemaid in the institution. For several weeks everything went well, and the baby increased in weight, the consecutive weighings being recorded on a chart; then, seemingly without rhyme or reason, the baby ceased to gain in weight; then it began to lose. The matron and staff were greatly puzzled, as everything seemed to >e going on as usual. The child was weighed before and after each feeding for a whole day, and it was found that the quantity of breast-milk had fallen some ounces below the requirement of the child. Then the matron suddenly discovered that the housemaid and the cook were quarreling. She asked them both to come and look at the 'hart, and she showed them how well the baby had done up to a certain noint, „nd then, when they began quarrelling, how the babv had suffered. This greatly impressed the cook who exclaimed. “Well. I’ve never been accused o’ damaging a bab-' before The dispute was settled, and very soon the baby began to thrive again. NEW IDEAS IN ILLUMINATION If you are the happy owner of some beautiful old china and a cabinet in which to keep it. have you ever considered the decorative value of installing small hidden electric lights in the cabinet, in order to display the china at night-time? With a wall plug close by it is not at all a difficult matter to arrange, and a local electrician would fix up the whole thing, including the special tubular lights, for a very small charge. . , . , Another illuminating idea, which is finding favour just now is to light up window or door curtains with concealed bulbs. Of course, the curtains themselves must be really beautiful to warrant the extra light thrown upon them But nowadavs curtains mostly are beautiful, and the beautiful ones are cheap, so that the whole scheme is easily within the means of the ordinary home. Eucalyptus oil applied to the collars of coats and mackintoshes will remove all grease marks.