OUR BABIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 244, 5 January 1928, Page 4

OUR BABIES

By

Hygeia.

Published under the auspices o-F the Rcyal New Zea aSociety for the Hea'th of Women and C~ idrerr (Piunket Society). “It is w'ser to out up a fence at the top of a precipice than to ma n - ta;n an ambulance at the bottom.

] vv nan can we ao to preven. summer | diarrhoea? Firs - i j We must see tha.t every baby has wnat i every baby needs. The first two pages | of the society's book. Feeding- and j Care of Baby.' should be perfectly j familiar to every mother in the lar. eL i If the baby who has lived in fresh air. \ been naturally fed, trained in regular : habits, and has received all the other essentials for good health chances to ! get ill. he “throws off the germ us the ■ i bow of an ocean liner throws off the apra —. raat special sider the matter of food. Natural : feeding is the great preventive. ProI fessor Budin has shown that in Paris. ; out of 2.50 deaths of infants occurring : in one midsummer week. less than 30 were of breast-fe<s babies. As we have said, humanised milk is the best substitute; but in hot weather special i precautions are necessary in the pre- ; paration and keeping of milk. Making and Keeping Milk in Hot Weather j It may be best to bring the baby's . milk to the boil, and keep it hot tor . 10 minutes, instead of only pasteurisj ing it, he., keeping it at a temperature J of 15 3d eg. Fu.hr. for 10 minutes. Whether boiled or pasteurised the milk must be cooled quickly and at ! once to well below 60deg Fahr. if pos- | aible. Germs multiply with extreme j rapidity in warm milk. Cover the jug ! loosely with damp butter muslin, and ; stand in running or frequently changed I cold water. (Needless to say, if ice I is available the problem is solved.; ! In the country a running stream or arj tesian well may be handy, but in the f -owns it may be impossible to get tap I water below 60deg Fahr. A pailful of : water left outside in the air all night ! away from the early morning sun will j be quite cold for some hours. Select i the shadiest, draughtiest, cleanest \ place for the milk safe, and stand the ! jug of cooled milk in a shallow dish • of the coldest water available in the safe. Be sure the damp muslin dips j into the water all round so that it will I keep damp, and so cool by evaporaI -ion. This method always _ ensures i some cooling, especially in hot, dry ! weather. | When there is any doubt as to ; whether the milk has remained below' i 60deg Fahr. always rescald what is i left of the day's supply in the evening. and again cool quiakiy. and place ! in the coldest place available for the I night. j Naturally, if it is possible to obtain j fresh milk twice daily it is best to j make the humanised milk, morning and ! evening. I There are various kinds of sates and ; coolers, details of which may be ob- : tained if wished from the Piunket | nurses of Karitane Hospitals, but the | simple, easily available methods sufi fi.ee in the great majority of cases if i carefullv carried out. I Thirdly.—Extra special care must be ; taken with regard to cleanliness dur- [ ing hot weather. Billies, jugs, bottles i and teats must be washed absolutely , free of all traces of stale mirk. An almost invisible amount of stale m.lk may render a whole day’s supply _ of fresh milk poisonous. Vessels which have contained milk should always' be washed in cold water first, and then in hot water and soap. Hot water "sets'’ the milk on the utensil, and makes it difficult to remove.. Beware of flies. Keep everything i under cover. j Remove soiled napkins at once, ar.d ! cover. Wash the hands after changI ing baby, before again handling him | or his food. ! Wash the nipples thoroughly before j nursing baby. ! Fourthly.—Be extra careful to enj sure regularity of the bowels: and see ’ that .baby has freedom of movement I in the open air as much as possible. I Let him' be out of doors practically ; all day, and all night, too, if it can ! be arranged, but avoid overheating i him. Lastly.—Do not worry about baby, but be ever on the watch for warning j symptoms of trouble, and ready to j take prompt measures. Weaning i If possible do not wean baby during February or March, especially if the : weather is very hot. If weaning cannot be avoided it should be done gradually, with great care in the prepara- | tion and diluting of the artificial food* which should be humanised milk, made and graded according to the directions ! in “Feeding and Care of Baby,” or : the instructions of the Piunket nurse. Even one breast feed a day during the hottest weather is better than none, belaying complete weaning until ; cooler days come. Indigestion Indigestion, due to overfeeding or to ! unsuitable food or irregular feeding. I is the main predisposing cause of diarrhoea; therefore mothers should be eternally vigilant, especially during' | summer. They should be perfectly I regular, and should give the children | nothing unsuitable or likely to dis- ; agree. Unfortunately, it is just durj ing summer holiday months—the warmest time of the year—that the I feeding of both babies and older children tends to become irregular and • unsuitable. When travelling or away | from home the usual routine is broken, I often with disastrous results. Many a I child makes no progress during Janj uary or February for this reason. The • disordered digestion and lowered reI sistance leave him easy prey to any inj fecr.ion —ripe for an attack of diar-

i rhoea. He may not die, he may com- ; pletely recover, but at least his pro- : gress will be checked* perhaps for ! months, and there is grave risk of life- \ long damage. ISome hints on food for children when travelling were given in these columns a few weeks ago. When away from home make every effort to secure r good pure milk. Always boil it before | use for the first few days, and con- : tinue to do so if there is any doubt as to the freshness of the supply. Spare no pains to keep all feeding utensils scrupulously clean. For the older children, beware of "pieces'’ of unsuitable food —cakes, sweets, bananas, and other unripe or over-ripe fruit, etc. Next week we shall go into the simple treatment of a threatened attack of diarrhoea.