HOLIDAY FOR BABY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 May 1938, Page 5

HOLIDAY FOR BABY

PEACE OF MIND FOR MOTHER. The mother who takes baby away without considering, beforehand, his eating and sleeping requirements, is heading for trouble. The holiday will do her child more harm than good and her own health will suffer accordingly. Whether holidaying in a rented cottage, flat, or boarding-house, baby's own bed and bedding should be taken along fol’ him. His sleeping times should be as peaceful and satisfactory as at home, which will be one of the main factors contributing to the enjoyment of the holiday by both mother and baby.

Next on the list of essentials for baby’s care is the milk supply. If baby is naturally fed, well and good; there will be no dangers ahead for him provided mother does not overtire herself. The artificially fed baby will be the one whose meals need special care. Milk should be ordered from the best dairy with a well-mixed herd'rather than a Jersey dairy, where the milk would be far too rich for baby without special directions.

The milk should be boiled and treated just as urgently as at home. Even in the boarding-house, the mother must make arrangements to attend to this herself. Keeping the milk and food sweet is one of the big problems, unless the holiday house has a refrigerator. As at home, the milk should be obtained fresh for baby twice a day; should that be not possible, the afternoon and evening drinks should be re-boiled at midday. An alternative, of course, can be to alter baby’s modified cow’s milk mixture to one of dried milk, and the directions for making his food and the quantities for his age should be sought from the health centre sisters or another baby welfare authority before tne holiday begins. While Travelling. If baby has to have a bottle feed while travelling, the dried milk mixture will be easier to manage. So his luggage should contain: The proper quantity of the milk powder measured out beforehand and rolled in greaseproof packets; sufficient hot, boiled water put into a thermos kept only for water and baby’s own needs; an already sterilised glass measure for measuring the water; a spoon, his bottle, and teats already sterilised and wrapped up in cloth. If he is advanced enough to be able to drink from a cup or glass, it should be rolled in a cloth and kept handy. When a refrigerator is not available, the method of standing the milk and food in jugs and bowls, and in a dish of water with ice packed around and covered with a double piece of gauze with the ends hanging in the water, should be employed. A safe with a framework and sides enclosed with clean boiled mosquito net could be put in a draughty, shady place, keeping the sides continually moistened by tins resting on top and kept full of water with a strip of rag hanging over the edge. All baby’s feeding utensils, his food, and those utensils used for cooking the food, the gauze covers, strainers, dish-cloths, and tea-towels should be kept entirely for his own use, absolutely away from flies and perfectly clean. His Orange Juice. Oranges and other fruits for his daily fruit juice are sometimes difficult to obtain, and in that case small tins of tomato juice should be included among baby’s necessities, so that the fresh element or vitamin C will not be omitted from his dietary. It is hardly necessary to emphasise the boiling of his drinking water, for all babies should only have boiled water to drink.

Baby will need more baths, and a cool sponge down at midday will help keep him happy and cool. He should be put to sleep in the coolest spot available, whether that be in the porch, under the shadiest tree in the garden, or in an airy room in the house. His clothing should be lessened to a minimum on very hot days, and he should always be covered by a mosquito net while sleeping in his cot.

If baby’s needs can be catered for so that his system will not suffer from the change, there should be nothing to prevent a mother from having a happy holiday with her family even though he is very young and needing special attention.