OUR BABIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 January 1940, Page 8

OUR BABIES

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 fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom/’ THE HOLIDAY SEASON. This month of January turns the thoughts of many families to the annual holiday, and many travel to the seaside or country to stay with friends. To many mothers the journey entailed is a period of worry and anxiety and is looked forward to with a good deal of dread, especially if it be a long train journey. The Baby. In the case of a young baby a holiday should make little or no difference to habits of sleep and feeding. As far as possible observe the routine carried out at home. Don’t keep baby out all evening or awake at night to amuse his elders A mother taking a baby to visit friends would do well to ascertain that these friends are in sympathy with, and will help her carry on. those habits which she has established at home, otherwise it is better to give up the holiday for the first year. Food. If the infant is breast-fed there is no difficulty as to his food, and there follows less luggage to take. The bottle-fed baby presents quite a problem. His 24-hour ' supply of humanised milk should be freshly made as late as possible before starting on the journey. It is wisest when travelling to bring it to the boil and then keep it at that temperature for 10 minutes. It is extremely difficult to keep milk cold enough to be safe for baby when travelling in hot weather. It is in luke-warm milk and imperfectly washed teats or bottles that germs multiply so rapidly. With proper care and precautions a thermos flask may be used. If the milk can be cooled well below 60deg Fahr, with ice or very cold water, it may be put into a clean, scalded, cold flask at that temperature and will keep quite safe if properly cooled. Another method is to pack bottles of cold milk into a box of clean sawdust, taking care that the sawdust is well up to the neck of the bottles. The alternate method of keeping the milk safely is to keep it hot. Germs do not grow or multiply in milk which is kept well above 130 deg Fahr. For this method thoroughly wash and scald the flask and pour into it the boiled humanised milk when just below boiling point. Keep the flask well corked, and when pouring out sufficient milk for each feed do so as quickly as possible and recork immediately to prevent the milk in the flask falling appreciably in temperature. Naturally if the milk cools to anywhere near blood heat the flask becomes a positive menace to health. The milk poured out for baby’s feed can be cooled quickly to the right temperature, and by this method he can have his bottle whenever due without any regard to stations where hot water may be obtained. It is a good plan to have two or more bottles and teats, so that if it is difficult to wash them properly en route fresh ones can be used. A handy way to carry them is in a small tin box, such as certain brands of tea or fancy-biscuits are packed in. Wrap the bottles and teats in a piece of clean, boiled butter muslin or old linen and pack in the tin. A spoon and any other utensils may be put in this too. A measure marked in ounces or a small jug is necessary to transfer milk from flask to feeding bottle. This also must be kept clean and covered. Note.—Never keep any milk which has been left in the feeding bottle. If baby does not finish his feed throw away what is left and use fresh milk from the flask for the next feed. Nothing is more dangerous than milk which has been lying in a bottle from one feeding time till the next. If the journey will take more than 24 hours, and it is therefore necessary to obtain a fresh supply of humanised milk en route, consult the Plunket nurse in the town in which you live. She will write ahead to the nurse in the place where you break your journey, giving her the recipe of baby’s food and arranging a suitable time and place for you to get the made-up humanised milk for the next 24 hours. For this a small charge is made to cover the cost of material. Thus when travelling, say, from Dunedin to Auckland, a fresh supply of milk may be obtained at Christchurch or Wellington by special arrangement beforehand. Food for the Older Children. Undoubtedly the little runabouts are the most difficult to cater for, but a little forethought will save much worry and trouble. Remember that a day on somewhat short rations will do no harm at all, whereas a day on unsuitable food (food from restaurants, and odds and ends of cakes and sweets), may do untold harm. Pack a tin of nice twice baked bread and oat cakes (ready buttered if lilted) and folded slices of brown bread and

butter. Some sandwiches of cress, lettuce, or tomato and scrambled egg make variety and add to the nourishment of the meal, and a few dates or raisins (separately or in sandwiches) are excellent. With a drink of milk and a raw apple to finish, a perfectly nourishing, satisfying and adjustable meal is provided for any young child. So much for the subject of food. Probably every mother will have her own suggestions to add to the foregoing, which, however, have been proved thoroughly workable in actual practice.