OUR BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2360, 28 November 1908, Page 12 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of tlie Health of Women and Children.

WEANING AND MIXED FEEDING .Many, women who are good nurses for a time show a deficiency in their milk, either in quantity or quality, by the eighth month or earlier. In such cases the mother shomd at once look to her own health, paying special attention to regularity of habits and meals, and the securing of nutritious food, with sti'ict avoidance of strong tea or anything indigestible. She should also have plenty of air passim*- through the house day and night, and should be out in the open air and sunlight as .much as possible, taking a reasonable amount of exercise. "Besides this she slioirld relieve tlie breasts of sonic of their work by wiving the baby first one, and then, if necessary, two bottlo feedings a dav If all these steps arc taken m time .a normal flow of milk may ireturn, enabling full suckling to be resumed and continued until the end of the ninth month. Otherwise the mother should proceed with .weaning. The rate of gain in weight and tne health of the baby, taken in conjunciton with the health of the mother, form the best gauge as to when “mixed feeding”—that is, the partial supplementing of the mother s milk by some other milk —should he begun; in any case the baby should be removed entirely from the breast .not later than the end of the first year. Towards the end of the nursing period the milk is liable, to become unsuitable in composition. This will be shown either by digestive disturbances, or failure to grow, or loss of weight on the part of the baby. Wen/uing .should bo gradual, aiiu as most babies will require the help of the bottle sooner or later it is well to bewin wiving first one, and then two, bott'e 'feedings each day as soon as there are clear signs that the mother’s milk is beginning to fad. this wav the baby can he habituated to the new food and manner of feet - inw and the change from breast-leed-iim' to bottle-feeding can be carried out so gradually and insensibly as to cause no inconvenience or disagreeWOULD IT BE SAFE TO WEAN A BREAST-FED BABY AND PUT IN STR AIGHT ON TO ORDINARY FLHI-STRENGTH HI7MANiiSED MILK? Certainty not. The first rule_ m baby-feeding is never to make sudden changes of any land. (An exception to this rule is the sudden and marked weakening of food, or if necessary the change to mere, boded water: on 'account of severe indigestion or diarrhoea.) When a marked chance must be made in the wod 01 manner of feeding the new food should he as digestible as possible, and should ho given decided y u oak at first The strength should' be increased gradually as the baby s digestive organs become accustomed to the new food and the new way of feediim. The change from the breast to the o bottle or spoon feeding always puts a strain on the baby s pow ers. Mothers all know that weaning is a perilous time for infants, hut it can be rendered safe by a little care and forethought. Early . weaning is the most fatal; weaning after nine months should give no difficulty if WWUOOT WEANING AN ENTIRELY BREAST-FED BABY. - Begin by giving one bottle each d iy (preferably in the middle of the forenoon) of humanised milk of suitable strength. Start with a much weaker milk than you would giro a baby of the same age who had been artificially fed for somo time; thus, it your babv is four or five months old, you should give him one bottle each day of tho strength ordinarily used for a babv under a month old. Aon do this for the simple reason that your baby has been living on breast milk exclusively, and were you to wive him a humanised nnlk ol full strength you would bo putting into bis stomach a mixture too strong for him to begin on. Remember that it i s not onlv the change in the nature of the food that tends to make it disagree at first, hut the change, from feeding by the breast to feeding by the bottle. .Hence you must start with a. comparatively weak anti, very digestible food and work cautiously to the full strength. . Continue wivinw the one bottle-feeding eveiy dav -at the same time for four days, and if it -agrees you may then give two bottles each day, say one m the* morning and the other in the evening. Continue thus for another three days, being specially careful not • to overfeed either with the hreast-leed-iims or with the -bottle-feedings. The quantity given per feedings by the bottle should l he that shown for the aw G iu the table of feedings given m tlio pamphlet issued by the Society ]{onionibor tillrt fc mothers torn! to overfeed when they resort to oux." ed feeding, 'because they are apt to forget that the longer intervals cause more milk to accumulate m the breasts. At the end of m few days from the giving of the first bottle a slight increase, can be made in the strength of the milk used. How to ivorh tie feed 1 up to pijre iviwauised

milk will he shown in detail next week for .babies of different ages. Sometimes “weaning has to he carried out more quickly than I have just described, but it is always better, both for the baby and the another, to change slowly when feasible. However, sudden illness of the mother, sudden cessation of the’ flow of milk, or injurious change in its composition may render rapid weaning necessary. In such cases the main thing to remember is to commence with a weak, very digestible 'form of (humanise! milk, and to increase tlie strength cautiously day by day. If any symptoms of indigestion arise make the food weaker for a day orso, as til© baby should never be given more than,he is able to digest. Mothers ask: “Will not a child lose weight when placed upon a weak diet?” Sometimes they lose a little for the first week or two, hut they soon make up, and will then continue to grow well. On the other hand, the acute indigestion which frequently results from using too strong a milk at tlie start will, in most cases, cause a serious loss of weight, and may turn the baby _ into a chronic dyspeptic and weakling as well. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. (Quoted 1 from Professor Holt.) 1; AT AVHAT • AGE SHOULD ai J CHILD BE WEANED FROM THE BREAST ?”

“Usually weaning should ho begun at nino or ten months by substituting one feeding a day for one nursing, later two feedings, and thus gradually the child is. to be taken irom the breast altogether.” “AT WHAT AGE SHOULD THE WEANING BE COMPLETED?” “Generally at one year. In summer it may sometimes be advisable to nurse an infant a little longer rather than wean in warm weather; but even then the dangers of weaning are much less than those of continuing to murse, as is so often done, after the milk has become very scanty and poor in quality.” “WDEN SHOULD A CHILD WHO IS WEANED FROM THE BREAST BE TAUGHT TO DRINK FROM THE CUP, AND WHEN TO TAKE THE BOTTLE?” m “If weaning is done as early as the eighth or ninth month it is better to give the bottle; if at tlie eleventh or twelfth month the infant should be taught to drink or ho fed with a spoon.” (Memo. —Some mothers who suckle their babies into the ninth month prefer then to gradually habituate them to spoon-feeding. This is quite a reasonable practice, and has the advantage of avoiding the special risks run iii bottle-feeding where there is the slightest doubt about constant scrupulous cleanliness. Spoon-feeding ing should precede drinking from a cup, because otherwise the"®' change is too sudden, and the milk tends to be taken too quickly.) “WHEN SHOLLD AN INFANT BE WEANED FROM THE BOTTLE?” “This should generally be begun as early as twelfth or thirteenth month; after Id months the bottle should not be given except at the 30 p.m. feeding.” “IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO AN INFANT TAKING THE BOTTLE UNTIL TWO OR THREE YEARS OLD?” “There are no advantages and some serious objections- Older children often become so attached to the bottle that only with the greatest difficulty can they be made to give it up. Frequently they will refuse all solid food, and will take nothing except from the bottle so long as it is given, and when finally, at three or four vears, it is taken away they will not touch milk during the restof their childhood. The difficulty is here that children form the “bottle habit.” This habit is troublesome. unnecessary, and should by all ;means be prevented. An exclusive diet of milk for children of two or three years often results in anaemia and malnutrition.”

Frequent inquiries are received as io details of weaning, and the subject will he continued in next week’s column.