OUR BABIES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 9 December 1908, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

BY HYGEIA.

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

HOW TO CHANGE TO HUMANISED MILK FROM ORDINARY COW'S MILK, Oil FROM OTHER - FORMS OF BOTTLE FOOD.

As wo have already pointed out, it is a matter of the first importance not to start with too strong a preparation. Whenever a change is.ma.de from i tiie food to another, tho now food '. should bo given weaker, for a few days at least, than the one it is to replace. Tho strength to use is fairly well indicated in the printed sheets of instructions issued by the Society for the j Promotion of tho health of woman and I children, which Avill He sent to any address on receipt of twopence in stamps forwarded to the hon secretary, Mrs i Carew, 8 Heriot Row, Dunedin. ' However, unless instructed by a doctor, the mother must use her judgment according to the circumstances of tho case. Thuß, TO CHANGE FROM COW S MILK AND WATER,. If a baby of threo months of age has been receiving and doing well on equal parts of cow's milk and water with a little cream and sugar added, ib would bo safe to change at ouoe to two v parts of humanised milk to one of .sugar of milk solution. The proportion of sugar solution would then be lessened day by day lintil^ at the end of a week or 10.days, the humanised milk could b:> given puro. In piich a caso huvaanised mi!k No. It. would probably agree just as well as the No. I. preparation, and as No. II: is easier to make the •mqther would naturally choose it if sho had to prepare the milk in herown home. On the other, hand, if tho mother were, making the change to humjvrilsed milk because her- three-months-old baby, was aiKng at the time, it would be unwise to start with humanised milk No. 11. Further, the No. I. preparation should ba given with an equal quantity of sugar of milk solution, and the latter should be reduced more slowly and cautiously than in the case of *a stronger baby. In tho course of _a_week or 10 days, thres of humanised milk No. I. to one of sugar solution might be given. At this stage, it would be well to pause for a few days and then, if all continued well to gradually work up towards full "strength.

At any staa;o evidenco of indigestion or disagreement would be mot best by at once giving the baby a single meal of sugar of -milk., solution silon-e, followed by equal parts of humanised miik and sugar solution for one or moro meals. Dilution with a larger proportion of sugar of milk solution than the baby has previously Horded should be continued for at least a few days. In this way Hid diii.(GVion of delicate babies can _ \-o 'humoured and kept from becominp- markedly deranged. They will then grow much more quickly than if tho mother tries to force them on by tho use of' too .strong a preparation. If the baby were more delicate than the cno.3 we have been describing, it would bo safor to start at first with equal parti of whey, humanised milk, and sugar of milk solution; or to use two parts of sugar of milk solution to one of humanised milk; or, .if this proves too strong, to use one part of Immanifod milk,'two of whey,.and two of sugar of milk solution. Th.3 lastnamed mixture represents an extremo of digestibility; from it a gradual increase of strength may be mado according to circumstances. Such a mixture, which is about half as strong as human milk or ordinary humanised milk, is 'not; intended for 'long-continu-ed use, but lr.erely to enable tho mother,to supply,her baby with a food svhieh -it van digest, and from which she can-build up'its strength by reducing first the sugar of mJk solution and then the wl'.ey. When given specially weal; food th-j baby can generally take larger .quantities, than*ib could if the> 'ioal' v/ero of tli'o standard strength;' but this is not always the case and wo must not overtax the digestive power of. a feeble infant by. overloading its stomach. Note also- that -increased frequency of feeding/usually causes further irritation and indigestion, because cho stomach does not get proper rest. Any of the above mixtures are supplied ready-mado and graded by the Taieri and Peninsula Dairy Company, Ounedin, and by Messrs Ambury, English, and Co., Auckland. However, they can easily be prepared' at home, and wherever*there is1 a Plunket nurso, she will, if askc^V givo practical instruction in this or; other matters affecting the welfare of'the. baby. ■' TO CHANGE FROM CONDENSED MILK OR PATENT FOODS. . Whero a baby has been fed on condensed milk, :or where; patent foods bavo been used, the humanised milk first given should always be decidedly weak/ because 'the digestive organs are not like those, of a breast-fed infant, and are liab'lg $o be less developed than where the baby has been accustomed to cow's milk and water. In some) of these cases the abdominal organs have been-so injured, and the digestive powor Ihk3 become so feeble, through tho uso of improper food, that tho baby does best if given at first simple whey (mado from "new milk and heated as describad in the society's pamphlet.) Even this may prove too strong, and then wo resort to diluting with, somo sugar of milk .solution for a few days, in order to give the digestive organs a chance of gathering a little tone and power. j Mothers sometimes ask whethsr the change from condensed milk or patent foods to humanisad milk should be mado suddenly or gradually. If the baby is not ill it is wiser to change gradually, leaving off so much of the original *fcod day by day unt;l, at the end of a week, it may be given up. On the other' band, when changing from cow's milk and water to humanised milk, the; change should be made v.fence, following the lines indicated i,n the earlier part joi tho present article

_j,i a baby has diarrhoea at the time of cbanginn; to: humanised milk, tho advieH of a doctor should be sought, and in any ctsp- tbo general directions given under the heading "Diarrhoea" in tho pamphlet should bo .strictly complied with. ■Remember that to start giving pure humanised milk to a baby suffering from diarrhoea would he utterly \vro"£. The baby might do mt>ll on humanised millv kept at the bo'l for 10 minu-'-c-i mixed with an equal quantity ol' unboiled- whey, but it should not bo oivfcn ordinary humanised mi-Ik. (Se? tho Society's pamphlet. "The Focd'ng and Care of the Baby.")

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