OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3082, 12 May 1917, Page 15

OUR BABIES

FBI HTGEU.I Published under the auspices of the Koyal New Zealand Society for tho Health of Women and Children. "Ifciswisor to put up a fenco at the top of a. precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." FOOD CONSTITUENTS. FAT. Question: What is the best form of fat for babies? •Answer: Unquestionably tho fat of Mother's Milk. Question: Is tho fat of cow's milk as easily digested by a baby as the fat of human milk? Answer: Certainly not. The fat of cow's milk ia a mnch greater tax on tho baby's digestive powers. One ,of the commonest mistakes in the feeding .of young babies, whose mothers cannot nurse them, is the giving of too larga a proportion of fat, especially at firet. If the instructions given in the' Government pamphlet, pages 56 and 57, and in tho Society's book, "Feeding and Care of Baby," page U, are followed this overtaxing of digestive powers is avoided. Question: Which is tho more serious mistake, giving excess of proteid or giving excess of fat in the baby's milk? Answer: Excess of either ia liable to cause. serious mischief, especially when training a baby's organs to di- • gest these constituents of cow's milk, both of which diffor, as I have explained, from tho fat and proteid of a mother's own milk in beinc harder to digest. There is a widespread idea, that babies can tolerate and absorb cream very readily, and infants are moro often upset owing to this mis- - taken notion than through giving them oxcess of proteid, though tho latter is a main cause' of infantile diarrhoea and overtaxing of the kidneys. The. results of both mistakes are so serious that I find it impossible to'say which is tho graver error. Question: Is there any appreciable difference between the digestibility of thecream derived from different breeds of cows ? Answer: Yes. On the whole, the fat of Jersey cows is more liable to upset a baby than the fat of Ayrshires, Holsteins, Shorthorns, or ordinary . "Colonial Cows." , However, the main reason why Jersey milk has acquired the reputation of being less suitable for baby-feed- • ing than the milk of other dairy stock is the fact that Jersey milk may contain as much as 5 or 6 per cent, of fat; while the other cows average . from 3 to i per cent. Where,this difference i 3 not taken into account '

in the preparation of milk'for .babies . according to ordinary recipes (which all assume that ordinary milk-would . be used), the baby naturally gets too much fat. Where tho recipe says that two pints of milk are to be set in order to get half a pint of "top-, milk," less than'a pint and a half should be set if Jersey milk is used. This is a matter of very great importance. Question: How is the mother or nurse to'form any idea as to whether the milk supplied has a high or low proportion, of fat? -.'',.-, Answer: The only strictly reliable , guide is to get an average specimen of the milk tcsted-say. at a butter or cheese factory. This is a very--sim-ple matter, . because such tests- are :. constantly carried out at all dairy factories in order, to. ascertain the • value of the milk supplied. Question: Are there wide departures from an average of between 3 and i per cent, of fat in public milk supplies? Answer: Generally the milk .vendor is not allowed to epply milk in cities if it contains less than 3 per cent: of fat, and it is rare to find a city dairyman whose milk contains i per cent. On the other hand, wliere people get their milk. from ,f ?ine cow" or from a pure 'Jersey -herd the fat content may. be 5 per cent., 1 or even . higher.' Question: One often hears a mother or nurse' say, regarding' a particular town or'locality: "Oh, it's no use trying to make up milk recipes on any ordinary standard formulae hoTe, because the milk we get is such wretched stuff, and has hardly any cream on it." What is .to be done in such cases? Answer: One's experience is that such statements aTe almost invariably due to misconception. People have the idea that; they can form a fair estimate of the cream or fat valueof milk by judging from the quantity and appearance of the layer of cream which forms on the top after the milk has been set for a few hours. This is a great mistake. A milk may seem rich in cream and yet be. actually poor in fat. Accurate scientific testing is the only means of finding out. '

Question: What are the actual 6tcps which it is necessary to take in order to get a test made in practice? Answer: Whore the object is to find out about the fat contents for the purpcjse of (making humanised milk, - the best plan is to sond to tho daily factory a specimen of the humanised milk which has been prepared, because in that case the mother ascertains exactly what she wants to. know—viz., how closely . the milk . mixture she has made for her baby approximates to the standard of mother's milk. It should be borne in , mind, however, that in artificial feeding it is-best, especially at first, to keep somewhat below Nature's fat percentage. In general,. SJ per oent. is a safe standard for artificial feeding. Tc following passage from from "Feeding and Care of Baby," page 24, makes theso points guite clear:—"lfbabyjis not thriving, 6end by post to a dairy factory for analysis an ounce-bottle of a thoroughly wefll-inixed avetrage sample of the humanised milk prepared. Three or four drops of formalin should bo added to tho specimen to prevent it going bad on tho journey. The mother can thus easily ascertain whether what she is giving her baby has tho right proportion of fat or not. The proper portion is, generally speaking, between 3 and 4 per cent. A baby should never have more than 4 per cent, of fat, and thero aro some who cannot tolerate moro than 2 per cent., especially in the earlier months. The shorter the time one stands the milk for dipping off "top-milk" the less ivill be the pronortion of fat in the humanised milk niado with 6uch "top-milk"

Question: Is there any other practical suggestion ;you' would 'make as regards ensuring the best proportion of fat when making humanised milk in the home? Answer: Where a Plunket nurse is available one cannot'too strongly advise tho mother to get in touch with' her. In '.. out-of-Mic-way country - places, where this is not feasible, the mother needs only to show this article to a dairy factory manager or his assistant, and past experience tells us that 6ho. may rely on his kindly help and assistance. We cannot too warmly thank the dairy factory authorities for the willingness with which they rendor valuable help to mothers in this connection. I may 6ay also that the father conies in very usefully in these mattersno is nearly always ready to take a hand where the question is ono of ii--iiP'.*'v p.r.d Sevres, ind.ho generally becomes quite interested in the feeding problem. • This subject will be continued next week.