OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 223, 14 June 1919, Page 7

OUR BABIES

IB'< Hygeia.i 'Published under the auspices of the •. Hoyal New Zealand Society for Uio Health of Women and Chilrfreif. "It, in wiser to jmt up :i fence at tlic? top of ii precipice than to maintain an ambulance at Ihe bottom." , Last, week -we were dealing with a mother's letter regarding constipation in her cightccn-nionlhs-olrt baby. this week I shall comment on another letter on the same Biibject:TIII-; LETTER. Will you pleaec answer Uic tallowing letter through your column-.—.My fourteen-months-old baby is not progressing as favourably as I should like. He is on" humanised milk now, and we arc giviiiK him pUin cow's milk, lie ie lively, creeps well, and stands i:p to chairs, but he docs not attempt to walk far yel. He has four teeth on the top and three on the bottom, and t think he is cutting a- double ono now. ' Lately he has been suffering very badly from constipation, and I have Jiael to nte the syringe with Roapy water. Could you give mo some advice as to what his lood should be? The Baby's Food. At 5 a.m. I girt him of plain cow's tnilk, About 7 a.m. a, tablcEpoouful of orange juice in water. . At 9 a.m. porridge and row'fi milk, also unsweetened ruaka. At 1 p.m., rusk, semolina or sago, and baked apple, stewed prunes, or masheci boiled carrots, l'otato did not sccni to suit him. The Hemolina and sago are boiled -with milk. Could ho have a little : raw apple at this meal? About 3 p.m., orange, prune, or fig juice. At 5 p.m., rusli, groais, or occasionally patent barley and milk, j At 9 p.m., 6Joz. of milk. Lately I have been putting a teaspoonful of fluid magnesia in hin bottles at '3 at night and 5 in the morning. Can you give me any better suggestion for his feodins? The , two cows we are milking are rich creamers. Should we add a. little water to his milk? How much milk would you, advise ue to give him in a day? We have been getting him to drink out of a cup lately to wi-au him from tho bottle. I was advised by tho mother of a largo family to give him raisins, but T knew he could not digest them raw, , no I siewcfl some, and they passed through him ,iust as he swallowed ihcin< Should we'give him any more? I had been told to give him cream for constipation, but I found when 1 did so that ho uainu uut In little red dots on his noso or largo pimples "over other parts of his body. As a young baby he was never so bad as he is now. Bo gets very little sugar with liis food. Occasionally we givo him a little treacle on his porridge. Two or three timee we gavo him wheatmeal porri'dee for a, change, and it seemed to suit him all right, Could wo give ,him a. little soup made from mutton with carrot and onion in it. etc.: , COMMENT. Tho mother docs not givo any indication as to whether her baby was breast-fed, aud if so lor how long. At fourteen monthn he had evidently been having puro unmodified cow's milk for eome time, and ho had lately, become very i.onstipatcd. It, would have- been better had the' mother followed tho Instructions in the society's book. On pago 38, "Feeding and Caro of Baby," it says: "Up to at least 15 months part of the baby's milk should be humanised to prevent giving too much protein , ," Too much curd (proteid) is apt to cause constipation. At 14.months an average daily v alloivance of milk would he lOoz. of humanmed milk and Jsoz. of whole cow's milk. At the early morning and ovening meals it 13 well to add, say, Im. of oat jelly to the milk instead of giving it plain,.or the oat jolly may be given by spoon. When; there is a, tendency to constipation oat jelly in better than barley jelly, as it. is more laxative. Bread dried and crisped in tho oven is ' better than rusks. If the mother will study inges 48 and 49, "Feeding and Oaro of liaby," she will find .information with regard to tho diet for a baby from 12 to 15 months of ago. Our correspondent's arrangement of meals was good, and it was perfectly right, to give the fruit juice between meals ns she dirt. 1 shall now indicate a few points which may prove helpful in the fight against constipation :~ HYGIENIC SfBASUBES. . (n) AH the essentials for health laid down on pages 1 and 2 of tho society's book, "Feeding and Care of ■Baby," sho.iild be carefully attended to and supplied in full measure. (b) Don't let 10 o'clock in the morning paes without getting the. bowels to move If they have not dono so in the previous 24 hours. (c) Enema. -Don't use Boap, as it caUMS irritation. A small tonic enema of loz. to 2oz. of normal saline given by means of ft tiny soft-nozzled bulb enema may Vio given pending the securing of natural motions. (d) Abdominal massage-described last week. FOOD REQUIREMENTS. (1) Jlilk: Some of the day's supply of milk should be modified up to 15 months, and a little ranlt estra,ct may be added to tho milk once nr twice a day. Begin with a email half-tes spoonful, and gradually increaso if necessary. (2) Tho milk should not bo boiled. Boiled milk is conßtipntiiig. (3) Broth mai(c from mutton, beef, or chicken, freed i.rom fat, may be given thickened with eome well-boiled ground rice or semolina. (4) Fresh fruit iuice: well-cooked prunes from [which tho skin has been removed, baked apple, ar.d ripo raw apple may be given. ■ . A normal, healthy baby from nine or ten months onwards way have some ripo raw apple. The best plan' is to remove a pieco of the skin from a good, sound, ripe apple, and allow baby to rub off a little from the cut surface with his teeth and gums. Of course, he must be watched, because if a largo pieco of apple wcru bitten off he might choke. (5) Olive oil: Half a teaspoonful of tho best olive oil may be tried, and this may be gradually increased until a moderatesized tcaspoonful is taken. Though sometimes recommended for constipation, crea.-n is not desirable-indeed. the presence of/ too much butter-fat is liable to aggravate matters, tiving rise to what is known as "fat constipation." It is better not to give carrots, onions, raisins, or such things to a baby of 14 months. Babies must be gradually and carefully habituated to changes of food, or tho digestivo organe suffer. ■I am sure that the readers of this column will realise that the rational way to deal with a tendency to constipation, whether ;n tho case of n baby or an adult, is to got the individual into the best poseible all-round health .and vigour, neglecting none of tho essentials mentioned on 1 aud 2 of. the society's book. The commonest, mistake is trying merely one thins at a. time where you want cumulative effect of a number,of factors used in mintoration, such as massage, fruit juice, olive oil.Vc. none of which mifht bring about the desired result if used by itself.