OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 140, 9 March 1929, Page 18

OUR BABIES

THE FIRST MONTH OF LIFE. FEEDING THE BABY. (By Hygeia.) 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 following article was written by Miss Elizabeth McMillan, of the Australian Mothercraft Society, who contributes a weekly baby article on Plunket lines to the “Australian Women’s Mirror.” Readers will be interested in the practical points Miss McMillan brings out so clearly:—• The right food for a baby from birth to nine months is mother’s milk, and no effort or sacrifice is too great to ensure that the infant is fed by its mother for those first nine months. There should really be no obligation, social or otherwise, important enough to allow it to interfere with the breastfeeding of the baby. The life, therefore, of the expectant mother and nursing mother should be so planned as to avoid anything that might result in a weaned baby. I would advise every expectant mother to obtain a book by Sir Truby King called “The Expectant Mother and Baby’s First Month.” Its teaching is so simple and so easily carried out that the inexperienced one often feels when reading it, “Oh, I know all that —I can easily do that,” and consequently does not conscientiously carry out the simple teaching. Somehow the inexperienced look for some mysterious and difficult instructions. If a mother carries out faithfully the teaching in this book she will have no difficulty in feeding her baby. The Needs of the Nursing Mother. To be a good nursing mother a woman’s body should be in first-class condition in every way, and this can be brought about only by strict obedience to Nature’s laws. The mother should have fresh air day and night. It is best for her to sleep outside —in fact, to be indoors only when it is absolutely impossible to be out of doors. She should wear only enough clothes to keep herself comfortably warm, which will be very few if she gets enough exercise, sunshine, and cold bathing, drinks enough water, and gets the right kind and amount of food. For mothers who cannot enjoy reading and other recreations at home it may be necessary to have occasional recreation and distraction, such as are afforded in good picture theatres; but I would warn them that, for one expecting a baby or nursing a baby, the air in a picture show is very bad and may interfere with her success as a mother. ■ Feeding-Times. A nursing mother should have at least eight hours of unbroken sleep, if possible between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The last feeding of the baby should be completed at 10.20 p.m. at the latest, and the mother’s light should be out at 10.30 p.m. If possible, it is best to begin the last feeding at 9.45 p.m., so as to get the baby back into its cot at as near to 10 p.m. as possible.

During the first day of life the baby

should be put to the mother’s breast within six hours of its birth (unless the doctor has reason to alter this rule), and every six hours for the first 24 hours. After that the feedings should be ,f° ur " hourly, the best feeding hours being 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. These hours should be kept to strictly by the clock. If the baby wakes between the feeding hours the wet napkin should be changed and the baby turned over on to his other side. If he does not settle to sleep again he should be given an ounce of warm boiled water in a little bottle with a rubber teat with a very small hole. Giving Baby Water. It is important, this first giving of water to a baby, for if you are not very careful you may give him a fright by letting the water run too quickly into his mouth through a teat with a large hole or from a teaspoon, and he will catch his breath and “choke,” and, perhaps, refuse to take the water next time. A mother often thinks her baby does not like water! It is because he has had a fright when first given it. Sometimes the cause of a baby refusing to take the breast is because the milk comes very freely and “chokes” him. Care should be taken to avoid the baby getting such a fright, as it may mean much time and difficulty to reassure him again and get him to take the breast with confidence. When giving a baby water or food through a teat or with a teaspoon it should flow into his mouth drop by drop; that is why a teat is better than a teaspoon for a young baby, as well as giving him the action of sucking, which is the normal way for him to take food into his mouth. (See page 88, “Feeding and Care of Baby,” by Sir Truby King.) With the first baby it is quite usual for there to be no milk to speak of for the first two or three days; but the baby should be put to the breast regularly every four hours, at first for about two minutes at each breast, and gradually increasing the time to five minutes at each breast. If longer time is given the mother’s breasts may become sore and cracked, and this is very serious, as the pain will prevent the breast milk becoming established. During these first days before the breast milk is established it will be necessary to give the baby one ounce of boiled warm water after each feeding if he is restless and does not settle down. If the breast milk is not established on the fourth day it is best to give an ounce of whey after each breast feeding and put the baby to the breast three-hourly instead of four-hourly. The extra feeding may stimulate the breast to secrete the milk. When the milk is established the baby can be put back to fdur-hourly feedings. A baby born under 6slb. may be better on three-hourly feeding at first (especially if he is born a thin baby) until he fills out. The length of time between feedings depends bn the amount a baby can get from its mother in ten minutes at each breast. The feeding-time should not exceed 20 minutes in all. How Much Breast Milk? The average amount of breast'milk that a baby needs in 24 hours is as follows• In the first week of life from the third day, 50z.; in the second week, lOoz.; third week, 150 z.; fourth week, 200 z.; at two months, 250 z. These amounts should be divided over five or six feedings between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. No feeding should be given between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. ' The mother should then be sleeping if she is to be a satisfactory nursing mother. If the baby wakes and will not settle after the wet napkins are changed, then he can be given one or two ounces of boiled warm water in a bottle with a slow teat.

(To be continued.)