OUR BABIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 March 1929, Page 4

OUR BABIES

THE FIRST MONTH. OF LIFE

(By Hygeia).

This week we conclude the article by Miss M’Millan, quoted from the'Australian Women’s Mirror:— “The chief signs that a young baby is getting enough breast milk are. (1) Normal sleep; (2) gain in weight (about loz. a day after the first week of life when the breast milk should bo established); (3) one to three bowel actions each 24 hours. “The chief signs of a young baby not getting enough breast milk are. (1) Failure to gain weight; (2) infrequent and lack of bowel actions. “An underfed baby may sleep quite we ll—in fact, be drowsy—during the first month of life. Sleeplessness in a very young baby is more often caused by too much breast milk than too little. “If everything is not going smoothly, the only fair thing to the baby is to test weight before and after the breast feeding for 24 hours to estimate the amount of breast milk baby is getting from its mother. The way to do this is told on page 57 of ‘Feed ing and Care of Baby,’ by Sir Truby King. “If you discover the baby is getting too much breast milk you can shorten the length of feeding, and if he is fed more often than four-hourly you can give fewer feedings. If the baby is underfed you can give extra food after each breast feeding to make up the necessary amount that the baby should have in the 24 hours. “There are methods for increasing the breast milk; but the main things to do are to put baby to the breast regularly to have proper rest and sleep, fresh air and (later) exercise, to be happy and not to worry—and you cannot help being a good nursing mother. There are cases where the breast milk has not been established till the third and fourth week, and even later than that; but do not give up putting the baby regularly to the breast, and give the artificial food only after the breast feeding, not instead of it.” MEMO. BY “HYGEIA”.

More or less overfeeding is a much more common and serious mistake in the first month or so than is usually realised, and it is important for mothers Io know the warning signs. Prolonged overfeeding produces a very serious condition, because the whole digestive system is overtaxed, and if the overfeeding is allowed to go on there comes a nutritional disturbance from which it may take weeks for the baby to recover fully. Whereas simple underfeeding is quite easily corrected, and unless the baby has drifted along for some time and has got into a very low state, the temporary halt in weight-gain is usually made up for very quickly when the food is increased up to the full allowance. The usual warning signs that baby’ is getting too much milk are these: (1) Rapid gain in weight; (2) restlessness, “wind,” or disturbed sleep; (3) frequent or greenish motions; (4) some “putting up” of food. If these signs are disregarded, and the overfeeding goes on the weight becomes erratic or stationary. Then baby may begin to lose weight, because the overtaxed digestion can no longer deal with even the best of food. When this happens the only thing to do is to rest the digestive organs. Keep baby entirely off food for, say, 12 hours. Then give warm boiled water by bottle before the breast at each feed, only gradually working back to full feedings.

With regard to weight—unless he is “making up for lost time” —the baby of average size who puts on more than loz. per day (say a week) is quite likely heading for trouble, and it is well to have him “test-weighted” to find out just how much milk he is getting in 24 hours and to regulate matters accordingly. Surely it is much better to have 6oz or Boz a week good steady gain than lOoz or 12oz which may be lost next week because of an attack of indigestion.