OUR BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11493, 21 November 1931, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

. (By Hygela.) . Published under ~ the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunkot Society), \ f lt is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at; the bottom.” SELECTION QF FOOD. Now as to- food. Tho general principles aro the same for tho child as for the expectant mother, and thero is not much to add to wliat wc have already discussed in that connection. ,If the greater part of tho bread eaten is wholemeal and if other cereals used are prepared from the whole grains, if an abundance aiid variety of vegetables is eaten, and if fruit (fresh and sun-dried) is used liberally, if butter is nob stinted and eggs are given occasionally, and if about a pint of milk is provided daily for each child,' then tho diet should bo perfectly adequate in “building materials’’, of all kinds, and other things being equal, the teeth will look after themselves. SUGAR,. Sugar should hot be sprinkled on baby’s food. He will get ample sugar in the form of starch in his various foods — potato, bread, and cereals. In the second year bo may he given a little lioucy on his bread and a little sugar may be used in the cooking of sour fruits or in making puddings. SWEETS. In our last talk we mentioned that the practice of sweet eating must bo wholly condemned as being ruinous to teeth and digestion. Sweets, bread, cake, or buscuits should never be given the last thing at night. If sometlmig must- be given after he is in bed fet it ho fruit—not soft, sticky, starchy foods, as they will lodge in any crevices and lie round tho tdethi all night and decompose and lead to tho decay of tlio teeth. WHEN THE TEETH COME. Just before the eruption of the first little teeth, at about six months start systematically to teach the baby to bite and chew by giving Him a smooth, scraped bone every day. From nine months give hard foods in tho form of fingers of twice-baked bread. Let this be eaten- when the baby is hungry, just before meal times, not between. From now on each of the three daily meals -should include something crisp, hard, 'or tough, and from the time baby has four teeth ho should he taught to eat raw apple aud should tie given a small piece of apple at the end of each meal. This 'is bfetter than, any toothbrush and cleansing the teeth and month. Have you ever noticed yourself how clean and sweet the mouth feels if an apple is eaten at the end of a meal? Compare this with the feeling .when a meal ends with sweet cake or biscuits, or even pudding or bread.

THE FAR-REACHING EFFECTS OF MASTICATORY EXERCISE-

It is the bounden duty of parents to' teach children to masticate' thoroughly. -Not only does it ensure a good blood supply to the developing teeth, but this same vigorous flow of blood . nourishes also all the adjacent parts—-jaws, nasal passages, tonsils, throat, and so on. This is' a very big factor in preventing adenoids, and enlarged tonsils, with all tliieir evil consequences. Active chewing exercise also tends to broaden the palate, another factor iu preventing nasal trouble, and to develop and widen the jaws, so. giving room for regular spacing of the teeth as they come through, and helping to prevent decay and difficulty from overcrowding, r Wo tend to place an altogether undue value on “pap foods puddings, bread arid milk, and the like. If you think about it without prejudice, yon will realise that a meal of crisp, toasted bread and butter with a drink of hot milk contains cveiv bit as much nourishment as a plate of bread and milk, with this difference; " the former provides healthy exercise for the jaws and teeth arid leaves the mouth clean, whereas the latter provides no exercise whatever, and, moreover, the sticky, starchy consistency of the mixture causes particles of highly fermentable material to adhere to crevices in the teeth, and this is one of. the most fruitful causes of decay.

WATCH FOP THE SIX-YEAR-OLD

MOLARS.

It is most important to realise that the teeth which como up bohind tho last of the baby teeth, ritv about six years of age, are the first of the permanent s'et. Every possible care should be taken of these teeth, they are, as it were, the- keystones of the permanent arches, and early, loss of even one 1 causes more or l° ss iriegularity and falling out of place of all the’ back teeth on thgt side. Besides: this one' has to remember' that, these four teeth work in pairs as grinders, and if one 3 is lost the grinding power of the corresponding tooth- in the other jaw is lost—a grave misfortune and a permanent handicap. The first sign qf decay hi those tbeth' should ho attended to. Do not allow extraction, of these teeth unless they are already so extensively decayed as to be impossible to repair.