OUR BABIES

Hawera Star, Volume L, 20 December 1930, Page 16

OUR BABIES

[By Hygeia.]

Published under the auspices of the Royal-New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society).

the: child with a finicky appetite.

One knows that, chi Id rein who are finicky about their food present a very real, problem to many One might say that there are three golden rules in dealing: with .these little people —and notice that they are rules tor the .parents .more tlilm the children. The first is to stop —absolutely stop —all .food between meals. The second is to withdraw attention from the child and his meals. The third is to see that all other habits are good— particularly the regularity of bedtime and the amount of rest and sleep, the regularity of the bowels and character of the motions, and the amount of fresh air and outdoor exercise. Many children definitely suffer from , a date* and irregular .bedtime, and a consequent rlack of rest and sleep. It is sad to' .think of toddlers being tired, yet many certainly suffer from chronic fatigue, as .is shown ifiy the marked im.provemeut .which often takes .place in ‘.general condition, (including appetite for meals, when longer nights and daytime rests are insisted .upon. [Twelve hours in ihed at night .and. at 'least an hour’s rest ;in a quiet room during the daytime should be the rule for the toddlers. Constipation ■' almost always causes .poor appetite, and ,is' fatal : to good ' health ' generally. .Children may be constipated in spite of the fact that they have a daily bowel action, and mothers should make sure that the motions are not hard, dry, or small. In a recent number of the New Zealand New Health Journal we .notice the i following (helpful suggestions regarding sensible .treatment for the child who will not.eat: —• “The> .best treatment for a finicky child is-.not to urge on it too insistentdy. No (healthy child will .he starved 1 or become undernourished if allowed to do without a meal. On the other hand, merely ‘starving’ a child into eating will not always work; but letting him go without a. meal or two, combined with other wise methods, often works wonders.

STOP FJATING BETWEEN: MEALS

“First find out the cause of the child’s refusal to eat sufficient or prffper foods, and then eliminate these causes. Sometimes the child’s lack of appetite is duo to over-fatigue ; sometimes to lack of sufficient outdoor play or healthy exercise; sometimes, and most often, to nibbling and eating sweets between meals. The average child’s stomach should be given a rest between meals. Mal>e sure that the child does not eat between meals,. Make sure that there are no health or fatigue reasons for lack of appetite by removing all reasons for such. A GOOD PLAN. “Then, if the child is still finicky at meals, tho following plan will work in the big majority of eases : Pay no attention to the child’s refusal to eat eertai’U foods*. Serve him rather email portions of these foods. It, after, a reasonable time, lie has not-finished Ins, food or even begun to eat it, take the plate away and! say something like this : ‘That’s too bad! Dinner time is over and you haven’t eaten; 3. guess you weren’t very hungry this time. Maybe by to-night your tea will taste good to you.’ Then see to it that positively he has nothing to eat until the next meal, without, however, harping on t*he subject.

“When tea time conies give him the healthy and wholesome, foods lie should have, as though there were no doubt in your niind .that lie would eat them. ,lf he does not do so. then, after a. reasonable length of time gp through the same .procedure of matter-of-fact removal of his food as before. Be calm and not anxious, and lie will see that you mean business, and .success in the majority of cases will follow this plan. “A. good way t (j hasten the. success of the plan is to serve at first those vegetables and! other proper foods that lie usually likes best. Sometimes it is well, while thus breaking up the finicky notions of the child, to withhold milk until lie gets into the habit of eating other things. Valuable as milk is in the diet of tlie growing child, it is not sufficient by itself. Give no sweets until he has cleaned his plate of the maim part of the meal.

START BABIES RIGHT. “Start to build up right eating habits in the child before he is weaned. By the time the baby is weaned from brea-st or bottle lie should- have become so acquainted with a variety of vegetable, fruit, and cereal ■ flavours that adding new ones occasionally will not be difficult. Don’t lie discouraged if tlie baby spits out new food. This is a perfectly natural reaction, and it may not occur more than once or twice with the same new food’ Parents should be very careful not to impress bv example or suggestion their own dislikes of certain good and necessary foods. A. mother may herself he prejudiced against spinach (which is one of the very best foods for children) or any other article of diet, and by conscious or unconscious action impress that prejudice on tlie child. much depends on cooking. • :yt “Lastly, attracting children towards the, right kind of foods by making the right kind of foods- into appetising and tasty dishes is just as important as letting them go without meals when they become finicky. Foods they dislike can he given successfully by cooking them in forms tlie children do not recognise.’’