Our Babies

Northern Advocate, 3 June 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

Our Babies

Ey Hygeia. I Published under the auspices of the : Royal New Zealand Society for the i Health of Women and Children I (Plunket Societjh. j “It is wiser to put up a fence at the j iop of a precipice than to maintain an ; ambulance at the bottom." UNDERWEIGHT BABIES. I This article was written in 1929- 10 ■ years ago—by Sister Raymond for the | Nursery World. It is so applicable to | many babies to-day that I feel sure some mothers will be warned by it against underfeeding their babies: “Nowadays we talk so much about overweight babies that I am sure many mothers must think that we do not give enough importance to the underweight baby. We do acknowledge that an. underfed, underweight baby must at once be put right, but: we talk less about this difficulty because for one reason it is so much simpler to deal with, and for another the baby is seldom allowed to remain in this state. The watchful mother or nurse at once seeks advice if the weekly weighing is not satisfactory. “The overweight baby is having his digestive system overtaxed, and is growing fat, with all the attendant disadvantages, while more often than not the mother is only too proud of her big offspring, and does not realise that anything is wrong until, months later, the digestion shows signs of overwork. It'is because the harm done by overfeeding is often so insidious that we try to warn mothers and nurses about it.

The Weekly Gain

“The baby who is not getting enough food will not gain normally, and so . we come again to the importance of [ weekly weighing and of-a knowledge , of the average weekly gain at each quarter of his first year—6oz. to 7oz. for the first three months and 4oz. to 6oz. until the sixth month, by which time baby should weigh about 7ilb. more than he did at birth. From then on to the end of the first year about 11b. a month is enough. Baby’s Motions. “Even the weekly gain is not always a sure indication, so we must take into account the character of baby’s motions. If he is not getting enough food, quite surely his motions will be scanty, and they may also be dry and brownish—occasionally slightly green and relaxed. Crying. “If the supply of breast milk suddenly becomes less, or if the amount of artificial food is not increased according to baby’s needs, you will find that he may seem satisfied and sleep well for perhaps two or three hours after each feed, and may sleep well during the first half of the night, but then wakens and cries fretfully until jthe next feed is given. But difficulty arises with a baby who has never been given enough food. The overfed baby, whose digestion is feeling the strain of overwork, will cry to express discomfort from wind and I indigestion, whereas the persistently underfed baby very often gets accustomed to a small allowance and may be an extremely good and contented little soul on much less than is needed for his proper growth and nourishment. This may be due to the fact that a baby who has not been getting enough food naturally has less vitality than Iris well-fed, lusty brother. In the first v/eeks he may cry a good deal from hunger, but, as long as the I food suits him, never from indigestion, i “And so we cannot always depend upon baby’s crying to tell us what is wrong. I have known breast-fed babies who seemed quite well, quite happy and contented though gaining nothing or next to nothing each week. One baby in particular I remember. She was eight months old and weighed just a few pounds over her birth weight. She was the sweetest, most contented baby. Her mother remembered that in her early weeks she had been fretful and cross, but after that i she seemed to accept her small ration, I and her only troubles were constipa- j tion and failure to gain weight. She | stayed at the breast and appeared to j suck for the full 20 minutes at each feed, and so her mother was amazed j to find, after a test feeding, that her j baby had been half-starved over a long period. Thus, if baby is not gaining at the average weight, if he is constipated j and has small motions, it is wise to

get advice at once. As we have said, if Iha underfeeding is of short duration, you will also find baby wakening and crying for an hour or more before feeds, and not sleeping well through the night. In a case of a breast-fed baby a 24 hours’ test weighing will settle the question beyond all doubt. The Treatment, “Now as to treatment. Obviously wc want to food starved tissues, but we must be very, very careful not to put sudden extra work upon the digestive system. Especially with the baby who for months has not had enough food we must go very cautiously indeed, increasing the ,food little by little as the digestion learns to deal with it. until baby is on his rightful allowance. During this time extra water should be given between feeds, and the constipation must be treated. It is wonderful to watch the little face become rounder and softer, the expression gain the sweetness of babyhood, while the little limbs fill out and baby learns to kick and coo as his vitality and sense of well-being come to him.”