OUR BABIES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 1 April 1929, Page 8

OUR BABIES

FEEDING THE SMALL CHILD By Hygeia. .Pabliih«d under bite ao&pit**! W the Bmjal New Zetland Society lor tiie Health of Women aad . Children (Plunket Society). 'lt ii wiser to put up a fence at the top Of a. precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." ■"• We have selected the following useful hints for mothers from recent issues of the Australian magazine, •'Life and Health' *:-- .["Preparing dinner for the adults and school children of the family and a separate meal for the about two-year-old requires more time than the average niother-can afford, and yet it is essential for a ■ child of this age to have specially planned, menus. After study of the problem ... . .the decision reached is that the tiest-thing to do is to adapt the meals;of the grown-ups so that they are suitable for the pre-school child. . "Of course, it is possible that in doing this some of father's food habits may need a bit of modification, but that will usually be to his advantage; ."The' great thing to do is to adapt the food so that the child will not feel that his portion, is; very different from the rest of the family's. AVOID GIVING JUST A TASTE OF ; UNSUITABLE FOOD ' ''lt .should be emphasised, however, that' giving "just a taste', of anything not on the youngster's menu should be,. strictly avoided. There is no need to acquaint him with foods which are highly ' seasoned and which will make him discontented with his simple fare. 'Just a taste' of chocolate cake is not going to make Jimmy anxious to finish his bread-and : butter. ■ Itis far more likely to. cause the next family war, and is unfair both to the child and to those who are attempting to establish. correct eating habits. -» WISE GUIDANCE NEEDED "Eating-habits are learned from birth, and wise guidance is essential from the beginning if desirable habits are to be formed. Practice is cot mere repetition of outward movement. It includes what'the child is thinking and feeling at the time he performs the outward movement, which means that to make a child really learn a desirable behaviour he must derive some. inner satisfaction from' the act. "Second helpings are, or should be, always available, but it is unwise to discourage the child by putting more on his plate than he can eat. Certain foods, of* course, appeal to the child more than Others.,, but before ,he can have a second helping of his favourite, he must eat the rest of his. meal. ' A'FOOD HINT 1.." The food of a small child should be simple in preparation—elaborate concoctions are out of place—and bland in taste, arid it is usually easy to adapt the family menu to the "needs of the child by; simply using a little ingenuity. FLAY WITH YOUNG BABIES |'"lt,is not for the baby's amusement that a grown-up ■ plays with? a" baby? it ii merely for the older' person's-own pleasure." The. less babies are played j . with at any age up to more

the better,. unless. £h£ .' pluying"is well timed as to meals and bedtimes. There should be no playing near meal times, either before or after, nor within one or two. hours of bedtime or napping time. Injudicious playing with infants tends to make them nervous and cross, disturbs their sleep, disturbs their digestion, and perhaps causes undesirable conditions in other respects. If one must play with baby, let it be after six months, and make the play gentle ,not boisterous, of short duration, and not with a whole family or gallery of spectators looking on—perhaps joining in." Memo, jby "Hygeia": We do not rnean to imply that babies are not to bo allowed to play or to be judiciously played with. Play is the natural, joyous, overflowing expression of child life and activity, and as such should be encouraged ; but the baby's early play should be mainly with his first playmate—himself—his own tiny hands waving in the air—his own ten toes. TOOTH EXERCISE "All dental tuthorities tell us that, to be kept perfectly healthy, teeth not only need to be perfectly nourished (hence the necessity of diet containing all the elements of nutrition.) and to be kept clean, but they also need exercise, secured by the use of dry, hai*d foods that compel exercise of the teeth and jaws. WHEATMEAL BISCUITS , "Zwieback, or twice-baked bread, is good for this purpose/and so is oatcake. Another excellent thing is plain, hard vvheatmeal biscuit. This is very easily made from whole meal, water, and a little salt. Form into dough,, roll out thin, cub into the desired shapes, and bake in a slow oven. Bran can be added to the whole meal, if necessaiy, say one cup of bran to four of wheatmeal. "There hard, dry biscuits are an excellent and most wholesome article of diet, and will furnish the teeth with the exercise needed. They can ■be eaten dry, - or can, for a change, be eaten with butter, or butter and a thin scrape of marmite. A taste is easily formed for them,"and they should constitute a part of the daily diet, particularly that of children."