FOR BETTER BABIES

NZ Truth, Issue 1228, 13 June 1929, Page 20

FOR BETTER BABIES

Recreation,. Sleep and • Insomnia , ■■- : ALL; MUST BE i STUDIED- . (Plunket Society Articles— No. 3 J Romanes said, "Recreation is partial sleep, and sleep is universal recreation (re-creation)." Why, then, should baby, whose nervous system, is the most complex, delicate, sensitively-balanced, and vulnerable of all created, tissues, be denied the perfect fulfilment, at the appointed time,- of this most beneficent provision of Nature— especially throughput the early months, when sleep -is , the predominant feature fof normal life? ... ' : . ;■ ;■

WHY break m on the night's rest; Why import any tendency ' to' insomnia at the start of life!* Happy the baby who sleeps all nighl from the dawn of existence — who never loses this. priceless gift, never becomes the victim of insomnia? It would be a great advance if parents could be brought, to realise thai the harvest of the seeds of insomnia, constipation, disobedience, and othei such faulty habits, thoughtlessly sown m." infancy, are' commonly. "reaped m adult life. : : • • " ' V If the restless irritability and lack of control of an ill-regulated babyhood, leading ofttimes to convulsions, is a common precursor of hysteria, epilepsy, and : other grave nervous disorders of the adult; if hysterical, and epileptic convulsions are commonly •infantile, convulsions coma back, and imbecility is often., not: inborn, but acquired during infancy; if our physical, mental and moral destiny are halfdetermined m the first year of : life — it

these things are really so, then, indeed, is the future of the children, for good or evil, m the hands of the

motners. „ It is scarcely possible to over-esti-mate the far-reaching benefits which would follow on a general recognition of the principle that there, should ; be fewer day feedings and no night feeding. •'■.-'■ ..' ■ ■ '■:'■.■" ••■ '• ■ '•' On the other hand, if the presence of a young baby is regarded as necessitating. 10 feedings m the 24 hours, and broken rest for all concerned, parenthood is made, to entail much more strain and sacrincethan under the: natural and healthful regimen indicated. it cannot be doubted, that ; wrQng procedure m this connection has^ been one important factor m the " declining birth-rate. As soon as the mother has settled down comfortably after childbirth, and always within twelve hours of birth, baby should be fed every four houre m daytime— eight hours' interval being allowed at night. ■ For a day or so baby usually gets scarcely anything-only _a few teaspoonfuls of creamy fluid, but even drop of this is precious. t/V'-"-* If during the first two days, baby, v restless and seems thinsty, a few teaspoonfuls of boiled water, at blood-

Early Feeding

? heat" (about 100 deg. F.). should be - given at intervals of four hours — that ? is, after each attempted suckling. 'The t allowance of water should be increased : gradually up to an ounce four-hourly 3 if baby is not getting natural food by the end of the second day. Don't give up trying to establish" at t least partial breast-feeding for several , weeks, but if the mother's milk is de* : lay ed beyond about two and -»a-hali l days, something more than water must i be given. . . _ ' r , \ : Begin with a mixture of one part ' "; rof humanised milk to three parts 1 ; of. boiled water, and proceed' as •:•!' shown m the table will bo. published m the, next Plunket.. ar^ tide, giving after' each nursintf • only what may be needed to ftiak* up the mother's supply* .and ceas* „ ing to supplement as soon as her : milk seems -adequate. • ;,'. .;,... If artificial food has to be com tinued, strengthen it day by day, w ■ . that nn th« BAM

enth day bab ♦ may receive equal parts of humanised milk and wat«ff by the begin«i{ ninsr of the third

week two . parts of huirianlsafl •milk -to one of boiled water; by th«J ■fourth week three to one, and at end s of fourth week four to one. . v ■ A strong child may be, able to start! its second month with pure humanlfeecl milk, but m some cases the advance- in strength of food has to be slower. For prematures, use the food weaker. ■',-% ' Bottle-fed babies; do not generally grow as quickly,, especially, m the first few months, as the breast-fed;, ajidf when a baby has fallen behind, it may promote catching-up to replace 2 or 3 ounces of the humanised milk ration with pure fresh cow's milk, given unheated. T '.'.,■; • Of' course, this can only be done ,' if the milk is fairly fresh and reliable; "otherwise, what is added \in this way must be scalded befoi-ie ! • use. No such addition is ordinarily ' needed or even desirable, but if ]a baby is behindhand, or not progressing satisfactorily, it may be ! tried. v . ; f It is not advisable to give more than about three ounces of pure raw ' : or 3 scalded milk a day m place of 'the - humanised milk at any time dui^ng - the first nine, months.