OUR BABIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14528, 20 May 1909, Page 4

OUR BABIES.

Bt Htbeia.

Published under tho allspices ol the bociety tor the Promotion oi tL» Wealth of Women and Children. 'II is wiser to put up a fence at we top ot a precipice than to maintain »n ambulance, at the bottom." OVERFEEDING AXD FEEDING TOO OFTEN. « mo t babies are overfed raider Mian During the last few Vl . a ,, s a enormous amount of research has been diroeied towaus this, question in Germany, and the ZteTtT'^, atloamno »»'»'« ami child 10 allow lomji-r .nervals fe Kl „. the feedings than have been cu„on«n .uicl in many cases to restrict iho total ainoiint given m (he 2t hours. MATKIiXAL INSTINCT. Women are incline*! to say: " H,,t 6„,eUthe matorna instinct' is the liesl guide, if the baby ,s breast-fed." There cin| )o no greater fallacy. In l llmi . m bain"* reason and custom have come to replace am! override instinct, even among comparativcly primitive peoples, and under the complex conditions of modern civilisation the guidance of instinct cannot be trusted »t all. Mankind in a state of nature mado no attempt to habitually turn ni«lil. into day. Mother and tabe lav down "to bleep at dusk or boon alter dark, just as most of the lower animals do, lint we often find the human mother suckling her baby several times during the night, though it would be better for both to bo at rest Dr Canierer, a leading German authority, says: LONGER INTERVALS. It is undesirable to give (lie breast more than eight times during 24 hours. Every two bom's is a custom still frequently in vogue, even if the secretion of milt 16 iusullicicnt and the baby is weak. It would bo necessary on a two hours' interval to interrupt the sleep too frequently. The beat method is to put the baby to the breast six or seven times in 2* hours. . . Tlio infant should 1m trained to take its meals in the first week about every threa hours in davtime, while at night an interval of from live to eight hours should he interposed. If the infant is very weak, and drinks little at a, time, the intervals in davtime may ba shortened to two and a-h'alf hours,' but they should never be decreased auv further. This view accords with a growing concision arrived tit of late not only in bermany, but elsewhere. Thus in Paris Professor Marfan, the leading autlioritv on babies, says that of late years, even in earliest infancy, he has not. allowed feeding more often than every two and a-half hours, and ho finds it 'belter for both mother and child that there should be no suckling between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., thus allowing six horn's of unbroken sleep. American physicians are following the Continental lead and advocating even longer intervals than are recommended in tlio older countries. Thus in Chicago several physicians of note are advising feeding only every four hours during the daytime from birth. As the result of a year's" experience in hospital and private practice, they express theniselvse satisfied that the results are bettor ihan when babies are fed more frequently. It is probable that in many eases "four-hour" feedings would be loss injurious than the too frequent "Iwo-hour" feedings, but during the earlier months feeding every three hours may be regarded as the happy moan which will prove on the whole best for both mother and child. The collateral advantages of lengthening the intervals between [codings are obvious. In the daytime the mother has sufficient, respite not only for other household duties, but also for rest, recuperation, and' the reasonable demands of social life. Kurt her, Ihe nervous system is not broken down by undue interruption or loss of sleep. As for the baby, both \U digestive organs anil its nervous system are equally benefited by not being kept constantly irrilaied and on tlio alerl. Froobel'.-' injunction, "tltvt: si'ace A.VI) TIJIK AMI liKOT,'' applies equally to tlio FKKlllXn OF A 11A11Y ami l-llfl KDDCATIXti OF a cnii.li. ' Our modern tendency is to "ORAM" both, and leave ho lime for rest and quiet growth. LOCAL .resclts. Experience al Karile.no Home, the society's Bully Hospital at Dutiediu, taken in conjunction with Ihe reports of I'lunket Nurses who of late have been trying longer intervals between feedings, confirms Hie conditions arrived al elsewhere. It is found thai a change from " lu'o-houi-" to "three-hour'' feedings le:-ds lo canso young babies who have been dvsneplic, fretful, and rp.-i.Wss lo lake their' fuel with ,more relish, and lo wake up refreshed after a good comfortable sleep between the feedings. However, it musi mil be supposed that any change in the food or manner of feding is alone sufficient -to ensure such results, bill they may be relied on if the mother at ihe same, lime gives due »;teii< linn In fre-h exercise, regularity of liabils, elc. The intervals hoi ween feedings given in Ihe Society's pamphlet, "The' Feeding and Care of iho I'abv." are based on what has been imiwivrdly recommended hitherto, hm 1 purp-" giving next week a, feeding-table made !o accord 'with Iho latest! advances in the science of Pediatrics (Care of Children). It is hoped that mothers will cut on; Ibis table and pade it into the pamphlet for future use. SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF BABYHOOD A KKCKNT GROWTH It is strange to reflect, that the serious systematic study of infancy and its needs is of quite recent, growth. An eneycbpiedic work embodying al! that lias been dono in this connect ion in Germany during the. last 10 years appeared last year, and in the introduction Professor Sclilossiniiu says:' A peculiar interest, especially within tlio last 10 years, lias been accorded to nursing infants. Th?ir nourishment, their care, their shelter m heullli and sickness, has been the subject of cominuous and varied invest igal ions, and fills a large place in pediatric lil-?rauii.\ Many uniremiies -Jill lack adequate facilities | () ensure profita!'!? inst.viiclion in pediatries, and in many cases have no instructors fully conversant villi the progress of our science. Kigbtly did Ivcherich predict nn imminent change in this direction when ho called attention to the appreciation which infantile therapeutics finds in the most modern seals of investigation and learning and at Ihe schools of practical medicine. With joyful assurance, ther-'fere, wo look forward to ihe future of our science. Its practical impnviarice, as well as Ihe zeal of its dis-iple-, ensures its progressive and successful development. lil'DIN'S CONI'KSrdOX. _ How halms came to be left ahnwf entirely out of account is lies! told in a confession by Professor Hudin. of Paris, which appears at the. opening of his great book, "The Nursling," just translated into English. Huilin, who died onlv last year, spoke as the Wading authority on .Mater nily and Babyhood ill Paris. MedicaMntert-l jn the welfare of infants is of comparatively recent development. Formerly the birth of a child was an ordeal of life, and death to the mother; and the accoucheur, engrossed in her safety, scarce spi-il ; , thourht for the infant. Nowaday.-, f-eed ' from anxiety as to the fate of ihe mother, ho can devote bis attention to ihe needs of llle infant. Before parturition In supervises the, hygiene of the e.\p:-ct:dit mother so that she may arrive al term in a healthy condition; during delivery he takes every precaution to cn-iire that tlio child will be born sound and viable: and throughout the first two years of life he direct its feeding will) the utmost ca re. SIR ALEXANDER SHII'SOX. Sir Alexander Simpson, who recently retired from the Professorship of Midwifery and Diseases of Children at Edinburgh iTniversiiy, confirms what Professor Hudin &ays by writing as follows in hi- introduction to Budin's book: When [ look back on my own professional and professorial life no memory stings mo with more sharp regret than the thought of the 100 little heed 1 have given to the needs o! the newborn.