CUT THIS OUT AND PASTE IN SCRAP BOOK. FEEDING OF INFANTS. AN APPEAL TO MOTHERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2720, 2 May 1906, Page 69

CUT THIS OUT AND PASTE IN SCRAP BOOK. FEEDING OF INFANTS. AN APPEAL TO MOTHERS.

(For the Witness.)

; milk ; and in autumn milk is decidedly," richer than in spring. The morning milk is easily cooled, be^",' cave.3 early in the day water is generally! - a-ro-ilable -fviicb has not been subjected t-s» 1 sunshine or warm air. To cool rapidly place i the covered jar of milk in water, preferably running, for half an hour, and then remove to a proper cooling box or cool safe. On very warm days no mere safe is cool enoughr ' to prevent the risk of an. injurious fermentative growth taking place in the course 'of twelve hours. In these circumstances, if there be no means at hand to ensure proper cooling, the safest s plan is to re^ strict the standing of milk for cream to, six hours and to heat prepared milk "withi. the, ea>me. .frequency. On these deca.- ' sibns a little" extra cream ihay be* odqpd to - ! make- up for the deficiency of fat ie the cream. .... 2. Milk Sugar is the natural sugar of\inilk, .from which it is extracted in' tho^ ' form of ' a>*rh!te "powder. ; This,; substance', is easily digested", resists fermentation, and ' tends to check putrefactive processes in the contents of the intestine. : The reverse is the case with cane Migar, which readily ferments itself, tends to set up decomposition, and is a leading cause of indigestion and diarrhoea in infants : hence, one evil of condensed milk. Malt sii"-ar sntT'Ather ' vegetable sugars and - starches ar«.ap-e.n to similar objections. t This affords cno of many .reasons against the use patent foeds. Milk sugar -is the "principal sold constituent of human milk, and is thetSnly form of sugar admissible for the feedir.g I of infants.

The suefir should bo dissolved in boiliner 1 water. If the solution is not clear, or if 1 there i» any deposit on standing, it should be boiled for" five minutes and then filtered by pouring through a layer of clean absorbent sotton half an inch thick placed in a clean funnel. This ie very rarely needed, but occasionally, owing to dampness,, a slight filmy brownish mould may, appear here Bjnd.. there, in. a ..particular'sample of suear.^and then boiling and filtering are required.' * .

3. Sugar Measure.— A standard measureis made to hold £oz of milk sugar. It is dipped into the sugar and lifted oufr slightly heaped up. then the portion standinfrabove the level of the rim is removed by passing the baok of a knife across -it. Measures can b* obtained free from Nurse MTlinnon, uaro of Mies Murray, (A George street, Dunedin (entrance St. Andrew street). As. the bulk of a given weight of milk sugar will vary' considerably with "the '"degree of < pressure to which it has been subjected in packing, the accuracy of measuring should be checked from time to time by seeing , whether a given weight of^milk sugar measures out properly. There should, -of course, be 32., measurefuls in a pound of sugar. If % at all lumpy the sugar should, be powdered \be- , fore measuring.

4. Creams.— " Twelve per cent, cream" means a ithin. milky cream only three times a» rich in fat as ordinary cow's milk. Thi« can be obtained by using a " conical dipper" (procurable free from Nurse M'Kinnon) to remove the upper fourth from a jar of fresh milk, which has been kept standing in a cooling-box or cool safe for nine hours. The .use of the speoial dipper is simpler than the, use of a syphon, and is also preferable, because the dipper can te more easily and thoroughly cjeaned. 'In springtime, if morning 1 milk is procured, dip out only the upper fifth as cream; and in the autumn, especially if using evening milk, a. slight allowance can be made the opposite way.

Method of Using Dipper. — Gently lower the dipper until the cream flows over the edge as shewn in the above diagram. Keep the dipper fairly level snd move it deftly round towards the sides of the jar so as to get the cream t<» ccme equally from all directions. The full -cipper equals four ounces. The two small dots

on the side show the two-ounce . level. To prevent any cream being carried down into the skim milk it is advisable to wet the dipper by plunging it into boiling water immediately before lowering it into the cream. A still' more measure is to wet the lower two-thirds of the dipper in the sugar solution which has just been prepared for making the day's supply of humanised milk. "Forty per cent. Cream." — This can be purchased from any reliable milk vendor in iities. 5. Thebuometer.— A proper milk thermoftieter, marked with a red line at temp. 150deg. -6. COOLIXG-801. — This can be obtained ready made, or can be made at home at thb cost of a few shillings. 7. Glass Measures. — Two graduated glasses to measure up to 4oz and "Ooz respectively. 8. FORMULA. A. 5 per cent. Sugar of Milk.— This is made by dissolving an ounce of sugar of milk in a pint of boiled water. The precautions noted previously under the heading " Milk Sugar " must be strictly adhered to. 6. Whey. — To make 15 ounces of whey put a pint of separated milk, or skim milk, in a quart jug. Place this in a saucepan, of hot water, and heat until a thermometer standing in the milk registers lOOdeg. . Remove the jug from the saucepan, and immediately add one of Hanson's Danish rennet tablets, or half a teaspoon- . ful of best rennet extract (the tablets are safer and more- reliable). Stir in v,*el] and stand until curd is quite set. Break up thoroughly with a clean -fork, md place the jug again in the saucepan of hot water, and heat until the contents register loodeg. The curd will have sunk in a. lump, and the pure whey can now be poured off. "We have found this to be a simpler and cleaner process than straining through muslin, and as the whey has been heated to 155deg, it is ready for use. C. Humanised Milk. — To make a piut sod a-half take New milk _ 6oz "40 per cent, cream" 2£oz Whey 15 cz Lime water ». ... l^oz Sugar of milk 1 oz Boiled water soz The sugar of milk thould first he ' dissolved in the boiling water and the wholo of the ingredients should then be placed in a Mason's fruit jar or other suitable vessel, perfectly cleansed as before described. The jar. should now be put in a saucepan of -warm water, and the latter should be heated until a thermometer placed in the jar registers 155deg F. If feasible, especially in warm weather, the temperature ffhoukl ba maintained at from 145 to _ , ISoAeg for from J to J hour. This, is effected by drawing the saucepan to the side of the fireplace. The jar-should be loosely covered with a clean lid or cap to arrest falling particles, but ' ' not to prevent access of &ix. After' c „ tfa« % - jar has stoodjin cold water (prefer- ( - ably running water) ior 20 minutes, ' it should tie removed to a cooling :„' box or cool .safe. After ,12 hours the : ", - wnued Temainder should be again ;- - " heated to 155deg, and be quick'y cooled down. S). Simple Modified Cow's Jiilk.— To mak« ' ' a pint and a-half. take: ' New milk 10 oz Porty p°r cent, cream 2 oz liime water l^oz . Susar of milk l£oz . , Boiled water 16|oz Treat as above. E. Oat Jelly.— Put 6oz of oatmeal into one quart of water; boil for 20 minutes, add water enough to replace what has evaporated, and strain while hot through a thin white cloth. Where "40 per cent, cream" is not obtainable, mixture C may be mad* with "12 per cent, cream." prepared as above described. The following formula will then be utcd: — fj. "12 per c«nt. cream" 9 oz Whey 12 oz liime water l»oz Siwar of milk 1 cz Boilsd water „ ... «. 7±oz Treat as above. Similarly mixture D may be prepared by using — J). "12 per cent, cream "' ... 10 oz Milk — ... 2oz Lime water- l£oz f?up--ar of milk lioz Boiled 1 water ... ... l&ioz Trqart as above. It is important ro grasp the fact that Whatever form of artificial food is used the- mixture must always be heated to 155deg. Fahr. immediately it is prepared. The longer it is kept at this temperature the freer it will remain from bacterial growth, the iar should be again heated to 155deg. •Fahr. at the end of 12 hours, because more or less contamination is inevitable )n the course of repeated handling, pouring out, etcThe question is often asked as to whether cream will rise properly after milk has been heated to 155deg. Fahr. The. heating is found not to appreciably affect the rising of the cream. In specially warm weather, if there is any doubt as to the Freshness of the milk, it should be heated at once when received, and then cooled as quickly as possible, whether it is to be stood' for the rising of cream or not. Gekeb^l Rules for Feeding. The day feedings ar© supposed to begin Mi i a.m. and to end at 10 p.m. M 3 iS.S'B .5 .S? -2 S •S H =="" «- £3 ° * 2 'A !5 -4 First week .. <„ 10 1 1 Second week „ 10 1 !Third week .. .. 1» 1 2 Month to 2-moßths 9to 8 1 2J to 3* 2to 4 months ..7 fl 3J to «| 4to 6 months .. 7to < 0 5 to 5J 6to 9 mouths .. 6 t 6 to 7 The above table shows how the intervals • of feeding and the amount of food to be given -should correspond to the normal capacity of the stomach at different periods of the first year. Professor Rotch gayg ;__«« jt is-so important Avoid stretching so easily distensible an orcaa as the ,

stomach that it is wiser to give too little rather than too much in the early days of life, and then gradually to increase the amount if the infant cries from hunger."