OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 70

OUR BABIES.

By Htoha.

Pubkhod uaier the autpioei of the Saototr *oc th. Promotion of the H«*Kfc ' of Worn«» as>4 Children. HOW- TO CHANGE TO HUMANISED MILK FROM ORDINARY COW'S MILK, OR FROM OTHER FORMS OF BOTTLE FOOD. Aa we have already pointed out, it is a matter of the first importance not to staat | with too strong a preparation. Whenever j a ohange is made from one food to another, j the new food should be given weaker, for a few days at least, than the one it is to I replace. Th* strength to use is fairly well indicated in the printed sheets of instructions ■ iteued by the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children, which will be sent to any address on receipt of twopence in stamps forwarded to the hon. secretary, Mrs Carew, 8 Heriot row, Dunedin. However, unless instructed by a doctoT, the mother must use her judgment according to the circumstances of the case. Thus, TO CHANGS PEOU COW'S MILK AND WATBE. If a- baby of three months of age has been receiving and doing well on equal parts of cow's milk and water with a little cream and sugar added, it would be safe to change at once to two parts of humani*ed milk to 'one of sugar of milk solution. Th« proportion of sugar solution would then be lessened day by day until, at the end of a. week or 10 days, the humanised milk could be given pure. In such a case humanized milk No. II would probably agree just as well as the No. I preparation, and as 'So. II is easier to make the mother would naturally choose it if she had to prepare the milk in her own home. On the other hand, if the mother were making the change to humanised milk because her three-montha-old baby was ailing at the time, it would be unwise to start with humanised milk No. 11. Further, the No. I preparation ehould be given with an equal quantity of sugar of milk solution, and the latter should be reduced more slowly and cautiously than in the case of a ■tronger baby. In the course of a week or 10 day*, three of humanised milk No. I to one of augar solution mignt be given. At thie stage it -would be well to pause for a few days,, and then, if all continued well, to gradually work up towards full strength. At any stage evidence of indigestion or i disagreement would be met best by at once giving the baby a single meal of sugar of milk solution -Alone, followed by equal parts of humanised milk and sugar solution for one or more meals. Dilution with | a larger proportion of sugar of milk solu- I tion than the? baby has previously needed i •hould' be continued for at least a few days. ' In' this way the digestion of delicate babies cem be humoured and kept from becoming markedly deranged. They will then grow much more quickly than if the mother trie* to force them on by the use of too strong a preparation. If the baby were more delicate than the one* we have been describing, it would be safer to start at first with equal parts of whey, humanised milk, and sugar of milk solution; or to use two parts of sugar of milk solution to one of iiuma.nised milk ; or, if this proves too strong, to use i one jpart of humanised milk, two of" whey, and two of sugar of milk solution. The last-named mixture represent* an extreme of digestibility; from it «. gradual increase of strength may be made according to circumstances. Such a mixture, which ie about half as strong a* J human _ milk -or ordinary humanised milk, I is not intended for long-continued 1 use, but j merely to enable the mother to supply her ! baby with a. food which it can digest, and from which »he can build up its strength by reducing first the augar of milk solution and then the whey. When given a speoially weak food the baby can generally take larger quantities than it could if the food were of the standard strength; but this is not always the caee, and we must ! not overtax the digestive ppwer of & feeble I infant by overloading its stomach. Note | also that increased frequency of feeding usually causes further irritation and in- , digestion, because the stomach does not ' get proper rest. Any of the above mixtures are supplied j ready-made and graded by the Taieri and ! Peninsula Dairy Company, Dunedin, and by Messrs Ambury, English, and Co., | Auckland. However, they can easily be prepared at home, and wherever there is a Plunket nurse, she will, if asked, give practical instruction in this or other mat- i ters affecting the welfare of the baby. j TO CHANttM FROM CONDENSED MILK OH PATENT FOODS. Where a baby hfia been fed on condensed milk, or where patent foods have been used, the humanised milk first given should • always be decidedly weak, because the ! digestive organs are not like those of a ! breast-fed infant, and are liable to be les» ! developed than where the baby has been ! accustomed to cow's milk and water. In ! some of these cases the abdominal organs j have been co injured, and the digestive power has become so feeble, .through the . use of improper food, that the baby does ' best if given at firet simple whey ' (made j from new milk and heated as described in the SooietyV pamphlet.) Even this may prove too 6trong, and then we resort to diluting with some sugar of milk solution for a. few days, in order to give the digestive organs a chance of gathering a little tone and power. Mother* sometimes ask whether the ohange from condensed milk or patent food* to humanised milk should be made suddbwlt or obaduallt. If the baby is not ill it is wiser to change gradually, leaving off so much of the original food day by day until, at the end of a week, it may be given up. On the other hand, when changing from cow* milk and water to humanised milk, the ohange ehould be made at once, following tihe lines indicated 1 in the earlier ' part of the present article. ' If a baby has diarrhoea at the time of changing to humanised milk, the advice of a doctor should be sought, and in any ©a«3 the general directions given under the heading " Diarrhoea " in the pamphlet should be strictly complied with. Remember that to start giving PCBK HUMAJfISED MIL! TO A BABY SUFFEBING FBOM DIAKBHOIA WOULD BS UTTEHLY WBONG. I 1h« beby might do well on humanised milk I

! kept *,t the boil for 10 minutes mixed with | an equal quantity of unboiled whey, but it should -not be given ordinary humanised milk. (£lae the Society's pamphlet, " The Fee-ding and Care of the Baby.")