OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3249, 21 June 1916, Page 66

OUR BABIES.

By Hvobia. Published under tlin auspices of the Royal Mow Zealand Society for the Health 01 Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to Tiam'.ain a:) ambulance at the bottom." DIFFICULTY OF WEANING. A Mother's Letter. The following letter has just been received from tlio back country : I am taking the liberty of writing to you. as I am in trouble about my baby. Jn the first place, I am glad and proud to say that both my children have been brought up in accordance with the views of your society, and both have been perfect babies .as regards health and behaviour. The baby, who is over nine months old, was all that could be desired until about four weeks ago, when I decided the time had come for weaning, and t accordingly commenced to give her humanised milk in the bottle once a day. She would not look at the bottle. although wo tried for hours at a time. .So I tried spoon-feeding and then cupfeeding, but with no success. I was determined I would do all in iny power, so I got her Allenbury's, then Mcllin's, then Neave's, then greats —all of which she screamed at if a speck went into her mouth. I gave these foods to her in the bottle, cup, and by spoon, but with the same result. I thus found that she did not object, to tho Humanised Milk anymore than to other foods, so I have gone back to that. I tried starving her, and she went 17 hours one day with nothing, and. in the end I had to give her the breast. She has •frequently been starved for 12 hours; but she seemed to get so pale and thin that I thought this must be too severe treatment. I spend hours with her every day. and so does my maid; but she will take the milk from nobody. She has a splendid appetite for the breast, but I feel I have, rot nearly enough for her requirements. I discovered yesterday that she will eat a minute scrap of thin, bread and butter, but she just sucks at home-made rusks. I apologise for this lengthy account of my troubles; but as no mother up here knows how to help me, and wo are living so entirely in the back blocks, I felt I must write to you. Thanking you in anticipation, and awaiting' eagerly for your reply,—l am. etc., REPLY. We are very Lorry you are having so much trouble in weaning baby. It must bo very trying. It might have been a gqod thing had you been able to take baby to the Karitane Hospital for a week or so; but, unfortunately, that is out of tho question at the present time, because they have no room. The change and rest would have done you good, and you would have been freed from all responsibility with regard to baby. However, perhaps it is better that you should overcome the difficulty yourself, because it will give you greater confidence in dealing with your little girl later on. It is not uncommon to have difficulty at weaning, and wo have had some very obstinate cases; but the babies give in in the end, and do well. You must be firm, because at nine or 10 months a baby knows quite well if you arc worried and anxious, and it trades upon its knowledge. We have had babies sent to the Karitane Hospital on account of their mothers being unable to effect the weaning themselves, and the invariable experience has been that in tho course of a few days, or a at the longest, tho baby falls into line, and takes its food all right without crying or fighting against it. Yet in these very oases the mothers had come to the conclusion that the repugnance to artificial food, or. rather, to an artificial method of feeding, was insuperable, and that the baby would rather starve and die than take sustenance except from the breast. Specially-trained Nurse a Great Boon. Of course, you will realise that tho loving mother stands at an entire disadvantage to a capable and devoted as well as firm and sensible professional nurse. Tho baby quickly finds out the difference between the nui'Je, who will not give in, and tho overanxious mother, and therefore the victory is much more easily won by tho nurse. The nurse knows perfectly well that it take? days of starvation to cause any risk to life, and that if a little fluid is taken (even mero water) the baby will not go downhill rapidly—she knows that baby can keep going for weeks with a very little food. It is the confidence begotten of such knowledge and experience that makes a fu'tt-class, well-trained nurse such a blessing to mothers; but we think if you and your maid clearly realise the position and hold firm, you will win through all right. The great thing is not to betray your own anxiety and sympathy to the baby, which, of course, it is very hard to present. Failing everything else, we shall see if some arrangement cannot possibly be made to get you and your baby taken charge of for * week on tho lines we have indicated. We have no doubt whatever that in this wav success, could be attained without anv serious strain on either yourself or the baby. However, it' would be more satisfactory if yon could manage yourselves. The following extract, adapted from Holt, will, wo trust, prove helpful. Dr Holt's experience is perhaps tho most extensive'in Arr.erica, and his authority is recognised as world-wide: Notes on Weaning, Adapted from Professor Holt. Sudden weaning of an infant from the breast is not only generally inadvisable, bu: in some cases is attended with the greatest difficulties. If the infant has been kept on the breast exclusively until tho ninth month, when weaning is attempted certain difficulties may at onco appear. The infant tends not to take tho bottle if there is a breast at its disposal. The only way out of the difficulty is to deprive the infant at certain limes of the day of the breast, and thus starve it into taking the bottle. This requires much morpl courage on the part of tho mother and of the physician. In those cases in which the mother nurses tho infant wo car.not always gain her co-operation in denying tho breast to the infant. The difficulties of weaning in each cases are only increased; but with patience we can ultimately overcome them. I have seen infants who were deprived of the breast at this period refuse to take but a few ounces of nourishment daily for weeks. They emaciate, become restless, and refuse

to be pacified. Under certain conditions, where tho nursing function has been discontinued and the milk secretion has therefore ceased, the situation is at times really critical. But ! have invariably soon the child take to his artificial food in due season, even if this surrender was delayed for a long period of time. Patience will ultimately conquer the little oiio in these cases. . . . Some infants who have been at the breast up to the ninth month will refuse to take any modifications cf milk winch contain the cereal decoctions, barley or oat jelly. In these cases I have tempted the infants with small quantities of raw milk slightly diluted with water, forgoing a 1! attempts at percentage modification. This seems to have succeeded the best hi trying cases. For some of these, infante an ounce cf expressed beef-juice is mixed with an equal quantity of barley-water and slightly salted. This is given once a day. Infants relish this change. A Point of Practical Importance. A procedure not mentioned by Holt, but which should undoubtedly be tried in all such cases, is to draw off some breast milk and try to get the baby to take this by bottle or spoon. Tho main point to arrive at is to overcome the baby's predilection for the breast as compared with any artificial appliance. Once a baby has yielded to taking its accustomed food by the new method, tho mother has got more than halfway towards bringing about the acceptance cf other suitablo foods. Of course, in a case of this kind, tho transition should be made very slowly and tactfully, so as not to provoke resistance.