OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 52

OUR BABIES.

By Hygeia. Published under the auspices ol the Royal Nrw Zealand Society tor the Health ol Womon and Children. "It Is wiser to put up a fence at the top ol a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

GOOD TEETH ARE ESSENTIAL FOR GOOD HEALTH. HOW CAN GOOD TEETH BE ENSURED? 1. By Good Pre-natal Conditions. — At birth the finished crowns of the temporary teeth and the germs of the permanent teeth are already embedded deep in the gums; therefore the expectant mother sliould do all in her power to lead a normal, regular, healthy life, with sufficient, exercise, etc., to ensure that the teeth may be well started, and that there will be a good supply of breast milk for the baby. (See the Government pamphlet " The Expectant Mother and Baby's First Month," and "The Story of the Teeth." Whitcomb and Tombs.) 2. By Breast-feeding at Regular Intervals. —The structure, growth, proper setting, and eruption of .the permanent teeth depend on the supply of an abundant stream of rich, healthy blood throughout, the period of most active growth. To ensure this a baby must be fed regularly with proper food. The best food for a baby is Mother's Milk, drawn pure and , living direct from the breast. Make sure that you do not overfeed baby, especially ih«the early weeks. This is a common cause of indigestion, and babies' are frequently weaned because the mother has too much good milk—not too little. If there is any doubt.on this point, balance baby before and after nursing each time for a complete period of 24 hours, and compare the quantity he has taken from the breast with the amount advised in the Table for Feeding, page 34, " Feeding and Care of Baby.'' For details regarding weighing before and after nursing~see page 57'of the Society's Book. -. 3. By giving the baby (where artificial feeding must bo resorted to) milk prepared. SO AS TO APPROXIMATE AS NEARLY AS possible to Mother's Milk—in other words, Humanised Milk. This artificial food should be properly graded, and should be given from a bottle with a teat which ensures as much exercise for the baby's jaws as possible. The smaller the hole in the nipple the better, provided that the baby can be induced to take enough food in a quarter of an hour or .20 minutes at the outside. This can only be done by holding the feeding-bottle and maintaining a certain pull on it, so that the teat is kept towards the front of the mouth. By th'S means the baby is brought to suck much more actively. 4. By Avoiding a Dummy.—This dirty contrivance deforms the jaws, palate, etc., and gives rise to defective, irregular teeth, and is a leading cause of mouth-breathing and adenoids. Besides this, it upsets the digestion by inducing constant sucking and dr.bbling of saliva. If there is indigestion there cannot be good, pure blood from which to build strong sound teeth. 5. Br Giving Bones, Crusts, etc., and avoiding pap-feeding as much as possible.— A baby should be given a bone to munch from six months "onwards. The baby's early natural instinctive desire for something hard to bite at should bo fostered and encouraged. Beginning with tough cruets • at the ninth month of age, such hard, dry foods as toast, hard, plain ship's biscuit, raw ripe apple, brown bread, oatcake, etc., sliould be introduced as the child grows older, and is able to cope with them. 6. By Giving Plain, Simple, Regular Meals.—Don't overfeed children. After 18 months or two years, three meals a day are sufficient. As 'large a proportion as of this lood should be of a nature to require active chewing. The solid part of the meal should be well chewed,' mixed thoroughly with the saliva in the mouth, and swallowed before any fluid is allowed. The child should be taught to wait until the end of the meal before taking a drink. Avoid soft sticky foods, such as sweet biscuits, soft white bread, cakes, caramels, chocolates, etc. Whole-meal bread, meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, and fruit are better for the teeth, as they require more mastication and stimulate the flow of the digestive juices. Sound, ripe, uncooked apple is the best of foods' to finish a meal with, as* it not only cleans the teeth but also causes a very free flow of saliva, which flushes out the whole mouth. Never give a biscuit or chocolates last thing at night. 7. By Cleaning the Teeth.—This should be done night and morning from 18 months of age. Children must bo taught to clean their teeth by examplo. The teeth should be thoroughly cleansed, not by merely brushing across them, but also outside and inside and up and down; so that food particles lodging between the teeth may be remdVcd. The back teeth must be specially attended to; they are not seen, but must not be neglected on that account'. 8. By Taking the Child to a Dentist every three months. A dentist will be able to # detect specks of decay which the parents might miss. If specks of decay are prosent, even in the first teeth, have them attended to at once. Safeguard the first permanent molars. These important teeth appear about the sixth year, and as none of the baby teeth have been shed, the mother often imagines the3e '" permanent molars" are onlv temporary teeth, and they are allowed to decay and bo extracted to the lifelong injury of. the child. Therefore, I say again, be sure to safeguard the first permanent MOLARS. N.B.—Attend carefully to all the essentials for health.' (See pages 1 and 2 of the Society's Book.) Especially see that 'the children have abundance of pure, cool, fresh air day and night; plenty of outdoor exercise; perfect regularity of the bowels; and, after 18 months or two years, a cold bath everv morning, followed by brisk friction, rapid dressing, and quarter of an hour's active exercise i DECAYED TEETH. If the teeth are already showing signs of decay, what should be clone? Attend carefully to all the essentials for health referred to above, and tako your

child to a good dentist as soon as possible What liarm is there in having Decayed Tooth ? 1 Decayed teeth cause toothache, which makes a child sleepless, nervous, and irritable, thus inducing a lowering of the general health and a lack of power to resist disease. 2. Decayed teeth render chewing of food painful and difficult, and the food is swallowed without being properly masticated and mixed with saliva. This gives rise to indigestion, and the child becomes miserable and peaky. 3. Decayed teeth not only provide foul pockets for the lodgment and breeding of disease germe, winch givo rise to sore throats, rheumatic fever, and consumption, but they are constantly pouring living germs and poisonous matter into the mouth. This is swallowed, tends to interfere with digestion, and may upset the whole system. Keep the teeth sound until maturity ; and then, if cleaned regularly, they tend to last for life. HEALTH OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. The monthly meeting of the committee for the Health of Women and Children was held on the Bth, Mrs Can- in the chair. The Matron of the Karitane-Jbiarris Hospital reported for the month of February as under : —Number admitted —babies 13, mothers 1; discharged—ibabies 10, mothers 1; deaths, 1. Of the mothers and babies admitted l , one came from Waimate, two from Middlemarch. one from Greenvale, one from Awamangu. one from Kakapuaka, and the remainder from Dunedin. The one_, death during the month was due to prematurity, and occurred.a few hours after admission to the hospital. All babies discharged were making good progress. Gifts were received and acknowledged from Mesdames Johnstone, Scorgie, Joachim, Kirkland, Ruff, and Miss Baron, The number of nurses in training on February 23 was eight Plunket nurses and 11 Karitan© nurses. All the babies in hospital, with one exception, are making satisfactory progress. The Plunket nurses for the North and Central districts reported for February :—Number of babies on the list, 753; new babies, 25; babies solely breast-fed, 126; partly breast-fed, 70. The Plunket nurse for South Dunedin district reported as follows: —Number of new cases —babies 17, expectant mothers 5; number of babies' on the list, 320. A letter was received from the Australian Women's National League expressing appreciation of the society's work, and asking assistance in organising a "Save the Babies" Week in Melbourne. —The , Secretary reported having forwarded copies of the literature published during the dominion "Baby Week" and full particulars and details of the local campaign. Letters wfero also received from the Kimberly Society for the Protection of Child Life (South Africa), the National Young Women's Christian Association of India and Ceylon, asking for details of the society's organisation; also a letter from the Children's Welfare Association, Melbourne, inviting a delegate from tho society to attend an inter-State Child Welfare Conference in November. An .interesting letter was read from Dr Truby King, from San Francisco. A telegram awaited Dr King on arrival at Vancouver, asking for tho date of his arrival at Chicago, so that arrangements could be made for a meeting. The doctor wrote that he \y,as cordially received by all health authorities, and great interest was everywhere evinced in tho society's work. Lady French Appeal.—Mrs R. W. Gibbs reported that a box of baby clothes would be packed during the eoming week, to be sent to the care, of the High Commissioner for New Zealand, for distribution to soldiers' wives by the Women's War Service Bureau. Mrs Gibbs would be glad to receive any contributions towards the box as soon as possible. It was decided to accept the tender of Robert Crawford and Co. for the erection 'of the cottage addition to the Karitane j Hospital. Arrangements were made to help in the Red Triangle street collection. Nurse W. S. Thomson (acting-matron at the Karitano-Harris Hospital) was appointed senior Plunket nurse in Dunedin. Nurso L. O. Moreland was appointed matron of the hospital from April 1. The shortage of bottles used is causing serious inconvenience, and tho committee would bo glad if all customers would make a point of seeing that these bottles are returned without delay. matron of • the Karitane Hospital would be very grateful for donations of old linen. The Hon. Treasurer reported the maintenance for tho month as £47 Is lOd; also the receipt of a number of subscriptions and donations.