OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3429, 2 December 1919, Page 54

OUR BABIES.

By llygeia

Published under trie a*ipl«9 ff *hs Bcyal New Zealand Scclety ts' the Uesltti of Women and Children.

"It Is wiser to F«t up m «ensc st lh« top at > precipice than te maintain B'l ambulance at ll.e bettim."

THE MOTHER'S LETTER (Continued.)

This week we give the answers to the mother's iinal questions.

QUESTION. HOW CAN ONE MEASURE WHAT A CHILD TAKES J-ROM THE BREAST? ANSWER.

This is done by weighing baby immediately before and immediately aittr tec-ding. 'litis should be done on several successive occasions. *Baby need not bo undressed, but just popped on. the scales (accurate grocer's scales weighing to half an ounce must be used) immediately beiore the mother starts to suckle and immediately after baby has finished. Where accurate scales are not otherwise conveniently available, weighing can be arranged for at the Kantane Hospital or at the Piunket Nurses' rooms. It snould te specially noted that this weighing gives the mother very little trouble indeed, because there is no need to strip the baby or estimate the weight of itself or its clothes. All that is needed is to find out the difference in the total weight of baby and clothing before and after suckling. The difference between the first weighing and the second gives the quantity of milk which the baby has taken during the feeding. If on comparing- the quantity taken with the proper quantity for weight and age (see Table for Feeding, page 32 of the Society's book), it is found that too little has been taken, the quantity should be made up by supplementing with the exact amount of properly modified, adjusted milk to make up for the deficiency. If, on the contrary, it is found that the baby has taken decidedly too much, the time it is allowed to remain at the breast should be diminished accordingly, or the mother may. prevent such rapid sucking by compression or withdrawal of the nipple during the time allowed. Of course, the mother should bear in mind that the quantities given in the feeding table are averages arrived at by ascertaining the quantity per feeding taken by hundreds of healthy, normal babies. It does .not follow that this average figure represents exactly the quantity suited for the most perfect nutrition and development of an individual baby. On the contrary, it is found sometimes that one will thrive best with a little less food, another will do best with a little more.

Nothing is more striking than the extensive divergences from the proper quantities of mik drawn from the breast that aro allowed to go on for weeks or even months without the mother suspecting that her baby is being starved, on the one hand. or overfed on the other. It is not at all rare to find on weighing that a baby s who has _ not thriven has been habitually receiving half, or even less than half, his proper quantity of milk; while there are many wno draw half as much again as their -normal supply. The latter may not appear to suffer much owing to the tendency of the stomach, to reject a part at least of the excess scon after feeding, but overfeeding always tends to damage the digestive powers and overtax the kidneys, liver, etc., po that in the long run overfed babies grow less perfectly and succumb to disease more readily than those who take only a proper quantity of food. The mother should turn to the illustration (page 10, " Feeding and Car© of Baby"), and read the description and remarks on pages 10 and 11. She should also read " Weighing Breast-fed Babies Before and After Suckling," page 51. THE FINAL QUESTION. What is one to do when the baby GOES to sleep before having taken sufficient to last the correct number OF HOURS? ANSWER. The- mother often supposes that the baby has not had enough when he has really taken all ho should have. The fact of being somnolent points in this direction. Or it may be due to the fact that, having been used to more frequent feedings, ho tends to go off to sleep before a three hours' supply has been imbibed. Or he may not h-ive sufficient stimulation and activity—tho cure for this condition being suore^ outing and exercise. On an individual the tendency to drop off to ak-.>p may be jnastered by a little rubbing of the limbs and moving the nipple about »n the mouth, Tsriih the fingers, so as to stimulate sucking.