OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 57

OUR BABIES.

By

HYGEIA.

Published -under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It Is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

CONSTIPATION OX YVKANiNO BABY. The following extract- from n mothers letter will be of interest to others who may have met with a like difficulty: EXTRACT FROM MOTHER'S LETTER. "Babe is as fit as can he. except that, these last, few days he has been constipated. 1 used a noaji stick with good results on the second day, and as during the next 24 hours nothing happened J. used it again, but it hurt him so much that 1 left it .done. He parsed a lit tie blood the first time I used it, so 1 don't like to use the horrid thing again. -Since then I have given him magnesia in his bottles with the desired effect. ”1 can’t account for the suddenness of it. He has had quite a lot of orange juice, loo —about a tnhle-poonful three limes a day. He gets any amount of exercise and fresh air, of course. The only thing I can think of is that he is quite on the bottle now fne davs ago lie had the last breastfed. "I am giving him one lea,spoonful of N.L. Emulsion with the 71, ounces per feed. I expect, that when he gets over this first liold-np he will he better. He is perfectly good and sleeps very well. He is still the best behaved of the family.’ REPLY SENT TO MOTHER. Y< u wric quite right noi to continue the use of the -oaft stick. A much b’.-s objectionable measure is the use of a tiny enema v, lib one or two ounces of plain water o normal saline” injection, made l,y adding rather !e<-s than a level tenspoonfu! of common salt to a pint, of water. The best, temperature would he about, 7Ob eg or SOdeg Fahr. h given til blood heat normal saline solution is so bland and tt.nslimidating that it may fail to cause evacuation of the bowel. Indeed, it. is often found better to use plain water rather than normal saline, because plain water 16 more stimulating. Probably you will not hav e to resort to anything of the kind.

Emulsion. The allowance of X./. Emulsion may k< increased gradually, if it, agrees well, unti the daily allowance is two level tablespoon fills, (if course, this would mean a con siderably stronger food than what you are now giving, and about 35 ounces in the 24 hours (i. 0., 7 ounces per feed) ought ti sulfice. You know, of course, the uni versal tendency to overfeed. Orange Juice. Regarding the orange juice, of which vot are giving a full allowance. Dr (torsion berger, one of the loading America) authorities, has recently made careful onset vations as to the. value of this fruit juic in the feeding of babies, and has come h the definite conclusion that, while it shou!< be given on account of its viiaminos con lent and as a preventive of scurvy am other nutritional defects, orange juice ha practically no relaxing tendency, and ilia, even act: rather the other way. Spinach. As yen always have good spinach, i would probably be belter to limit th orange juice to, say, a tablespoonful day. and to give in addition an allownnc of very finely pttreed spinach—start) n with a teaspoonful in the 24 hours an working tip gradually to a tablespoonfu! < more, if needed. In Germany the highet authorities have made the daily use < spinach a. matter of routine for practical! all artificially-fed babies. They do this o tile following grounds:— (1) The. high vitamine content of gree lea ves. (2) The fact thai spinach has .mot organic iron than any other vega table, and iron is very poorly repn sent.ed in cow’s milk compared wit human milk. (3) Spinach is an excellent laxative, an has no griping or purging tendenr unless given in excess, or pushed c 100 quickly' in the ease of a- bal who has not been in the habit < taking any green food. Magnesia. There is no objection to the use of little magnesia, which, you say, is aetii satisfactorily; but it would be better • discontinue this saline as soon as you hagot, the bowels properly regulated bv 11 simple means described. Of course, you see the special advantat of spinach as an all-round wholesome veg table for continued use. Perhaps half level leafinoouft.il would l>e enough to rot