OUR BABIES

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 5, 21 December 1928, Page 2

OUR BABIES

TSY HYCfETA. Published under the auspices cC the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunlcet Sooiety). "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." THE HOLIDAYS. Many families, little and big, must now be preparing for their annual migration to seaside or country, or to stay with relatives and friends, and perhaps many mothers are looking forward to long train journeys with a good deal of dread. To ithese we offer the following hints on travelling with children:— THE BABY. Of course the simplest of all the prouiems is the breast-fed baby; in iact he is not a problem at all in tins connection—all he needs is his momer and rational management. The bottle-fed baby presents more difficulties. His 24 hours' supply of nuniamsed milk should be freshly maue as lat e as possible before starting on the journey. Even if it is usually pasteurised, it is wisest, if travelling, to bring it to t!he boil, and then keep it hot for 10 minutes, it i s extremely difficult to keep milk cold enough to be safe lor baby when travelling, and the dangerous rate of growth of germs in lukewarm milk'or imperfectly washed bottles and Iteats should never be forgotten. Fortunately, the thermos flask solves , the greatest) problem as far as milk goes. If the milk can be cooled well below 50deg. Fahr. with ice or very cold water, it may be put into the clean, scalded cold flask at (that temperature, and will keep quite safely if properly corked. However, this necessitates obtaining hot water or other means by Ithe way for heating enough milk for each feed. Probably the best allround, practical method of keeping the baby's milk safely when travelling, is to keep i,t hot. Germs do not grew and multiply in milk which is well about 130dcg. Fahr. Thoroughly wash and heat the flask, and pour into it the humanised milk when just a little below boiling "point. Keep the flask well corked, and when pouring out sufficient milk for each feed do so as quickly as possible and recork immediately, (to prevent the milk in the flask falling appreciably in temperature. Naturally, if it cools to anywhere near blood heat the flask becomes a positive menace. , The milk poured out for baby's feed can quickly be cooled to the right temperature, and he can have his bottle whenever due without regard to stations where hot water may be obtained. , liiiiydiiillri

It 1 is a good thing to take an ordinary: bottle of boiled water also, as .baby is very likely to be thirsty, and it is "useful for Anally rinsing out bottle' and (teat. A jug of hot water obtained .at a* refrjeshmjent room serves to heat; water for drinking, and to give the various utensils in use a good scalding out. Bottles and teats, etc.: It is a good plan (to have more, than one bottle and teat, so that' if it is very difncult to wash them properly en route fresh ones can be used. A nandy way to carry them is in a smail tin box, such as certain brands

oi tea % ov lancy biscuits are packed m. Wrap the bottles and *eat s in a piece of ciean, boiled butter muslin, and pack and keep them in the tin. A spoon and any other small utensil may keep them company. A measure marked in ounces or small jug is necessary to transfer milk from nask to feeding bottle. This, also must be kept clean and covered. N.B.—Never keep any milk which has ben left in the feeding bottle. If baby does not finish his feed, throw away what is left, and pour fresh from the flask for the next feed. Nothing is more dangerous than milk which has been lying in the bottle from one feeding time to the next.

If the journey will take more Khan 24 hours, and it is therefore necessary to obtain a fresh supply of humanised milk en route, consult the Plunket Nurse in the town in which you live. She will writ© ahead to the nurse, in a place where you will break your journey, giving her the recipe of baby's food, and arranging a suitable way in which you may get the made-up humanised milk for the next 24 hours. For this a small charge covering the cost of the materials is made. Thus in travelling, say, from Dunedin to Auckland, a fresh supply of milk may be obtained in Wellington. FOOD FOR THE BIGGER CHILDREN.

Undoubtedly the little runabouts are the most difficult to cater for, hut a little forethought will save much worry and trouble. Remember that a day on somewhat short rations will do no harm at all, whereas a day of unsuitable food—food from restaurants and odd s and ends of cakes and sweetsmay do untold harm, _ ,

Pack a tm with rusks or twicebaked bread and caKcake ready buttered if liked, and rolded slices of brown bread and butter. Some sandwicbes of cress or lettuce and scrambled egg make variety and add to tbe nourishment of the meal, and a few dates and raisins, separately or in sandwiches, are excellent. With a drink cf milk and a raw apple to "top off with," a perfectly nourishing, satifying, and digestibe meal is provided for any youngster—one moreover, which will while away a considerable amount of time and fur-

nish amusement as an entertaining novelty.

CLOTHING AND WRAPS', ETC

Railway carriages are draughty places, and yet are hard to ventilate and apt to be stuffy. A g"ood deal of ingenuity and tact are necessary no make the best of the conditions. It is risky to let children get overheated. Try to adjust their clothes to suit the time of day and the temperature, and take them out for a run on the platform if possible wherever there is a sufficiently long stop. SLEEP. It is all-important to assure some sleep for the little ones if over-fa-tigue and fretfulness are to be avoided. This may be very difficult if the train is crowded, but sometimes ■a bed may be improvised by placing a wide board between, a seat and the one immediately in front of it. Pushed up against 'the outer wall of the carriage, and with a cushion £,nd rug upon it, this makes quite a comfortable enough bed for the toddler—one which is perfectly safe if the board is well wedged and a suitcase is propped upon the outer side to prevent a tumble. ■Next to the dress-basket 1 , probably the most useful piece of luggage is the canvas carryall, which conveniently accommodates all the knobby and awkward last articles. TOYS AND PLAYTHINGS.

A few simple toys and picture, books, a puzzle perhaps, and a block and pencil form part of the necessary paraphernalia, but most children will be interested for liours in watching the novel sights out of the carriage window.

CONVENIENCES.

On the through expresses the ladies' compartments help to lighten the difficulties of travelling for the mother with children, providing as they do more privacy, and. larger, better-kept lavatory and wash-basin arrangements. However, it 1 is never safe to allow children to use any lavatory in the ordinary wa y when travelling. An excellent plan is to make a circular pad of several thicknesses 'of paper wide enough to c6inpletely cover the ordinary seat, mark tne top side of the pad. T.Eis will made things safe, and folded in half and itself wrapped in paper, it will pack quitfj easily. Otherwise an ordinary little enamel chamber may be taken, but this is awkward and bulky. Some 'pieces of old linen, damp and dry, will come in most handy, and save hankies and towels. SEA TRIPS. A sea trip (unless the mother is a bad sailor) does not present nearly so many difficulties as a long train Journey, especially if it is a night passage, as so many of our inter-is-land passages are. Children are comparatively rarely seasick, and there is room for tnem to spread out and lie; down comfortably.

TRAIN-SICKNESS'. Very occasionally children are habitually train and car sick, when the only possible thing to do is to give very light food before starting and to manage some means of allowing the child to lie down. In conclusion, one might remark that the mother who has trained her children in obedience, regularity, and good habit's generally will reap her just reward when holiday travelling time comes round. The long day will pass withJDUlj unbearable exhaustion on anybody's part—parents, children, or fellow-travellers. But alas! for the all-too-common experience of the "fellow-traveller" who observes little families on the move —scrambling over everything, consuming an apparently endless supply of cakes and sweets, grubby and tired, ignoring all parental attempts at control, presently fretful and crying from sheer exhaustion and discomfort!