OUR BABIES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4427, 19 May 1941, Page 8

OUR BABIES

(By Hygeia.) [Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society).] “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to main- . tain an ambulance at the bottom.” ESTABLISHMENT OF BREAST FEEDING IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS. (Continued.) Before putting baby to the breast the nipples should be washed with boiled water, using a swab made of cotton wool or a tiny piece of clean, old linen. After the feed the nipples should again be washed and dried thoroughly. If this is done there should be no risk of any infection through cracked nipples, leading to breast abscesses. The mother should be in as comfortable a position as possible when nursing. Care must be taken in seeing that the breast is not pressing against the baby’s nose. A child cannot suckle properly unless there is a perfectly free entry of air to the nose. If the baby takes milk too greedily and quickly, the mother can check the tendency to some extent by squeezing the base of the nipple or by withdrawing the nipple from time to time. When nursing in the sitting posture some mothers may find a cushion placed across the knee a great advantage, as it does away with stooping. For others, the use of a low chair and footstool is ideal. The nursing time must be quiet even the effect of talking may disturb the flow, especially the first baby. During the early weeks the liability to flatulence even in breast-fed babies (due mainly to irregular feeding, overfeeding, or too frequent feeding) must be borne in mind. Having attended to such irregularities, the way to prevent the gathering and accumulation of wind in the stomach, and the consequent distress and colic, is always to sit the baby up at the end of each feeding. This may also need to be done during the course of each feeding, and sometimes just before. Prevention is easy, but the “colic habit” once formed may be very hard to get rid of. DIET FOR THE NURSING MOTHER The nursing mother must take plenty of fluids from the first. Six to eight tumblerfuls of water a day is a good average. Over-eating is to be avoided. Three good meals daily, the diet including plenty of fruit and vegetables (raw or cooked), eggs, milk (about 11 pints daily, including that used in cooking—this is to be taken with meals, as milk between meals only spoils the appetite for ordinary food), and butter, and meat in moderation. This average diet would contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals for the baby’s proper growth and development. Sir Truby King says: “It is impossible to lay down a fixed diet applicable to all nursing mothers, because the first esential is that no unnecessary changes or restrictions should be made. Assuming that her ordinary diet has been reasonably wholesome and nutritious, and that it has agreed with her, the mother should continue on the same lines, merely avoiding anything known to be especially indigestible or which she has previously found to disagree. One of the worst things a nursing mother can do is to change to a faddy, meagre diet consisting largely of insipid, sloppy food. Regular daily action of the bowels is supremely important for the nursing mother, both for her own health and that of the baby. At all times the nursing mother should have fresh air day and night, and should be out in the sunshine as much as her circumstances permit. Pure air and sunshine have almost as much beneficial effect on the health and strength of both the mother and child as good food, and no woman can be in her best form as a mother who neglects to take regular- open-air exercise. The mother’s confidence in her ability to nurse is a great factor in establishing lactation. The mother who believes in her power to do the natural thing and the nurse who is positive and gives confidence are invariably successful. Remember that over-anxiety may defeat its own ends. COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING. In some eases lactation is not estabI lished for some weeks. When this is so a little artificial food may be given after the breast, but never a whole bottle feed—that is the way to wean. The breasts miss the stimulation of the baby’s sucking, and the supply of milk gradually diminishes until a second and third bottle is substituted and the milk goes altogether. The only way to be quite sure as to the amount the baby is getting is to test weigh for 24 hours or longer, if possible. To do this, reliable scales must be obtained (those with weights, not a spring balance), the baby put on the scales immediately before the feed in his clothes, the weight noted, and put on the scales again immediately after the feed. The second weighing must be done in exactly the same clothing as the first (example, a soiled napkin must not be changed). The difference in weight will tell how many ounces of food baby has taken. If the total for the 24 hours is not sufficient for his daily need, a little artificial food may be given after every breast feeding (sometimes required only after two or three feeds), and always diluted at first with some boiled Water. Remember always to sum up a 24 hours’ supply, as normal babies take larger feeds in the mornings, smaller towards mid-day, and sometimes a bigger one again towards night. The child’s general condition is the best I guide. Only resort to test weighing when all is not well with the infant. Any Plunket nurse would be willing to help mothers 'over these difficult per-, iods, and one would be well advised, if encountering any of these difficulties, to seek the guidance of someone experienced in dealing with such matters.