OUR BABIES

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 145094, 20 September 1916, Page 4

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.” OVERFEEDING BABIES. Last week I dealt with the case of { an artificially-fed baby who had failed to gain in weight satisfactorily in spite of taking and apparently digesting what the nurse regarded as more than I the normal allowance of food. j To-day I purpose describing a ca J c which came under my own. personal observation in the Old Country, because the overfeeding of babies is a common and grave mistake, whether in the c-asc of sucklings or bottle-feds. 1 1 am satisfied that a large number of mothers, who would be poricetlv capable of completely nursing tbcir | babies if properly guided, fail to do so j owing to supplying the baby, cot with j 100 little, but with too much, milk m | tho first month. \ Apart from the human mother, there ; is no instance where the olispring is tempted and urged to suckle beyond its requirements. The most casual observation of what goes on in the fields among our domestic animals shows on all hands the tendency of the mother to prevent too frequent or prolonged suckling. "W itlt ourselves, on the contrary. it has been tho almost invariable cust-om to try to induce the baby to nurse nearly twice as often as he shoinu and to fill himself to repletion. 1 In this connection I have some very naive- and interesting notes, made by a professional nurse, showing perteetly clearly that the baby was suffering from overloading and indigestion at the very time when the nurse was jotting ( down in her daily record such rdmarks as: “Baby restless and peevish to-day; seems to be going off his lood; very sleepy towards tho end of each nursing; Could not get him to take any more.” These notes were made in a rase where, under instruction, tho baby was being weighed before and after each nursing, in order to ascertain how much was being drawn from t l **: breast in the 24 hoars. The 'nurse >/l not taken the trouble to add up tho figures, which would have proved to her that tho baby’s trouble was due to over-feeding —not, as she supposed, to under-feed-ing—that he was actually getting sometimes as much as eight ounces beyond his proper allowance, ns given on page 34 of tho society’s book ‘‘Feeding and Caro of Baby.” ILLUSTRATIVE CASE. A mother, who had given birth nearly six weeks previously to a strong, healthy baby, wrote in great distress to, say that the infant had been doing very badly latterly—had been steadily losing weight, and now weighed rather loss then at birth. The mother had just been ordered to abandon breast-feeding entirely on the ground that her milk was at fault, and even poisonous. The family were in comfortable circumstances, with every advantage as regards the homo and assistance in tho way of servants ami nurses. Tho mother herself was a wellmade woman, well developed, and the type of normal ■ motherhood, not only ; physically, but by temperament and in ;.‘Unation, She was domestic, devoted ; to her children, and, of all things, j anxious to do everything she could for j them. She had failed to nurso lw>r first two children, but felt that this ought not to have been, the case if matters had been managed properly. Sho had had tho society’s books long before the last baby was born, and felt sure that all would bo well if sho could only get tho doctor and nurse to allow her to follow the course advocated. However, when the time came she found that they were tied to the usages of the Victorian Era, and would not- hear cfdeeding only every three hours, “no flight-feeding,” etc. The baby was born plump and healthy, and weighed S£lb. In. a fortnight she weighed 91b., and, as tho mother said, “was doing splendidly.” The milk supply was. ample, and the baby was’suckled with alternate breasts every two hours, there being 10 feedings in all, including the night-feed-ing. For tho next week things wore not so satisfactory. Baby was fretful and irritable, and suffered from flatulence. She gained only a quarter of a pound in the week, and the mother became worried and slept indifferently. Tho next week there was a loss of a quarter of a pound, and marked constipation set in, which tho nurso treated with a daily dose of Carter Oil, without- consulting the doctor, who highly disapproved when some weeks later he discovered what had been done. In tho fourth week a bottle-feeding was given in place of one of the breastfeedings. and by the end of the fifth week baby was getting four bottlefeedings. Towards the close of tho sixth week the weight had gone down to 81b. lOoz,, there was extreme constipation, baby was flabby, dull, listlos, dissatisfied, and irritable, and always oriod after being suckled. Complete stoppage of breast-feeding had been urged earlier, but was now insisted on, the parents being told that the violent crying of the child' after tho breast-feedings and not after tho bot-tle-feedings showed tlait the mother’s milk was poisonous. However, the mother held out,, and got a-weighing machine, which showed that at this stage the baby was getting from tho breast under lOoz. in the 24 hours, being rather less than two-fifths of its normal requirements, while the highlydiluted artificial feedings did not supply more than another fifth. The explanation of tho satisfaction after sucklings was very obvious, the 4-oz. or more per feeding given by the bottle filling fhe stomach and relieving thirst, which the 2-oz. breast-feedings failed to do. ■ THE NEW REGIMEN. The cause of failure being now' quite clear, the mother was given the following instructions: —- (1) Feed only rtx times in the 24 hours, and give no night-feed-ings. 1 (2) Suckle the baby at each feeding ] time.

(3) Immediately before suckling bal- j unco the baby, clothes and all, | and at the eud of suckling find oul and note what weight has to 1 bo added to balance again. This shows how much milk has boon [ drawn off from the breasts. (For I details as to weighing before and , after suckling see pages ot-59 1 “Feeding and Oare of Baby.”) (1) Supplement with the necessary quantity of Humanised Milk, beginning diluted, and working up to full 'strength in the course of a week. The mother had been using only one breast at ea-ch looding 1 but as the supply was short she was told she must give both breasts each time, as explained on pages 6 and 7 of the so* eicty’s book ‘'Feeding a-11-d Caro of Baby.” Tlio result of this regunen was that the baby started straight away to gain normally, and in the course of the neo;t month the mother’s supply, instead of continuing to dwindle rose to about Hoz. a day—or nearly two-thirds of what was needed for complete breastfeeding. THE RESULTS. When baby was nearly 11 weeks old, the mother wrote, saying;— “i iin rinse the weighings, and will send the, ones for this week filer on. Baby is doing splendidly. She is getting fat. and her cheeks are quite a nice colour. She is looking very bonnie now, and I am sure you would be pleased with her. The doctor is delighted. . . I tell him wo are going by the book. “I haul baby photographed on Friday, and will send you a copy when wo get them. Her motions are quite good now, and she is getting very regular in her habits. Wo use the rubber enema !' when necessary.” (The oiicnia referred to was a tiny soft-nozzlqd rubber bulb, holding only an ounce. Simple pure water "at 70 degrees Fahr. was used— , no reap.) Tile following arc three of the typical | j daws weighings in the tenth week;—

Weight on December I‘2, 101 b, 6ioz. —gain of lOSoz. in 9 days. Just before leaving England we received a, telegram saying that baby was going on splendidly, and that her weight on December 17 was 101 b. llicz. This .showed that she had gained exactly a pound in the, fortnight. Last week the photograph of a plump, happy-looking baby arrived from the Old Country. The child is now three years old—a clever, plump, healthy, happy, little girl, who has given her parents no further trouble or anxiety. They write that they always "po by the book.

Time when Increase Taken s-nekling in baby’s by Total hetriin. weight. bottle. t a ken. Friday, Doo. 3. ■Uea.m. . ,. lor. 1 or. ■Ilor, 9 a.m. . .. 3 lor,. lor. lion. 12 neon . 2er. 2}oz. ijoi. 3 p.m. . .. IJoz. 2Joz. loz. 0 p.m. . .. 2.W.. 21or. ■IS or.. 10 p.m. . ., 3ioz. Uoz. ■11 or..

IGloz. lOJoz. 2Gioz. Weight, Olb lljoz Saturday, Dee. G. 4.45 a.m ... Sloz. Ijoz, 4 }«Z . 9 a.m. ... Sox. 1 joz. IJOZ. 1 2 hood ... 3Joz. iioz. 4 joz. ,'i p.m ... lloz. 3nz. 41oz. 6 p.m. ... 21oz. Hoz. 4 Joz. 10.15 p.m ... 31 oz. 1 joz. 4 joz. 161nz. lloz. 271oz. Weight 9Tb. lojoz —gain of loz. in 3 days. Thursday, Deo. 11. 4.40 a.m. ... 3oz. 2oz. 5oz. 9 a.m. ... 41oz. — 4 Joz. 12.10 p.m ... 2 Joz. 2oz, 4 Joz. 3 p.m. ... 21oz. Hoz, 4Joz. 6 p.m. ... 2ioz. 4 Joz. 10.-25 p.m. ... 3;[oZ. Uoz. 4Joz. ISoz. 9£oz. 27 Joz.