OUR BABIES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20077, 6 April 1935, Page 10

OUR BABIES

BY HYGEIA Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “/£ is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” NATURAL FEEDING (Continued). Before putting baby to the breasts 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 be again washed and dried thoroughly. If this is done there should be no risk of any infection through cracked nipples, leading to breast abscess. The mother should be in as comfortable 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 suck ! 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 a sitting posture some mothers may find a cushion placed across the knees a great advantage, as it does away with stooping. For

others the use of a low chair and footstool is ideal. The nursing times must 1 be quiet; even the effort of talking may disturb the flow, especially with 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 accumulating of wind in the stomach, and consequent distress and colic, is always to sit baby up at the end of each feeding. This may also need to be done during the course of 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 fluid from the first. Six to eight glasses of water during the day is a good average. Overheating is to be avoided. Three good meals daily, the diet including plenty of fruit and vege--1 tables (both raw and ccoked), eggs milk (about one pint daily, including that used in cook’ng -this to be taken with meals, as milk between meals only spoils the appetite for ordinary food), butter and meat in moderation. This average diet would contain all 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 essential 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 fluid.” Regular daily action of the bowls is supremely important for the nursing < mother, both for her own health and for that of her baby. At all times the nursing mother should have fresh air night and day, . and should be out in the sunshine as much as her circumstances will prmit. Pure air and sunshine have almost as 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. 1 Remember that over-anxiety may defeat its own ends. Complementary Feeding In some cases lactation is not fully established 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 suckling, and the supply of milk gradually diminishes, until a second and then a 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 weight 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 feect in his clothes, the weight noted, and put on the scales again immediately after the feed. The second weighing must be done in the same clothes as the first (e.g., a soiled napkin must not be changed). The difference in the weight will tell how many ounces of food baby has taken.

If the total for 24 hours is not sufficient for his daily need a little artificial food may be given after every feed—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 at night. The child’s general condition is the best 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 periods, and one would be well advised if encountering any of these difficulties to seek the guidance of someone experienced in dealing with such matters.

i“ii® TICK'S) HP S ffbHtrHblC

| When You Suspect Faults in Your Light ! and Power Installation, Look Closely to Your 1 Flexible Connections.