OUR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18013, 25 November 1926, Page 12

OUR BABIES.

(By

Hygeia.

Published under tihe auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women, and children (Plnnket Society). “ It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom. ” TEETHING. Teething is commonly placed under the heading “infantile ailments," but this is wrong. The whole process is. properly speaking, a natural one, and should be accomplished without the manifestation of constitutional disturbance, beyond at most fretfulness on the part of the child, with slight swelling of gums and increased flow of saliva. If any reflex irritation occurs during absorption and the coming through of the teeth it is reduced to a minimum by the fact that the teeth are cut in groups witJi intervals of rest between, instead of appearing about the same time. This arrangeis decidedly in favour of the child. ’ A healthv, well-cared for infant runs practically no risk from teething. and usually suffers little or no pain, but a delicate child whose mother ?- as 1^ nored “What Everv Babv Needs,” and whose mouth and jaws have, not been properly exercised, is specially liable to “catch cold" or contract other illness during teething To counteract such tendencies the mother should do her best to make up for wasted opportunities, and should be careful to sec that in future everything conducing to health receives the most scrupulous attention—especially when teeth are about to come through the gums. FAR-REACHING EFFECTS OF MASTICATORY EXERCISE.

Again we must insist that perfect capacious jaws and sound, beautiful teeth cannot be built without fulfilling all the simple and universal requisites for health throughout babyhood and childhood—especially ample daily exercise of the mouth organs. f i'iic mouth is indeed a great primal Driving-station” whence the nervefibres carrv impulses to the nerve-cen-tres. which quicken the life and activity of every tissue of the body., v\ hen the jaws are doing natural, hon-! est, hard work the whole of the rest of the organism is impelled to activity “the heart pumps quicker and more forcibly, the pressure of blood in the arteries rises and its stream flow’s more rapidly, even in the very finger-tips: at the same time the digestive juices are poured out freely, not only into mouth, but also into the stomach and bowels, as the result of messages transmitted from the mouth when busily engaged in mastication. Apart altogether from the consideration of the building of the teeth and jaws, active “mouth exercise” is thus necessary for the nutrition, growth and health of every organ of the bodv. Feeding exercise” is the most primitive, fundamental and essential of all forms of exercise. A horse fed mainlv on hard dry food (and reasonably treated in other respects) becomes the ideal of strength and “fitness.” Feed the same horse with soft mashes, made from similar food materials, and he will become soft and “out of condition,” simply because his whole organism will then lack the primary stimulation of daily, normal, active exercise which formerly he had to devote to the crunching of oats. etc.—activities which ar . e not called forth when dealing with food provided and ready ground and softened—food on which the work has already been done bv millstones and mashing outside the animal bodv. The same applies to ourselves—particularly to the young who are alwavs nearest to Nature. We need the exercise of active mastication, and the only effective means of ensuring this is to start training at the dawn of life. Never let a healthy infant take a meal on which he is not compelled to do active work in form of sucking or chewing. We must begin with the baby and foster this natural tendency to masticate, instead of doing everything in our power to make the function die out by disuse.

The mother should banish from her mind the idea of “pap-feeding,” or “mince-feeding” being the natural course to pursue with a child who has teeth. Even milk should be used sparingly after eighteen months—a ’pint a day being certainly ample. perhaps more than is desirable. Diluted with water, milk should then be used as a drink at the close of meals, not as a fluid in which to soak and so spoil food which would otherwise need chewing and insalivating. No doubt the children of the poor are undulv stinted with regard to milk, but children in general tend to be given too much milk and cream—too much ready-made fluid food which merely drains info the stomach—to the exclusion of cruder materials on which wok would have to be done, suited to the natural tendencies and activities of infancy. It will be noted that Drs Pedley and Harrison would exclude all “pap-food” from the ordinary dietary of the baby when he has reached two years of age. They say:— At two years of age only solid food should be given a.t meals in order that the teeth may thoroughly chew. The stomach should also be allowed time to digest one meal before another is given (no “pieces” between meals). Suppose, however, that the parents continue to provide a child with food in a fluid or semi-fluid condition, the child, having nothing to chew, simply swallows its food. The habit of “bolting” is formed—a habit not easily overcome—and the parents who have never given the matter a thought, wonder why! The custom of giving children oatmeal with milk, bread soaked or boiled in milk, milk with patent cereal foods, is unnatural, in so far as these foods afford no use for the teeth, nutritious as they are in other respects. Oat-cake or whole-meal bread to masticate, followed by milk and water to drink, are equall}* nutritious, and will satisfy the requirements of a child far better.

—“Our Teeth: How Built Up: How Destroyed and How Preserved.” By Drs R. D. Pedley and Frank Harrison. Blackies. London, 1909.

(Parents who once grasp the fact, that the more exercise a child can be given for mouth, jaws, and teeth the more he will tend to thrive, will not be at a loss to find means by which the carrying out of what is needed can be ensured. Further, they will not let the tyranny of hide-bouncl custom or conventional propriety stand in the way of the health and development of their offspring. Thus, the small allowance of meat that a child may have is best given in the form of a bone, from which he can gnaw and tear off with his teeth what is eatable. The more extensive the bone surface to which the meat is attached, the better, but even a. small mutton chop, eaten in this way—especially if it happens to be somewhat lean and ''wholesomely tough”—will afford a considerable amount of very healthy, stimulating, and enjoyable recreation. Fortunately, the hands and lips are not un wash able! Some of the modern dry cereal foods, made specially _ with a view to ensure thorough chewing and insalivation, are excellent as an occasional change from bread-crusts, toast, oatcake, or hard biscuit: the only objection to these preparations is that though not more nutritious than ordinary whole-meal, they are decidedly expensive.—Author.) (To be Continued.)