OUR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18465, 17 May 1928, Page 13

OUR BABIES.

(By HYGEIA.) Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plufiket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” The following excellently practical little article by 11. S. Lippman, M.D., is reprinted from “Life and Health,” in which it appeared by courtesy of the North-Western Health Journal: — WHEN YOUR CHILD WON’T EAT. Billy didn’t eat, and his mother couldn't understand why. She took him to the doctor, who found that his tonsils had been well removed, his teeth were normal, his sinuses not infected, and his physical hygiene correct. The fact that he had tantrums, was filled with fears, petty jealousies, and hatreds did not concern her nearly so much as did his poor appetite. She had hoped that the doctor might find something wrong that could be easily corrected. She returned home disappointed, because not only did the doctor tell her that her boy was physically well, but he had refused to give her a tonic. He had frankly told her that Billy wasn’t eating because of her mistakes in handling him. He had even told her that if she stopped worrying about her child’s appetite her eating problems would soon disappear. “Why, just imagine,” she said to her

husband in the evening, “he told me that Billy’s refusal to eat was due to the same things that made him refuse to sleep and obey.” Reward for Eating. As observations during the last few years) have shown, that the treatments which the doctor recommended have been successful in the biggest percentage of his feeding problems, it would be well to discuss them. Just what was the cause of Billy’s refusal to eat, and wnat method should the mother use in overcoming his poor appetite? In tfie nrst place, Billy was getting too much attention from the grownups around the home. It was suggested that he be kept outside as much as possible through the day, playing with children, preferably his own age. He was to be fed small amounts of foods in brightly-coloured dishes, his milk and dessert being left to the end of the meal. If possible, one of his pia}mates was to join him in his meal. If he ate well, he was to paste a small silver or gold star in a little scrapbook, and this was to be shown to his father at the close of the day. His poor appetite was never to be discussed in his presence. If he failed to eat, nothing

was to be said about it. If he showed the slightest tendency to eat food he was to be encouraged and praised. If, after a week of this regime, his appetite was no better, the food was to be placed in front of him and left there for 20 minutes. If refused, it was to be taken away until time for the next meal, when the food was again off ere 1 him. This was to be continued three times a day for at least four dayjs. During this period he was to be denied any food whatever between meals. There was to be absolutely nq urging or scolding or begging him to eat. The whole problem was to be met in a cool, casual manner. Care was to be taken that those foods which he especially disliked were not on the tra>* during this period. It does not seem that such directions should be especially difficult to follow, and yet it may take weeks to teach the mother to be unconcerned about feeding problems. This is very likeh* du? to the fact that poor appetite is so intimately related to poor health. Her ! fear is a deep one, deeper in the anxious, worrying t3*pe of mother. Often, after she has faithfully promised the doctor to carry out his stigges tion and ignore the food refusal, she continues to urge and scold the offend er.

The biggest job of the child worker is not to get the child to eat; it is to get the mother to stop worrying about his not eating. Perhaps the difficulty lies in the fact that the treatment is too simple. The mother will learn, to her surprise, that ignoring the child’s appetite, at least in her case, is not so simple as she thought. She may finals* realise, after she has properly learned to ignore her feeding problem, why it is that the mother who has so many children and hasn’t time to worry* about eating difficulties has so little trouble in getting them to eat. \Ye have found, after 3*ears of studying the food habits of the child, as so many others have found, that the problem in the physically healthy child who refuses to eat is not with the child—it is with the parents or nurse.

Send Child'Away. The family attitude must be changed. It is necessary to recall that when one is ill at ease or angry the apoetiir is poor. We also know how we feel at a dinner when we are offered food we do not like. We do not approach it with enthusiasm, and when the hostess

is emotionally disturbed at our refusal, and insists that wc eat, filling up our plate as she insists, our appetite may not only decrease, but disappear altogether. If the mother who cares for the child cannot change her attitude and ignore the food refusal, it is well to place the child in another home for a short time, and let someone else feed him. It may be a great deal easier for another person to start the ball rolling—to get the -hild into good food habits. During the child’s absence the mother will be able to relax, to study the situation more calmly, and will be better prepared to carry on the work that someone else has started. It has been our experience that, after such a vacation from home, the mother will find that she can handle the child so much better, that his eating is very much improved—not because the child is a better child, but because he is bet* ter understood. If your child won’t eat. use tact. Don’t urge, don’t scold. If necessary, take food away. Don’t feed between meals; and, above all, don’t worry about it.