OUR BABIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 7 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES

A GUIDE TO BABY FEEDING i This week and next we shall quote in this column a small pamphlet on baby feeding recently written by bir Truby King. As our readers know, Sir Truby King is the founder of the Plunket Society and the Karitane Products Society, and this article from his own hand will be of great interest to those who read this column.

Guide to Baby Feeding

(Plunket System) By Sir Truby King, C.M.G., M. 8., B.Sc. Public Health, Edin.. Pounder of the Plunket Society and the Karitanc Products Society. Achievements of the Plunket Society and the Karitane Products Society New *” aland mothers now lose only one baby out of a hundred in rearing them from a moi th to a year old. ihc average loss in Australia, is double this and in England more than four times. Before the formation of the Plunket Society the deaths in New Zealand from infantile diarrhoea alone sometimes exceeded 500 in a single year; now there are only 50. These remarkable changes have, been brought about mainly by tho following means:— (1) By showing mothers how to keep up their full supply of breast milk as long as possible. (2) By teaching people how to pre pare, simply, cheaply, and efficiently, the best substitutes for human milk. (3) By supplying the best preparations, at the lowest rates, for converting fresh cow’s milk into humanised milk, and preventing as far as possible the use of cane sugar, condensed milks, and patent foods in the rearing of infants.

Healthy Happy Mother Means Healthy Happy Baby Therefore the first duty of the mother is to keep herself in perfect health. .What Docs the Mother Need Most'?. 1. Sunshine, pure air, outing, and exercise. No mother gives herself or her baby a fair chance who does not go out into the sunshine as much as her circumstances permit, besides keeping the windows open day and night. Pure air and sunshine have almost as much effect on the health and strength of both mother and child as good food, and no woman can be in her best form as a mother who neglects to take regular, daily open-air exercise. Walking in an open park or country lane or on a sunny beach, alternating with rest and enjoyment of scenery are ideal. Au evening spent occasionally at the “pictures’’ is interesting and enjoyable, but the mother should never waste any por tion of the precious sunlight in this way. 2. Regular daily action of the bowels. This is supremely important, both for the mother’s own health and that oi her baby. The bowels should be trained to move regularly and easily at the same time every day. Daily active outdoor exercise, and stimulation of the. skin by cold bathing or sponging, fol- | lowd by a good rub down with a rough , towel, promote bowel action. The best of all laxatives is the taking of ample fluid, especially the drinking of a full tumbler of water on rising. This also promotes the secretion of milk. Purgatives should not be used, but JO drops of the best liquid extract of cascara may be taken every evening for a week or two as a tonic laxative; and further, if needed, a level tablespoonful of any ordinary simple saline may be taken on rising at the same time as the early morning glass |of water. Never continue the use of I any drug without medical direction. ’ 3. Suitable diet. What is the best diet for the nursing mother? If the mother’s ordinary diet has been wholesome and nutritious, and has agreed with her previously, she should con tinuc on the same general lines while nursing, merely avoiding anything generally regarded as specially indigestible or which she has previously found unsuitable. The nursing mother should not change, as is often done, to a J faddy, unattractive diet, consisting i largely of gruels and other insipid sloppy food. She needs to be well nourished, and her food should be sufI ficiently tasty and varied to be appetising and enjoyable. In addition to the ordinary staples, such as bread, butter, potatoes, milk, etc., some of the following should be included in the diet:

Take wholemeal bread, fresh green ’ vegetables (including lettuce, salads, spinach, etc.), also raw* tomatoes and 1 fresh fruits. : Take fish. meat, eggs, etc., in moderation. Good smoked fish may be taken occasionally, and other relishes such as sardines, grilled bacon, good sausages, cheddar cheese, etc., but all such in strict moderation. Salads, apples, etc., cannot be chewed and enjoyed unless the teeth (whether natural or artificial) aie in good order. The. expectant mother should ' ;«ee a dentist as well as her doctor dir- ' ectly she knows she is pregnant, and it is equally important for the nursing . mother to chow her food and enjoy her , meals. 4 Extra daily fluid intake. The nurs’»ig mother must have extra fluid. This she may take in the form of plain water three o v four times a day—say a glass on rising, another at bedtime, and one or two between meals. During the fist month after childbirth the mother should have at least a pint and a-half more fluid than she would take when not nursing, and if her flow of milk proves insufficient she may take a quart beyond the ordin ary. tf tea is used it should be very weak. There is no harm in a cup of milk-gruel or weak cocoa and milk about bedtime if desired. The use of milk in moderation improves and promotes the secretion of milk. ' During the first month the mother may take a total oi a pint to a pint and a-half of milk in the 24 hours.

This may be partly diluted w.lh water and partly combined in milk puddings, soup, gruel, weak tea, coco*, etc. Boil ing for a minute or two and diluting with water makes milk lighter and easier to digest. Defective supply of mother’s milk is generally due more to indigestion ami constipation, brought on by lack of fresh air and exercise, than to careless feeding, though diet is often at fault, also. What to A/cid Pastry, rich cakes, strongly spiced, fried, over-fatty, over-cooked, twicecooked, or other indigestible food should be avoided; also beer, stout, wine, spirits, strong tea. strong coffee, other stimulants. (For further details see the Plunket Society’s book “Feeding and Care of Baby,’’ by Sir Truby King). If hor meals have been sensible, wholesome, and nutritious, and her food has agreed with her she should continue on the same general lines, merely avoiding anythijig known to be indigestible or which disagrees with her. But she must pay attention to the advice given in regard to her teeth, and get them attended to at once it necessary. What to do if the Mother's Milk Supply Threatens to Fail too Soon. Ln this case the mother is strongly advised to see a competent doctor and a specially trained infant welfare nurse, either at a visiting centre or at a baby hospital. Three steps would be taken to find out the exact breast supply, and to show the mother how to promote the flow; or, better still, they would arrange for her admission to lhe hospital for a few days, so as to leave no stone unturned to ensure resumption of full breast feeding, by means of suitable dieting, skilled systematic massage of the breasts, etc. This any mother can easily be taught to carry out herself in her own home, and by such simple means many a baby is saved nowadays from the curse of early bottle feeding, and ensured the inestimable blessing of being entirely breast fed for at least the first six months. Mothers ought not to be misled or deceived by the pictures of babies made overfat and overheavy when rear ed on patent baby foods or unmodified dried or condensed milks. Nothing is easier than Io overfeed and overfatten a baby by such means; but parents should pity . nd not ne proud of those unfortunate x ictims er misleading advice. Such cLiluren ai« seriously handicapped for life, and lack of well-balatced normal proportionate development of muscle, bones, teeth, and internal organs, wiiieh < r.ly breast feeding can establish in perfection during the first six monX'S or more after birth. These children have been denied their natural birihrlgld. and the means of laying down, nt the start, sound, solid ? i rue*tires for -he rest of life. (To be continued.)