OUR BABIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 150, 27 June 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES

THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD. BABY IS NINE MONTHS OLD. '•Transitional period” is the name , wc sometimes apply to the stage follow- | ing the end of baby’s ninth month, ft is a stage of transition in many ways — I transition from milk feeding to mixed j foods, from suckling to eating and : drinking, from comparative inarticu- ; lateness to possession of powers of 1 speech, from complete dependence to the joys of free locomotion. What stirring times! What rapid I development! 80 rapid indeed that wo lure apt to forget the “transition” in j the accomplished facts. Nevertheless all this development is accomplished by a gradual merging of one stage into the next, and it is very important not to lose sight of the fact that the baby’s digestive and nervous system need safeguarding from strain during this period of rapid development. It is well to keep the idea of “ gradualuess” always in mind. Remember the axiom, ‘ 4 Never make sudden changes.” The digestive organs have so far been accustomed to dealing only, or almost only, wr.h milk in some form; they need educating to ■ deal with other foods by a process of ; gradual transition. Much digestive trouble at a later stage is attributable I to too sudden and too early introduction of a large variety of foods. Somewhat the same thing applies ir methodj of taking food. H’chert, ihi buby net been accustomed soicly, or almost solely, to obtaining his food by suckling, often at the breast. Sudden weaning throws a strain on the nervous system as well as on the digestion. The second nine months of baby’slit■ ?ue supremely important from tne point of i lew of eduji i.ion—the child is learniig all the time. It is the bounden u«jiy of parents to see th.it he learns to du right things in a right way. The foundations of character and good or bad mental health are laid down during this period no less surely than the foundations of purely physical health. Learning to Eat. To come back to practical consideration of the question of food, a point, which is often overlooked is ‘.ho fact that a properly graded milk mixturo continues to supply all the Co-’eniial food elements and by far the. greatest part of the actual nourishment needed during the whole of the first year. Foo-? other than milk is mainly of importance from the point of view of c<lu.mating baby to the feel and tasto and digestion of solid and semi-soliij food The essential thing during this period is that he should learn how to eat. He should learn to eat from a spoon and drink from a cup, and, most important of all, he should learn to chew his crusts and bones, and reject solid objects which he cannot reduce to pulp by biting, tearing, mouthing, and chewing. Once learnt, this lesson will stand him in good stead throughout his life, helping to protect him from indigestion, decayed teeth, and many other evils which como in the train of these two. Alsu he will be much less likely tu swallow foreign bodies off the floor ur elsewhere than the baby with whom the act of swallowing is almost automatically simultaneous with the placing of anything in the mouth. The Best Kind of Hard Food. Twice-baked bread is the best form of “hard tack” for the baby of thia ago. The bread should be about one day old, and a slico about an inch thick should be cut in fingers and baked dry in a slow oven. Enough may be done fcr several days, ano kept in a web shut tin. These home-made “rusks” arc hard and yet not tough, and do not have the tendency to break off in the leathery, slithery lumps which make ordinary crusts so dangerous. All the same, the baby should never be left alone with any sort of crust. If the gums are sore for a few weeks he may only be able to tackle the softer kind of crust, but as soon as possible teach him to cat the twice-baked bread. Cereal Foods. In addition to milk and crusts, the baby should learn to cat semi-solid cereal foods, the most important of which is well-cooked, strained oatmeal porridge—“oat jelly.” This may be varied by barley, rice, or wheatmoal, etc., but oatmeal is the main standby. It should be given as a firm jelly and unsweetened. Humanised Milk. Alothers often ask, “Is it necessary j to make humanised milk after nine months or after baby is weaned?” Without exception, babies under one year should be weaned on to humanised milk, and every buby should continue to have part of the day’s allowance of milk “humanised” until the end of tinfirst year or later. The additional sugar and fat used in making humanised milk xs a necessary part of the oaby’s diet. The small amount uf mixed food.*-, taken before a year of age do not make up for the lack of these ingredients in tin 1 : food if the milk is given simply diluted, without, suitable, additions of sugar and fat. During this period properly modified milk is the most important part of the diet from the point of view of nutrition, whilst, from the point of view of education, the various hard] foods and cereal foods arc specially in. portant. Neither can replace the other. 1 The child must have an adequate amount of milk and also daily lessons in chewing and eating if he is to reach his first birthday well up to the mark in every way. Raw Ripe Apple. One cannot lay down a hard-and-fast rule as to exactly when raw apple may be given for the first time; it all de pends on hoxv quickly the individual baby learns to masticate. As a general guide one may say that, as soon as the baby has four teeth and has learnt to use them properly he can start raw apple—under supervision and tuition, uf course. The best way is to peel a small ripe apple, and Jet baby have, it in both hands to nibble and chew round it for a time. In this way he gets good exercise for teeth and jaws without actually eating a great deal of apple. Next week we will go on to describe in detail a few practical points in eon ncction with the introduction of new foods between nine and eighteenth months of age —small points which sometimes present difficulties