How to Bring Up Baby.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 22, 29 May 1912, Page 59

How to Bring Up Baby.

(By

HYGEIA.)

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Health of Women and Children. K lt is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

Addresses of Plunket Nurses and Secretaries. Dunedin. —Plunket Nurses Laing and Torrance. Tela. 1130 and 2057. Offices of the Society, Health Department Rooms, Liverpool-street, Dunedin. Office hours, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 3 to 4 p.m. Branch office at Cargill load, South Dunedin.—Office hours, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 3 to 5 p.m. Hon. sec., Mrs Edmond, Melville-street. Tel. 53. Christchurch. —Plunket Nurses Hickson and Hansard. Office of the Society, 847 Chancery-lane. Tel. 847. Office hours, 9 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. <laily (except Saturdays and Sundays). Hon. see., pro. tem., Mrs C. Reid, Knowles-street, St. Albanis. Tel. 1071. Wellington.—Hon. sec., Mrs M’Vicar, 27 Brougham-street, City. Tel. 2642. Auckland.—Plunket Nurses Chappell and Brien, Park-street. Tel. 851. Office of the Society, 2 Chancery-street. Tel. 829. Office hours, Tuesdays and Fridays, 2.30 to 4 p.m. Hon. sec., Mrs W. 11. Parkes, Marinoto, Symondsstreet. Tel. 240. Napier.—Plunket Nurse Donald, Masonic Hotel. Tel. 485. Hon. see., Mrs 11. E. Oldham. Telegrams, “Oldham,” Napier. Tel. 585. New Plymouth.—Plunket Nurse Morgan, Imperial Hotel. Tel. 123. Office, Town Hall, Wednetsdays and Fridays, 2 to 4 p.m. Hon. sec., Mrs J. R. Matthews, Fitzroy. Tel. 104. Timaru. —Plunket Nurse Campbell. Office of the Society, Arcade Chambers. Tel. 314. Office hours, 3.30 to 4.30 and 6.30 to 7.30. Hon. sec., Mrs Ernest Howdqn. Invercargill — Plunket. Nurse O’Shea,' Allen’s Hall, Kelvin-street. Hoh. sec , Mrs Handyside, Gala-street. Ashburton. — Plunket Nurse Hickson. Office of jswiety, Bullock's Arcade. Nurse in attendance every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hon. sec., pro. tem., Mios Standish. Society's Baby Hospital, Karitane Harris Hospital, Anderson’s Bay, Dunedin, Tel. 1985. Demountrations on points of interest to mothers are given every M ednesday afternoon from 2.30 to 3.30. All mothers are invited. Messages may be left at any time at the Plunket Nurses* offices or private addresses. All other information available from the lion, secretary of each branch. PLUNKET NURSES’ SERVICES FREE. The New Book. A little book entitled “What Baby Needs” lias been issued by the society in response to urgent requests from all directions for an authoritative pamphlet to take the place in the meantime of the •Society's guide-book for mothers and nurses, “The Feeding and Care of Baby,” which is out of print. “What Baby Needs” contains feeding-tables, recipes, and the main essentials for the rearing of healthy children, is quite up-to-date, and will form a good introduction to the Society’s larger book, which will be issued in the course of the year. “What Baby Needs” can be obtained from the hon. secretaries of the Society, the Plunket nurses, and the leading booksellers; price 6d, posted 7d. A Mother’s Letter. Recently we published a mother’s history of her baby, and I am sure it must have proved very interesting and helpful to many of our readers. We left three questions over until this week, and we now deal with them. Question 1. I have heard of people who, for convenience, use a separator for making the humanised milk. This must be quite Wrong, according to the methods given in the "Care ami Feeding of Baby”; also in |Jie articles on "Xopmilk," recently published in the weekly papers.

Answer. Our correspondent is under a misapprehension. Where good, reliable, separator cream can be had, humanised milk may be made with it according to the recipes in “Feeding and Care of Baby,” page 24, and in “What Baby Needs,” page 14. If people keep cows and a separator (properly adjusted to turn out cream containing between 30 and 40 per cent, of fat), we should certainly recommend them to prepare humanised milk according to the recipes where thick separator cream is used, because the day’s supply can be prepared as soon as the milk is separated, and this does away with the delay occasioned by setting the milk for “top-milk.” Indeed, if the milk is tubercle free, if the udders and teats of the cows are ‘carefully washed, if the milker's hands are clean, if the milk is rapidly cooled down after- milking, and if all the utensils are sterilised, the humanised milk prepared need not be heated up to 155 deg. Fahr. In practice, however, it is found almost impossible to get ordinary people working in an ordinary cowbyre to take sufficient care; therefore we recommended in general that the prepared milk l>e heated up to 155 deg. Fahr., and then cooled rapidly and kept cool. Of course such heating is much more needed in hot summer weather than in winter. Question 2—Stains on the Teeth. I have as far as possible fed baby .on plain bread (at first, baked crusts), porridge, and bread and milk, and have brushed her teeth regularly since a yearold. In spite of all care dark stains appeared, and I am having great -trouble to remove them. .Do you think the prune-juice would account fqrXtli-is, and would if have any lasting efleit? The teeth appear very strong, and no sign of decay. I would lie sorry if I had to give up the prune-juice as we live where it is not always convenient to procure fresh oranges. This question was submitted to the leading authority in the Dominion—namely, Dr. Pickerill, Professor of Dentistry at Otago University, who has always given every encouragement and assistance to the Society and who kindly consented to act as our honorary dental surgeon. The following is his reply: — Dr. Piekerill’s Reply. University of Otago. April 27, 1912. I do not think the stain is due to the prune-juice but to a particular colourforming organism which is apparently very widespread in New Zealand. It may be removed by occasionally swabbing the stained surface with peroxide of hydrogen. A simple method is to wind a little cotton wool round the end of a match stick, and dip it in the peroxide and rub it on the tooth. This, however, is an artificial help. The natural physiological method of keeping it down after being once removed is to employ a small quantity of some acid (sweet) fruit immediately after meals and last thing at night. Tinned fruit will do if fresh cannot be obtained. Question 3. Could you also tell us at what time of the year sphagnum moss is obtainable, as when we needed it it could not be procured; also give us some idea of the price we should pay for it? Sphagnum Moss. Sphagnum moss can be gathered at almost any time in the year. It is found in many districts in Otago, and there are many other parts of the Dominion where it can be readily gathered. In such a region wc can hardly imagine a more delightful kind of outing than a picnic to the moss hag. where the children could collect the moss, squeeze out the moisture, and pack it in sacks ready to take borne for the baby. It must th n bo spread out in the sun to dry thoroughly,

and. of course, any twigs or other harsh vegetation which may have been gathered with it must be picked out. I have myself helped to gather sacks of sphagnum in Mihiwaka Hill, and also in the C'atlins district, and I am told there is abundance on the hills around Dunedin. The moss can be bought from the nurserymen in Dunedin. The price is 7/6 a sack, or 6d. for a bag (such as would hold I4lb. of flour) full. The weight depends on the amount of moisture in the moss —so that the price per lb. would be useless. It is needless to repeat that before being used for the baby it must be thoroughly dry, and, ot course, it must be made into a pad with gauze or buttermuslin, as shown on page 67 of the Society’s book. If the moss has to be purchased and got from a distance, it is probably cheaper to use wood wool for pads. Wood wool can be bought at Home for 1/ a pound, but it is much more expensive in the colonies. It is loose in a bag, and must be teased out, and made into pads, with butter-muslin or gauze. If preferred, wood wool tissue at 3/6 per lb. can be used. In this the wood wool is sandwiched between layers of gauze, and all that has to be done is to cut off a portion the required size. For a young or delicate baby we recommend the use of wood wool, as it is softer and more comforting than the dry moss.