THE MOTHER
Nursing the Child--The Mother's Diet--Weaning--The Nursing-bottle--Milk
for the Baby--Graduated Approach to Solid Diet--The Baby's Table
Manners--His Bath--Cleansing His Eyes and Nose--Relief of Colic--Care
of the Diaper.
But one upon earth is more beautiful and better than the wife--that is
the mother.--L. SCHEFER.
Tennyson says, "The bearing and the training of a child is woman's
wisdom." Herein nature is ever urging her to the proper course. Thus the
love of the newborn infant prompts the mother to feed him with her own
milk, and this supplies exactly the elements he requires for healthy
development. No other milk, however skillfully modulated, no "infant's
food," however scientifically prepared, can fully take its place.
Unless illness prevents her from feeding her own child, or she is of a
moody and unhappy disposition, it is the mother's place to give her
breast to the infant. The condition of mind of the mother has a great
deal to do with the quality of the milk. A despondent and excitable
temperament is often more productive of harm than a low physical
condition. It is hardly necessary to warn the mother to be careful
of her diet, as this has immediate effect on the quality of the milk.
Of course, any drink containing alcohol must be avoided. Tea and coffee,
except when taken in weak strength, have also a deleterious effect. Milk,
and next to it, cocoa, are the best beverages for the mother. Mothers
should also avoid taking medicine except when positively required.
There is no need for the mother to vary greatly her solid diet. She
will naturally select that which is most nutritious and easily digested.
Anything that tends to make her costive, such as fruits or green
vegetables, should be partaken of with discrimination.
The baby should be fed with systematic regularity from the beginning.
While a child does not need food for the first day after birth,
nevertheless it is well to put it to the breast about six hours after
birth, since for the first few days after child-birth the breasts
secrete a laxative element which acts as a sort of physic upon the
child, clearing its bowels of a black, tarry substance, that fills them.
The full supply of normal milk comes after the third day. After the
first feeding the baby should be put to the breast every four hours for
the first day and after that every two hours, being kept there about
twenty minutes each time. The mother should be watchful and see that
the child is awake and is nursing. Even at this early age it can be
compelled to learn a good habit. Unless it learns this habit, the mother
will be put to great inconvenience and the baby will suffer because of
the disarrangement of the systematic feeding. If he is allowed to nurse
at his own pleasure, the results will quickly make themselves manifest
in the form of colic, leading to wakefulness and bad temper.
A baby should not remain awake more than four hours in the day on the
whole, and he should be so trained that the eight hours from ten o'clock
at night to six in the morning, when his mother is sleeping, should be
for him also an uninterrupted period of slumber.
The baby should be weaned at ten months unless he is unwell at the time
or the weaning comes in the heat of the summer, when there is danger of
his becoming sickly or peevish. Preparatory to weaning, the baby should
be accustomed to the bottle. Provided the bottle holds half a pint or
four glasses, the number of bottles may be increased from one a day at
four months to two or six at eight months. The baby should certainly be
weaned by the time it is a year old, as, even though the mother
continues to have a plentiful supply of milk, this is not suited to his
needs at this stage of his physical development. By this method of
approach the act of permanently refusing the breast to the child will
not greatly offend him. After a little crying he will philosophically
accept the situation and reconcile himself to the substitute.
Weaning is rendered easier by selecting a nursing-bottle which has the
nipple in the shape of the breast. Care should be taken that the hole in
the nipple is not too large, supplying more milk than the stomach can
take care of as it comes, and so causing stomachic disorder. The nursing
bottle should at all times be kept thoroughly clean by rinsing in hot
water and washing in hot soapsuds. The milk for the child's bottle
should, wherever possible, be what is called "certified," that is, the
milk from a herd of cows which have been declared by the proper
authorities to be all in good health, and which have been milked under
sanitary conditions. This milk is delivered in clean, sealed bottles,
preventing the admission of any dirt or deleterious substance from the
time it leaves the dairy till opened. The milk for the baby should not
be purchased from the can.
Milk that has been sterilized, that is, bottled and put in boiling water
for an hour, is not so good for the baby as pasteurized milk; that is,
milk kept at something less than the boiling point for half an hour,
since the higher temperature causes the milk to lose some of the
qualities beneficial to the child.
Since cow's milk differs in its constituents from mother's, having more
fat and less sugar, there will be need at first to modify the cow's
milk, weakening and sweetening it somewhat. One good recipe for
modifying cows' milk is: One part milk, two parts cream, two parts
lime-water, three parts sugar water, the sugar water being made by
putting two even teaspoonfuls of sugar of milk in a pint of water.
Condensed milk, which is often used as a substitute for cows' milk,
is not nearly so good, since it has lost in the process of condensation
one of the most important elements, that which forms bone tissue.
Accordingly, babies fed upon condensed milk are apt to be "rickety,"
and they lack in general power to resist disease, which is primarily
the mark of a baby fed on mother's milk, and to a slightly lesser degree,
one fed upon cows' milk.
The stomach grows very rapidly during infancy, increasing from a
capacity of one ounce soon after birth to eight ounces at the end of
the year, and this should be taken into account by the increase of the
amount supplied it. After the first week, a baby should increase in
weight at the rate of one pound a month for the first six months.
If he falls behind this rate and remains healthy, more sugar and fat
may be introduced into his milk. If, however, he fails to gain weight
and is sickly, the milk should be diluted and modified so as to make
it easier of digestion.
Every mother should be warned against a common practice of starting the
flow of milk from the nipple of the bottle by putting it in her mouth.
Gums and teeth are rarely perfectly clean, and so form the favorite
lurking place for disease germs, which, though they may not produce
disease in the stronger body of the adult, may do so and often do so
in the more susceptible physique of the child.
Just as the child was trained to the bottle while it was still taking
the mother's milk, so it should be taught gradually to eat solids while
it is fed upon the bottle. After the child has been weaned at the tenth
month, he can be fed occasionally on broths or beef juice as a substitute
for one of the milk feedings. The broth is more of a stimulant than a food,
aiding digestion rather than supplying nourishment.
During the eleventh month, the yolk of a soft boiled egg, mixed with
stale bread crumbs, may be added to the diet, together with a little
orange juice or prune jelly. The latter will tend to keep his bowels free.
After twelve months, the child may be gradually accustomed to eat stale
bread, biscuit or toast, broken in milk, thoroughly cooked oatmeal and
similar cereals, baked potatoes moistened with broth, mashed potatoes
moistened with gravy, and rice pudding. The pudding is made of two
tablespoonfuls of clean rice, half a teaspoonful of salt, one-third of
a cupful of sugar in five cups of milk. Bake in buttered pudding dish
from two to three hours in slow oven, stirring frequently to prevent
rice from settling.
At the age of two years and a half the child may be permitted to eat
meat, preferably roast beef or mutton, cooked rare, or minced roast
poultry.
Even though sugar is a very essential ingredient in the child's diet,
it is very unwise to let it have this outside of its regular diet. Pure
candy does not hurt the child by impairing its digestion so much as by
interfering with its appetite for plain food. The child should never be
allowed to form an inordinate appetite for anything, as this is certain
to cause a corresponding deficiency elsewhere in his diet.
Even worse than the practice of giving candy to very young children
is that of teaching them to drink tea and coffee. These are pure
stimulants, supplying no tissue-building element, and taking the place
of nutritious beverages that do, such as milk and cocoa.
After a child is old enough to be permitted to partake with
discrimination of the general food of the table, he should be allowed
to eat with the family. From the beginning he should be taught table
manners, the use of knife and fork and napkin, and the subordination
of his wishes to those of older people.
Next to feeding the baby properly, the most important duty of the mother
is to see that it is kept clean. Even in its nursing days, after each
feeding, she should rinse its mouth out by a weak boracic acid solution,
since particles of milk may remain there which may become a source of
infection. It is well for similar reason to wash her own breasts with
the solution.
A baby should be bathed regularly at about the same time each day.
During the first days of a child's life, he should be sponged in a warm
room, with water at blood heat. In removing the garments, the mother
should roll the infant gently from side to side, rather than lift him
bodily. It is well to have a flannel cloth or apron ready to cover the
child when it is being undressed. The baby's face should be washed in
clear water, firmly and thoroughly with a damp cloth, and dried by
patting with the towel. Then soap should be added to the water and the
other parts of the baby's body washed in it; first, the head, ears and
neck, then the arms, one uncovered at a time, then, with the mother's
hand reaching under the cover, the back, during which process the baby
is laid flat on the stomach, then the stomach, and last, the legs, one
at a time, the baby being kept covered by the flannel as much as these
operations permit.
The eyes of infants are prone to inflammation, and therefore require
special attention in the way of cleansing. This can be done best by the
use of the boracic solution upon a fresh pledget of cotton. Be careful
not to use the same piece of cotton for both eyes, and to burn it after
use. When the nose is stopped with mucous, a similar means can be used
for cleansing it.
Every mother should study the individual nature and disposition of her
child, in order to know what to do for it when it cries, for a cry may
mean over-feeding as well as under-feeding, colic, or a wet diaper.
Colic is often quickly relieved by turning the baby upon his stomach and
rubbing his back, or by holding him in front of the fire, or wrapping
him in a heated blanket. In drying the baby his comfort will be greatly
increased by the use of talcum powder. Of course, soiled diapers should
not be put on a child again until they are thoroughly washed. It will
save the mother much trouble if absorbent cotton is placed within the
diapers to receive the discharges from the bowels. These should be
afterwards burned.
Too many clothes is bad for a young baby. If his stomach be well
protected by a flannel band and he is kept from draughts, his other
clothing may be very light, especially in summer.