When and how should this be done? This may usually be begun at nine or ten
months by substituting one feeding a day for one nursing. Later two
feedings, etc., until weaning is gradually accomplished. Some advise one
bottle feeding regularly each day much earlier, as before stated.
Give reasons for weaning earlier? Some serious illness of the mother,
pregnancy, but the main reasons usually are that the child is not
thriving.
When should the weaning be completed? Generally at one year, It may be
advisable to wait longer in warm, damp weather.
Is there any danger in nursing longer? Yes, as the milk is scanty; the
child may get rickets or anemia.
Is gradual weaning the best method? Yes.
[570 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
Should a wet nurse be preferred to bottle feeding? Yes, if you are sure
you can get a good and perfectly healthy wet nurse. Her habits, etc., must
be unobjectionable--she should be chosen by a physician.
When should a "weaned" child use the bottle, and when the cup? If the
weaning is done at the eighth or ninth month the bottle should be used; if
weaning is done from the tenth to the eleventh month, the baby should be
taught to drink or be fed with a spoon.
How can you overcome some of the difficulties of weaning? As before
recommended, by feeding every nursing infant once a day or by giving water
regularly from out a feeding bottle, as this accustoms the baby to the
bottle. This is very good, for the mother is sometimes away at nursing
time, for a few hours and the baby can be fed, and when weaning comes, it
is much easier.
How soon should a child stop nursing from a bottle? If the child is well
this should be begun at the end of the first year, and after it is
fourteen months old, it should not have the bottle except at the night
feeding.
What is the objection to longer bottle nursing? They become attached to
the bottle and refuse solid food when it is proper to give it. They get
the bottle habit; also, it is troublesome and unnecessary. Then they will
not take milk in the future, when the bottle is finally taken from them;
an exclusive milk diet for children of two to three years old often
results in poor nutrition and anemia.
Give the process of training a child to give up the bottle? There is
little trouble if it is begun at the right time; pour the milk in a small
cup or glass and the child will drink little by little. Give only a small
portion of the food in this way, at first, and the balance from the
bottle. The child will in a few weeks time learn to drink out of the cup
without difficulty. If the child is two or three years old, take the
bottle away entirely and let the child get hungry, and give it only milk
in the cup and nothing else. Some children may go for a day without food,
but hunger will master them finally. As soon as he has learned to drink
milk from his cup, cereals and other solid foods are gradually added to
his dietary and the child has not only been taught to give up his bottle,
but he has also a training which is often necessary.
Can you give a baby just weaned as strong cows' milk as one of the same
age who has been fed upon cows' milk from birth? Not generally; it would
be almost certain to cause indigestion. You must remember that the change
in food is a great one, and the feeding should be begun with a weak milk
and increased gradually in strength as the baby becomes accustomed to the
cows' milk.
What are the proper proportions for an infant weaned at four or five
months? About the same as that given to a healthy bottle-fed baby of two
months, except the quantity should be larger. The food can be gradually
increased, in most cases, so that by the end of two or three weeks the
usual strength can be given.
[ALL ABOUT BABY 571]
What strength is given to a bottle-fed baby of two months? From the top of
a quart bottle of pure milk, that has stood from three to six hours, skim
carefully off the top six ounces and then pour off three ounces of milk
and mix them with the top milk (first skimmed off) making nine ounces in
all; add to this nine ounces twenty-four ounces of boiled water in which
you should have dissolved four teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar, or six or
seven teaspoonfuls of milk sugar; add a pinch of salt and a pinch of
bicarbonate of soda, or else two ounces of lime water.
Give the proper proportion for a baby who is weaned at nine or ten months?
About the same as for a bottle-fed baby of four or five months. The
increase to be as above given.
What is the formula for a bottle-fed baby of four months? For a healthy
baby, six ounces of top milk skimmed from the top of a quart bottle of
milk, six ounces of milk, then poured off, twenty-four ounces of barley or
oatmeal gruel, six teaspoonfuls of milk sugar or three of granulated
sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda or if lime-water
is used instead take one ounce of lime-water to each twenty of the milk or
gruel. He should have four ounces of this mixture every three hours up to
ten p. m., and then one meal at about two a. m.; none until six or seven
a. m.
Will a child lose weight when placed upon this diet? It will often do so
for a week or more, but he will soon gain gradually and regularly.