How is barley gruel made? Rub up one teaspoonful of the flour with a
little cold water, and then stir this into a pint of boiling water, add a
pinch of salt and boil it fifteen minutes, strain if it is at all lumpy.
How is oatmeal gruel made? In the same way, but use two teaspoonfuls of
the flour.
SPECIAL RULES OF FEEDING AND NURSING FOR EACH
MONTH IN CONNECTION WITH THE FORMULA GIVEN.
How can milk be pasteurized? A regular pasteurizer can be bought for three
dollars; or the bottles, ten or less, can be placed in a pot partly filled
with water which is rapidly brought to the boiling point about 155 degrees
F. These bottles are filled with each regular feeding before being put in
the water. The milk should not boil. Then remove the pot from the fire and
allow the bottles to stand in it for one-half hour, then take them out and
cool them as quickly as possible by allowing first warm and then cold
water to run over the outside of the bottles; when they are cold, place
them on ice or where the temperature is about 50 degrees F., and keep them
until meal-time. Then one of the bottles is placed in warm water until the
milk is lukewarm, the cork can then be removed and the nipple applied.
These ten bottles were equally filled with the modified milk as prepared
under the formula for the first month.
How much modified milk should be placed in each bottle? For the first week
of life one to two and one-half ounces are placed in each of the ten
bottles, and two or three and one-half ounces for the last two weeks of
the first month.
What should be done if the baby vomits or has curds in his stools? Use a
little less cream and a little more water. Remember, two tablespoonfuls
equal one ounce.
What kind of bottles should be used? Round cylindrical bottles with the
ounces marked on them.
What color of nipples? Black rubber nipples.
How should the bottle be treated when emptied? Rinse it out with cold
water and then allow it to stand full of cold water with a pinch of soda
or borax in it.
How should the bottles be prepared before the food for the whole day is
put in them and pasteurized, etc.? They should be thoroughly rinsed in hot
soap suds, and then rinsed and boiled in clear water for ten minutes.
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What about the nipples? Rinse them first in cold then in hot water and
allow them to stand in a covered cup of boric acid solution or borax water
solution one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Once or twice each day they
should be turned inside out and scrubbed with a brush and water. The hole
in the nipple should be only large enough for a rather coarse needle to go
through. The hole in the nipple can be made by such a needle heated red
hot and then run through the nipple.
When can you begin to add barley and oatmeal gruel to the baby's milk? In
the third month. The gruel should be made daily. If the child is not
constipated use barley gruel; if constipated use the oatmeal gruel.
If you cannot get the flour, how can you prepare the gruel from the grain?
Take two teaspoonfuls of barley or three of oatmeal and allow it to soak
over night in cold water; add one quart of cold water the next morning and
boil steadily down to a pint, (for about four hours), then strain through
muslin.
Do some physicians advise feeding nursing babies one or two meals daily,
beginning the fourth month? Yes.
What strength should it be? Use the formula for bottle-fed babies of the
first month and the same amounts.
How can you calculate the amount necessary? Take one-eighth or one-fourth
either for one or two meals daily of the separate ingredients mentioned in
the formula for the first month.
Following order may be as follows: First give baby three ounces of the
formula, and if all goes well in a day or two give him three and one-half
ounces and miss one meal at the breast. After one week if the baby is well
suited, give him three ounces of the formula for the two-months-old baby;
wait a few days, then give him four ounces of this formula at the one
meal. Then in a week's time if all goes well, give him four ounces of the
formula for the three month's baby. Use this for one week, and then give
him four and one-half ounces of the same formula. If after another week is
past, there are no signs of indigestion, give him four ounces of the
four-month formula, and if he enjoys this very much wait for a day or two
and then increase the amount to four and one-half ounces of the same
formula, and then to five ounces; as he grows older give him of the same
formula as the bottle-fed infant of the same age, and the same amount at
the one feeding; if he vomits or has curds in his stools or colic keep him
on a weak formula longer than formerly advised.
If you have fed a breast-fed baby one meal a day from the bottle when can
he be given two feedings from the bottle? During the tenth month.
COWS' MILK.--Does cows' milk contain all the elements present in the
mother's milk? Yes, but in different proportions.
Why not use prepared foods? They are not thought so good, and are more
likely to produce poor nutrition.
What is, the difference between cows' milk and mothers' milk? Cows' milk
contains nearly three times as much casein (curd) or cheesy matter, and
only about one-half as much sugar.
[576 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
What kind of cows should be selected? They should be healthy and the milk
should be clear and fresh.
Is it best to select Jersey cows? The milk from Jersey and Alderney cows
is generally too rich; common grade cows are best.
Should the milk be from one cow? It should be from the mixed or herd milk
since that varies little from day to day.
How fresh should the milk be? In winter it should not be used after it is
forty-eight hours old; in summer not after it is twenty-four hours old,
and sometimes it is unsafe in a shorter time.
How should the milk be cared for at the dairies? It must be kept clean and
free from being contaminated. Cows, milkers and stables must all be kept
clean, and the milk must be carried in sealed bottles; those that handle
the milk must not be near a contagious disease; all milk pails, bottles,
cans, etc., used for the milk must be steamed and boiled before being
used.
Should it be immediately cooled after leaving the cows? Yes, and kept at a
temperature of about 50 degrees F.
How should the family care for it after it is delivered fresh from the
cows? Strain it for infants through a thick layer of absorbent cotton or
through several thicknesses of cheese-cloth into quart jars or milk
bottles, covered and cooled immediately. This is best done by placing the
bottles in ice water or cool spring water that comes up to their necks and
allow them to remain there at least one-half hour. What you wish to use
for the children who drink plain milk you may pour into one-half pint
bottles, and these should be placed in an ice chest or in the coolest
possible place. The first rapid cooling is very important and adds greatly
to the keeping qualities of the milk, for the milk loses its heat quickly
when cooled in water, but very slowly when it is simply placed in a cold
room. After standing for four or five hours or longer, the top milk can be
strained off; the cream may be removed after waiting twelve to sixteen
hours.
How should it be cared for when received in bottles? The temperature of
the milk is always raised during the delivery, so it should be cooled as
before described. If it was bottled at a dairy the cream or top milk can
be removed in an hour or two.
How should milk and cream be cared for by the family when purchased in
bulk? This milk should never be used for infants, as it is liable to be
contaminated. Both cream and milk should at once be poured into vessels,
covered and kept in a cool place. There will not be much cream or top milk
upon such milk.
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How should refrigerators be treated? The inner portion should be of metal.
An ordinary metal refrigerator, as sold, if encased in a wooden box makes
the best kind. A covering of felt and heavy quilting can be made for the
refrigerator which can be removed easily when wet or soiled--it must be
kept absolutely clean. The compartments for the milk should be so arranged
that the milk bottles be either in contact with the ice or near it. The
supply of ice should always be abundant, or the temperature of the milk
will not be low enough. The temperature should not be higher than 50
degrees F.; it is oftener 60 to 65 degrees F. To tell the temperature, use
a nursery thermometer and this should be used from time to time to know
what temperature the milk is in. Milk is often spoiled in too warm
temperatures in refrigerators, and also in unclean refrigerators. Many
cases of sickness are caused by it. The refrigerator should carry a
temperature of near 50 degrees F., and be absolutely clean, and the
compartment for the milk should be absolutely separated from other food
compartments.