1. The best food for infants is mother's milk; next best is cow's
milk. Cow's milk contains about three times as much curd and one-half
as much sugar, and it should be reduced with two parts of water.
2. In feeding cow's milk there is too little cream and too little
sugar, and there is no doubt no better preparation than Mellin's food
to mix it with (according to directions).
3. Children being fed on food lacking fat generally have their teeth
come late; their muscles will be flabby and bones soft. Children will
be too fat when their food contains too much sugar. Sugar always makes
their flesh soft and flabby.
4. During the first two months the baby should be fed every two hours
during the day, and two or three times during the night, but no more.
Ten or eleven feedings for twenty-four hours are all a child will bear
and remain healthy. At three months the child may be fed every three
hours instead of every two.
5. Children can be taught regular habits by being fed and put to sleep
at the same time every day and evening. Nervous diseases are caused by
irregular hours of sleep and diet, and the use of soothing medicines.
6. A child five or six months old should not be fed during the night
from nine in the evening until six or seven in the morning, as
overfeeding causes most of the wakefulness and nervousness of children
during the night.
7. If a child vomits soon after taking the bottle, and there is
an appearance of undigested food in the stool, it is a sign of
overfeeding. If a large part of the bottle has been vomited, avoid the
next bottle at regular time and pass over one bottle. If the child is
nursing the same principles apply.
8. If a child empties its bottle and sucks vigorously its fingers
after the bottle is emptied, it is very evident that the child is not
fed enough, and should have its food gradually increased.