Volume 1

Public hygiene / by Thos. S. Blair[and others].

  • Blair, Thomas Stewart, 1867-
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Public hygiene / by Thos. S. Blair[and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    Times of feeding.— For the first month the baby should be fed regularly every two hours by day and every four hours by night. In the second month, feed every two and a half hours by day; in the third month, every three hours by day and twice during the night. Gradually increase the interval between the feeds, so that at seven months old the child is fed once every four hours by day and once in the night, if awake. On no account must a baby be put to the breast every time it cries; it may be crying for some other reason than hunger. Look at the clock, and if it is not feeding time, do not feed it; a teaspoonful or two of clean cold water will often comfort it. Fretfulness, stomach ache, and sickness are caused if an infant is fed irregularly or too frequently. Bottle feeding.— If there is not enough mother's milk, the diet must be supple- mented by fresh unskimmed cow's milk. A bottle prepared as follows should then take the place of one or more feeds at the breast. All milk used for children should be well scalded by placing in a clean jar and keeping on the fire in a saucepan of boiling water for twenty minutes. Do this as soon as the milk comes to the house. Then put the jar in a cool place, and keep it covered. The following are the proper amounts for each feed: For an infant a week old use one tablespoonful of this milk, two tablespoonfuls of water or barley water, and a small lump of sugar. Gradually increase the quantities so that by the fourth week each feed consists of two tablespoonfuls of milk to three and a half of water, with a lump of sugar. By the third month use three teaspoonfuls of milk and three of water. From three to six months old the child should have eight to twelve tablespoonfuls in each bottle of which not more than two or three are water. From eight months onward the child should be able to digest pure milk, scalded and sweetened, and should have one and a half pints a day. If the infant is having no mother's milk, the cow's milk should be enriched if possible, by addmg a teaspoonful of fresh dairy cream to the milk for each bottle before scalding. Do not use the cream sold in jars, as it may have chemicals added to make It keep, which would be hurtful to a baby. c a'^^V^^ °^ ^^^'^ sugar has been mixed, the food should be warmed and placed in a perfectly clean bottle. Use an old-fashioned boat bottle with a teat that can be turned inside out for cleaning. Tube bottles are dangerous. Directly after each feed cleanse the bottle and teat thoroughly, and place them m clean, cold water until wanted again. If a child does not take all the food, what is left should not be kept. Never give milk that is not quite fresh to any child. ^ ^eaning.- As a rule a child should be gradually weaned at the eighth month. Suckling beyond this time is most injurious to mother and child, and it is untrue that the mother will not become pregnant while she is suckling. Take care that the baby has plenty of cow s milk after weaning; a healthy weaned child of nine months old needs at least one and a half pints of good scalded milk a day. By the time the child has four teeth it may have its milk thickened with baked iT'fT K ^''''u ' prepared infant's foods. On no account give any sort of bread food before the teeth are through, as the infant cannot digest it, and convulsions may be caused. Watch over the child's feeding carefully. Do not give It just what we have ourselves. Do not let the other children give it little bifs When a child is ten months old it may have milk pudding bread and milk nor ndge, egg or a little broth, but still give it plenty of milk. T^a n i'Vo regul ''1 ] times, and to eat and drink slowly. icguiar meai