Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her ChildrenChavasse, Pye Henry
Science
Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children
Chavasse, Pye Henry
Child care; Children -- Health and hygiene; Infants -- Health and hygiene
It is a common practice to cram a wet-nurse with food, and to give her
strong ale to drink, to make good nourishment and plentiful milk! This
practice is absurd; for it either, by making the nurse feverish, makes
the milk more sparing than usual, or it causes the milk to be gross
and unwholesome. On the other hand, we must not run into an opposite
extreme. The mother, or the wet-nurse, by using those means most
conducive to her own health, will best advance the interest of her
little charge.
A wet-nurse, ought to live somewhat in the following way:--Let her for
breakfast have black tea, with one or two slices of cold meat, if her
appetite demand it, but not otherwise. It is customary for a wet-nurse
to make a hearty luncheon; of this I do not approve. If she feel
either faint or low at eleven o'clock, let her have either a tumbler
of porter, or of mild fresh ale, with a piece of dry toast soaked in
it. She ought not to dine later than half-past one or two o'clock; she
should eat, for dinner, either mutton or beef, with either mealy
potatoes, or asparagus, or French beans, or secale, or turnips, or
broccoli, or cauliflower, and stale bread. Rich pastry, soups,
gravies, high-seasoned dishes, salted meats, greens, and cabbage, must
one and all be carefully avoided; as they only tend to disorder the
stomach, and thus to deteriorate the milk.
It is a common remark, that "a mother who is suckling may eat
anything." I do not agree with this opinion. Can impure or improper
food make pure and proper milk, or can impure and improper milk make
good blood for an infant, and thus good health?
The wet-nurse ought to take with her dinner a moderate quantity of
either sound porter, or of mild (but not old or strong) ale. Tea
should be taken at half past five or six o'clock; supper at nine,
which should consist either of a slice or two of cold meat, or of
cheese if she prefer it, with half a pint of porter or of mild ale;
occasionally a basin of gruel may with advantage be substituted. Hot
and late suppers are prejudicial to the mother, or to the wet-nurse,
and, consequently, to the child. The wet-nurse ought to be in bed
every night by ten o'clock.
It might be said, that I have been too minute and particular in my
rules for a wet-nurse; but when it is considered of what importance
good milk is to the well-doing of an infant, in making him strong and
robust, not only now, but as he grows up to manhood, I shall, I trust,
be excused for my prolixity.
39. _Have you any more hints to offer with regard to the management of
a wet-nurse_?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account