The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses — John Shaqi
The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's NursesHolt, L. Emmett (Luther Emmett)
Science
The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses
Holt, L. Emmett (Luther Emmett)
Child care; Children -- Nutrition
_Are fruits likely to disturb a nursing infant?_
Sour fruits in some cases may do so, but sweet fruits and most cooked
fruits are useful.
_What else is important in the life of the nursing mother?_
She should lead a simple natural life; should have regular out-of-door
exercise, preferably walking or driving, as soon after her confinement
as her condition will permit. She should have regular movements from
the bowels daily. She should be as free as possible from unnecessary
cares and worry; her rest at night should be disturbed as little as
possible; she should lie down for at least one hour in the middle of
the day.
_Does the nervous condition of the mother affect the milk?_
Very much more than her diet; worry, anxiety, fatigue, loss of sleep,
household cares, social dissipation etc., have more than anything else
to do with the failure of the modern mother as a nurse. Uncontrolled
emotions, grief, excitement, fright, passion, may cause milk to
disagree with the child; at times they may excite acute illness, and
at other times they may cause a sudden and complete disappearance of
the milk.
_Does menstruation affect the milk?_
In nearly all cases the quantity of milk is lessened so that the
infant is not satisfied and may gain less in weight or not at all. In
many cases the quality of the milk is also affected to such a degree
as to cause slight disturbances of digestion, such as restlessness,
colic, and perhaps some derangement of the bowels. In a few, attacks
of acute indigestion are excited.
_Is regular menstruation a reason for stopping nursing?_
Not invariably; as a rule both functions do not go on together. But if
the child is gaining regularly in weight between the periods, nursing
may be continued indefinitely, although it may be well to feed the
infant wholly or in part during the first day or two that the mother
is unwell.
_What symptoms indicate that a nursing infant is well nourished?_
The child has a good colour, sleeps for two or three hours after
nursing, or, if awake, is quiet, good-natured, and apparently
comfortable. It has normal movements of the bowels and gains steadily
in weight.
_What symptoms indicate that a child who is nursing is not properly
nourished?_
It does not gain and may even lose in weight. It no longer exhibits
its usual energy and playfulness, but is either listless and
indifferent or cross, fretful and irritable, and is apt to sleep
poorly. It grows pale and anaemic and its tissues become soft and
flabby. When the milk is scanty it will often nurse a long time at the
breasts, sometimes three quarters of an hour, before stopping. At
other times it may take the breast for a moment only, and then turn
away in apparent disgust.
_What should be done when such symptoms appear?_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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