The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and MotherNapheys, George H. (George Henry)
Science
The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother
Napheys, George H. (George Henry)
Women -- Health and hygiene
The _manner_ in which nutriment is administered to infants is not
immaterial. The custom of feeding them from a small spoon, or from a cup
with a snout, is objectionable. The use of a sucking-bottle most nearly
imitates the way in which nature designed the nursling to obtain its
nourishment. By the act of sucking, the muscles of the face are
exercised in an equal manner, and the saliva is mixed with the food to
an extent which is not possible if any other mode of feeding be resorted
to. Children drink very readily out of the perforated rubber nipples,
which are now so popular for this purpose: they are made to fit over the
mouth of the bottle, and are especially to be recommended on account of
their cleanliness. The bottle should never be refilled until both it and
the rubber cap have been thoroughly cleansed in warm water. A white
glass bottle only should be employed in order that any want of
cleanliness may readily be detected. It should be recollected that milk
very quickly sours when kept in this way in a warm room; it is therefore
better always to empty the bottle and fill it afresh each time it is
given to the child, rather than to wait until its contents are exhausted
before replenishing it.
We have hitherto been treating mainly of the diet proper for the first
year of life. In the second year children may be permitted to have soft,
finely-cut meat. Fresh ripe fruit in season ordinarily agrees
excellently well. But boiled green vegetables and husk fruits are very
apt to cause indigestion and diarrhœa. Fruit for children should be
freed from the stones and skins; which latter are indigestible, and
often do harm.
As an example of a diet suitable for a child two years of age we append
the following:--In the mornings, between six and seven o'clock in
summer, or between seven and eight in winter, milk-gruel; between nine
and ten o'clock, a piece of wheat bread with a little butter on it; at
twelve o'clock, well-prepared beef-tea, or chicken, lamb, mutton broth,
or meat with a little gravy; or in place of the meat, a meal-broth
prepared with eggs, but with very little fat; green vegetables to be
allowed very rarely, and in very small quantities. At this noon meal a
mealy well-mashed potato is unobjectionable; so also is rice pudding for
a change. In the afternoon, between three and four, bread and milk, with
the addition in summer of fresh ripe fruit; in the evening, at seven,
bread and milk.
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