The Wilmingtonian., 1886-12-25
Lnfantile Dietary.

b Our observation warrants the conclusio
. that very common mistake is made in d
: reeting the milk on which infants are noul
, ished to be largely diluted with water. |
{ will be readily understood that when thre
Or four parts of water is added to one of mill
the nutriment is diminished in exac
ratio to the dilution and consequently th
stomach becomes burdoned with huit
which possesses but little of the life sustain
ing element. A child so fed is not only liabl,
TO gastric irritation but BY having his blooc
impoverished is rendered an easy prey to var
ious affections.
We now recall bright little fellow OF
some four summers who when baby was
fed upon milk to which four parts of water
were added. The quantity of this mixture
necessary to sustain life was so excessive aud
the assimilative and digestive organs we're so
deranged that its health was tending to a ra.
tai issue. When systematic medication
Offer ed no relief it was suggested that prob
ably the child was dying from combination
of starvation and over medication. Medi-
cine vas discontinued the child was placed
| upon regiment of cndiluted milk and in
three weeks all traces of illness had disap-
peared.
We have simply referred to this case as
typical of those too frequently met in gener-
al practice and it suggests that a corrective
diet is oltentimes infinitely more important
than an over jealous medication.
Dr.Taafe in recent address before the Brit.
sh Medical Associatio9strongly favored the
starvation of infants sswill be seen by the
following extract:
"No infant at the b,s.ast, or who is being
brought Up by Hand, should be fed more
than once in three hours during the day and |
twice in the night; after & We months old. |
every four hours during the day and twice
IN the night. If brought up by hand the
food should consist only OF milk and water
to be sucked from bottle. For the first
day or two after birth the proportion should
be milk one-lourth, water three-fourths.
After the first day or two and up to three
months old, milk one-thrd, water two
thirds from two to four months old, milk
and water in equal parts from four to seven
months old, milk two-thirds and water one
third, dessertspoonful Of sugar of milk
may be added to each bottle" DIR. Taafe's
directions are substantially the sane as
those which are given by numerous other
writer's and teachers, and, like them, result,
n the overwhelming majority Of cases, in the
gradual emaciation of the unhappy little pa
Dr. N. s. Davis has shown that the pro-
20 tion I { cascin, butter, and salts of water
N The milk Of healthy nursing mothers is
lbout to 7, and in good cows milk about
to 63 In other words, the relative excess
Jf the nutritive material in cows milk is
ess than one and-a half per cent, or not
more than the difference often observed be-
tween different specimens of healthy human
milk. 1t is evident, therefore, that little or
no d,lution is necessary, and that when it is
Tactioed to the extent Of two or three hun
lred per cent, as recommended by DIR. Taafe
and other writer's, the resulting fluid is
grossly deficient in the material necessary
to sustain nutrition. An infant to whom
such a mixture is administered soon becomes
restless, aud is continually fretting and cry
ing for more food. In order to pacify it, the
bottle is given it at too frequent intervals,
and its stomach becomes over-dstended with
IA watery innutrittous liquid. Vomiting,
and other gasiro-intestnal dis
turbance follow as a matter of course. The
blood becomes thin and impoverished, the
Guild peevish and emaciated, and, in too
many cases, flu lily succumbs from inanition,
unless carried off by some iutercurrent dis
order to which it's Lalt-starved condition
makes it an easy victim.
Opiates, astringeutS, and toncs ale OF lit
tie avail. Sufficient noulishiug food is the
one thing necessary, AMI without which
medication is useless. Let the infant be
given purJ fresh cows milk containing the
full natural proportion Of solid constituents,
and in a short time it will be fat, quiet, and
happy. Iu some cases it may be found adj
visabe to add tvasroonful of lime-water
to each pint Of milk, in order to render it
neutral OF Slightly alkaline in reaction, but
any further dr!ution win be not only useless
but positively injurious.
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Blankets. A fiue large assortment from
81 to SIS a pair, Pyle \ Lichtenstein, 92G
Market street
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