Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-08-19
2S2E-
Home Health
i Club
By DAVID n. REEDER. Ph. D.. ND.
La Porte. Ind.
SUBSTITUTES FOR MILK.

of infant feeding gave carefu' instruc'
tions for the preparation or artificial
feeding by substituting cows milk fol
human milk. 1t was found necessary
TO close, however. just in the midst
OF a very important portion of the
process-the care of the milk. | will
therefore, finish the description before
starting the lesson on substitutions fol
milk.
The majority of housekeepers, ever
very young ones, are aware Of the fac
that it is very unwise to leave milk
uncovered, or to put it in vessels OF
any kind that have not previously been
scalded. Great care in this regard is
absolutely necessary. as in the first
place there are very few substances
that will more quickly absorb noxious
odors, and impurities of all kinds. than
milk, II II is left uncovered; and, in
the second place, the very thing which
is most desired to avoid may be con
tanned in the unscalded milk bottle.
Another important consideration ie
the nipple and tube through which the
baby sucks the milk from the bottle.
| do not approve of the long rubber
tubes, and especially those that are
attached to the m%outhpiece. The nip
pie should be thoroughly cleansed
every time the bottle becomes empty.
And right here 1t might be well to say
that a fresh supply OF milk should
never be put in the bottle until that
which is in II is used up or disposed
of in some way. The best and, in fact,
the only way is to keep two bottles.
AS soon as one has been used, it should
be scalded and be placed in an earthen
dish containing a solution Of common
soda and water. It should be left in
this until needed. Such a procedure
insures perfect cleanliness. Milk
should never lie warmed up and of
fered a second time to the child, but
a fresh supply prepared for each feed
ing.
The nipple should not be placed in
the solution, as it would injure the
rubber; it should always be cleansed
by hand Tho rubber nipple has been
long used, and saves so much time
that it will not soon be discarded, even
though it is somewhat unhygienic; but
really the best and most sanitary
method is Go feed the baby with a
spoon from the first. 1t will readily
learn TO take its milk from a spoon,
and in a very few months will drink
from a cup or glass.
In considering all of these details
and giving the instructions for arti-
fetal feeding | do not wish to be un-
derstood at any time as being in favor
of it, if it is within the range of pos
sibilities for the precious bit of hui
mainly to be nursed by its own
mother.
There Is to me no grander or more
sacred sight than a mother
nursing her babe, or, as a tender
hearted woman once expressed it in
my hearing: Il cannot conceive of a
heaven that could contain greater or
inexpressible bliss than to nurse
one of my own babies" | would to
God that this was the sentiment of
every woman in America to-day, and
such | believe to be the earnest and
heartfelt wish of every honest physi-
clan.
But every day, year after year, must
the physicians hear the most trivial
excuses given by thoughtless-I almost
said heartless-mothers for not nurs-
ing their own babies. Therefore, it
becomes necessary, not only for the
sake of the helpless, deserted little
ones. but for the sake of those who are
orphaned OF through some other I'M
avoidable misfortune must be arti-
fed.
| have now given the best known
methods of artificial feeding with milk
and ] will give to you the result of
thousands of experiments in the feed
ing with substitutes for milk.
II should be understood from the
start that many mistakes have been
made and many an infant allowed to
because 1t was not at first known
that the saliva Of the infant does not
have the same action upon starchy
foods that it afterwards acquires, and
it cannot digest nor assimilate
which is another reason why
the babies fed upon many of the arti-
prepared foods suffer from in
testinal arrangements and easily
sicken and die.
Such foods are usually found, when
chemically examined, to have too lit
tie gluten and too much starch. An
other trouble with them, and in fact
all artificial foods for infants, is
in order to get the best results,
they must be warmed to at least so
degrees Fahrenheit. But in giving the
milk heretofore referred to this is not,
perhaps, so imperative as in the case
Of other food preparation.
There are cases in which the pre-
pared milk temporarily disagrees. It
hen becomes necessary to prepare a
substitute. A very good one can be
made by the following recipe: Veal
broth (one-half pound of meat to the
)int), one and one-half ounces; bar
ey water, n and one-half ounces;
sugar of milk, one-half drachm.
Either Of these formulate is recon.
nended by the great specialist, DR..
Starr, and is perfectly rational.
Although, as q rule, | object to any
leef or meat extract, especially for
.hildren, yet there are times when
'aw beef juice, given in teaspoonful
loses every two hours, will be retained
when everything else fails. But even
his is improved by the addition of
barley water, particularly when there
S %looseness of the bowels.
Some mothers gladly nurse their ba-
lies, but for some cause unknown to
hem, or from lack of nourlshment.
Ire unable to supply sufficient nutri-
nent. 1t is then wise to resort to
What is called mixed feeding
hat is, the bottle may be given part
# the time. When the mother is tired
md suffering for want of sleep the
hid will be better off if hand fed
han to take the milk from the weary
mother A hungry and poorly nour-
shed baby will cry almost necessarily,
md is peevish and %fretful, generally