Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-08-23

Tempting a Delicate Child to Bat.
Every mother knows how hard 1t is to
get children to eat at times, especially
when they first begin to take solid foods,
or when they are convalescent, while
there are some children who seem to
have q natural and persistent aversion
toward whatever Is nourIshing and par
ticularly good for them. Mothers are
sometimes at their Wits end to know
what to prepare, and almost sick with
discouragement when wholesome, neces-
sary foods are persistently refused.
Sometimes little ingenuity and an
appeal to the child's imagination or eye
will induce him to eat good.sized meal
when, at first, he rejected everything.
There are many simple ways of doing
this, and the mother will find any mum.
Der of her own by experimenting.
It is an old custom to cut slice OF
bread into slips, naming them for men,
bers of the family or friends, but 1t is a
procedure which seems to fascinate most
little ones and make the bread more
palatable. They get 80 interested in The
various characters, represented by the
slips of bread, that it disappears before
they realize 1t.
Slices of bread and butter can be cut
into various shapes, such as diamonds,
squares, circles, etc., also to represent
animals, dogs, cats and horses. The
shapes may be crude and mystifying 10
behold, but children are not critical, and
generally accept these representations
with approval and credulity.
Often quite good-sized meal can be
coaxed down by putting 1t into the dolls
dishes, filling the tiny cups with milk
and putting little squares of bread on
the small plates. One child was known
to eat a good-sized meal in this way
when he absolutely refused the food in
other form.
Another way is to provide pretty
china plate with picture on it, and tell
the child to eat the contents 80 that be
will see the picture.
Sometimes an interesting story can be
told-with the proviso that the child
'eat his dinner" or the mother will not
tell the story. He will get interested in
the story and forget how much he Is
eating until it is all gone.
One little boy persistently refused
rice, which the physician had ordered
for him and his mother had tried In
every way to make him eat. One day
she conceived the idea of forming the
rice into small mound like an Eskimo
hut, smoothing 1t around to make 1t an
exact reproduction. On the top she
placed small square Of butter, which
she called the chimney. 1t happened
that the little boy had been much inter.
ested in pictures of Eskimo children and
their homes, and it appealed to his
imagination at once. The mother then
buttered slice of bread and cut it into
strips-some large and some small
which she called the family who lived in
the hut-fatber, mother, girls. boys and
baby. For this she had the satisfaction
of seeing the little fellow eat two good
slices of bread and the whole saucer OF
rice-a thing he had never done before
and with enjoyment.
These are but few devices. Any
mother can supplement them with sue:
cessful ones of her own, and she will
find that by the use of little mag ma.
ton and ingenuity child can be tempt
ed.to eat almost any kind of desirable
and necessary food, and enjoy it.