The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1915-07-22
MILK FOR THE BABY
MUST BE THE HesT AND CLEAN
EST THAT CAN BE HAD.
Is Really the Most Important Thing to
Which Mothers Can Give Atten-
tlon--cleanliness the One
Absolute Consideration.

prepared for This Paper by the Chill
dren's Bureau, United States Depart
ment OF LaborO
When the baby is for any reason de-
prived OF his natural food that Is, his
mothers milk, 1t is necessary to find
as good q substitute as possible. AT
best such a food will be only substi'
tute, not an equivalent. This substi.
tute food should be the best and clean
est cows milk that can be had. Here,
the city mother has an advantage over
the country mother, for most large
cities have established rules regarding
the milk that is offered for sale, and 1t
is usually possible to find out the
names OF the dealers who sell clean
milk. Certified" milk is milk whose
purity is guaranteed by special author
tiles. In small cities without such
careful regulation Of the milk traffic
and in the towns and villages, the
mother finds It hard to get milk that
she knows to be clean. The country
mother has the advantage ~ being
able to see Just how the NIX is han
died when II comes from the cows on
the place.
Cleanliness 10 the watchword Of
proper milk production. The cows
themselves should be clean and
healthy; the udders and teats should
be washed before the milking Is be-
gun; the hands Of the milker should
be freshly washed and he should wear
q clean cotton coat; the pail should be
partly covered and previously scalded
with boiling water. and the milking
shed or stable should be clean. The
milk should be strained at once and
cooled as quickly as possible to so de-
grees and kept cold until used. A later
article Of this series will deal with the
care Of milk and its production.
Even clean milk may be spoiled
after 1t comes into the house II 1t is
not kept clean, cold and covered. Milk
which stands uncovered. exposed to
flies and dust, or is left in a warm
room for any length of time, or is put
away in open vessels will be unfit for
the baby. 1t should be kept in COW
cred bottles, cans or Jars. To keep It
cold, cheap and effective ice box may
be made as follows:
Use any convenient receptacle, such
as a wooden box, lard or candy pail,
or a garbage pail, for the outside. Put
a layer of sawdust an inch deep In the
bottom. In the middle place a covered
eight or ten-quart pail. or a section of
ten-inch pipe. Fill the space between
the two with sawdust, packing 1t care
fully into all the corners. The outer
receptacle should have a cover. If a
box is used this cover may be
hinged one and may have a thick layer
Of newspapers or a straw cushion
tackled to the inside to make 1t fit
tight. The inner pail is intended to
hold the ice and the milk bottles.
1t has been found that If, instead of
putting the ice in loose, 1t is broken
up and put into a small covered pail,
which Is never uncovered, II will last
longer. Set this little pail in the inner
receptacle, pack the cooled and corked
milk bottles around 1t and close the
cover. This little device will keep the
babys milk sweet for "a hours. II
properly made.
Great care must be taken to keep
the baby's milk clean in making up the
baby's feelings. The mothers hands
and clothing must be clean. before she
begins. The utensils needed should be
kept for this use alone and should be
freshly boiled before being used. All
the food needed for "a hours should be
made ready at one time. It is con-
venient to have enough nursing bottles
for the whole day and fill them all
when the food is prepared in the
morning. Each bottle should be closed
with new clean cork which has been
boiled. The bottles should be cooled
and put away in the refrigerator or a
cool place at once. When q bottle is
needed take 1t out of the refrigerator
and set It In a small pail OF warm wa
ter. Put the pail over the fire and let
the water heat. To test the tempera-
ture OF the milk the mother may sprin.
kle few drops on the inner surface
sct the arm. When 1t feels slightly
warm, not hot, it will be right for the
baby.
1t is impossible In a short article
like this to give all the necessary d.
rections for preparing the bottles, or
how to determine the amount Of milk
a baby of a given age requires. and
how to modify 1t, but these questions
are answered in bulletin of the chill
dren's bureau called Infant Care"
This will be sent free to anyone ask
ng for IT, giving their name and nd.