Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-11

COLIC and babyhood have come TO
be associated terms. If the baby
cries, the mother fishes out of her
memory a word that is familiar to he"
ut is colic," she says triumphantly
pleased at her own ability to diagnose
the trouble. And. having heard that
babies have three months collie. she
adds herself to the list of martyred
mothers, whose babies have it, and
tmakes little effort to combat it.
1t is the unusual baby who never
experiences collie. The mothers milk.
and her nervous condition for the first
six weeks, often add bones" to the
babys meal, and babies do have collie
the first six weeks for temporary
causes which time will eliminate.
But collie is seldom irremediable. In
almost every case it is due to the diet.
And breast milk is no exception TO
this. There is something wrong with
this particular baby's food, and there
may be something wrong with the
feeding hours or the conditions sur
rounding feeding.
II the baby is fed at each cry. his
stomach never has a chance for rest,
and so overlooking and irregular
feeding are two outstanding reasons
for the indigestions and gas which we
call collie.
The well.fed, inactive mother, is
very likely to secrete a milk that is
, very rich in fat and fat is an ele-
ment some babies find difficult to di-
gest Eating less fatty foods. taking
more vigorous exercise, and giving
the baby tablespoonful of boiled wa
ter before his nursing will help.
The baby who gobbes up his din
ner without drawing breath will pay
for his greediness. He will swallow
air with his dinner. To bring up this
air his position must be changed. Pat
ting him gently on the back, as his
chest rests against the mothers Shout
der, will do this without at the same
time bringing up all his dinner, as
violent-handed mothers are apt to do.
insufficient clothes may bring on an
attack of collie Babies must be kept
comfortably warm. Don't stifle them
with woolens, but see that their hands
and feet are warm always and that
they emerge from their maps warm
and red. The amount of clothing de-
ponds entirely on the climate and the
temperature of the baby's home.
The child who is most often affected
T. by temperatures is the thin. nervous
wide-awake baby. who chills easily.
His food may be ideal, MS hours regu-
lar, and yet he has collie. This is the
one type of child who may have to
suffer through this agony until he
gains weight and acquires resistance
10 those outside influences which his
mother is powerless to improve.
The constipated baby may have
collie because Of insufficient food lone
natural reason for constipation(-or
because of the remedies which his
mother forces upon him to eliminate
the constipation. These remedies
make for gas and pain, especially
when there is little in the bowels but
sgas and mucus.
We realize now. that collie is gas
caused by any number of things
which may be wrong with the food or
the method of feeding. There is one
warning which we want to emphasize.
Don't mistake the hunger pain for
collie Far too often a baby is dosed
with collie remedies and quantities of
hot water when what causes his pain
is an empty stomach, full of gas be-
cause of lack of food Collie doesn' t
keep union hours. When a baby has
a pain at certain time each day, stop
suspecting collie and take heed of that