Evening star., 1948-04-15
FEEDING PROBLEM.

(From Mrs. C. A. NJ, Arlington.)
The old saying that no two babies
are ever alike has never been dis
proved. Certainly, this is most ap-
parent when mothers discuss their
babies first experiences with solid
foods. Frankly, suggestions are not
cure-alls, but they do offer means
for coping with stubborn little
mouths and the helpless and hope
4ess feeling we spoon-pushers en-
counter.
On the advice of my pediatri-
clan, my baby was. put on" cereal
at three weeks. to combat a terrific
appetite. My first attempts were
anything but a success until l
realized she was trying to take the
cereal from the spoon as she did
milk from her bottle. 1t just didn't
work for her tongue would push the
food out of her mouth or shove 1t
off the spoon. To look at her 1t
appeared to be gesture of distaste
and rejection. Then it dawned on
me at this age she certainly couldn't
reasonably form a dislike for any
thing that represented food. With
this new outlook I changed my ap-
proach, not to make her like cereal.
but to teach her to eat from a spoon,
an instinct babies aren't born with,
since spoons are products of civiliza-
ton and not mother nature.
Contrary to the "book" I gave
her the bottle first when she was i'm
patient with hunger and simply
wouldn't put up with all this fussing
around. After her tummy was full
I would poke very little cereal in
her mouth lever try butter
spreader?) four or FIVE times to get
her used. to the different texture of
both cereal and spoon. I didn't
really try to make sure she swallowed
it. she usually didn't. After q week
or more Of this she accomplished
the puzzeling problem of keeping
her tongue from darting forward
and began swallowing more and
more.
Then new difficulty came up.
BY this time she actually was in
terested In her cereal, but she
wanted it to come in a continuous
flow like her milk. With screams
and furious arm waving, this was
almost my waterloo until surprised
her with a huge mouthful that took
longer to handle and gave me time
to refill before the battle began
again. Naturally she'd have nearly
as much cereal on her face as she
had inside, but that was and still is
unavoidable. Trying to keep her
clean by scraping or mopping up
with cloth during her feeding is
still a futile and disastrous struggle.
1t wasn't for two months or more
that she learned to take food off
spoon herself. Until that time
arrived I poked and repoked the
same spoonful many times before it
would disappear. So don't get a
fixed idea that your baby dislikes
a certain food or all solids merely
because she pushes it out Of her
mouth. They make horrible faces
and very definitely will let you know
when the taste actually displeases
them. Ever given her a bottle too
hot or too cold?
Later introduction of fruit, vege-
tables, meat and egg yolk were pain
less. She didn't take to few things
at first, and just today giving her
custard for the first time I got every
bit of the first spoonful right back,
all over my, blouse. Cereal seems
universally disliked from time to
time, they probably become bored
with it's tastelessness and don't
blame them. Change brands OF
cereal often and try mixing 1t with
their fruit; it has always fooled my
baby.
Drinking from a cup is little
less messy at first if you hold a
saucer or small fruit dish under
their chin. It catches most OF the
Jrinh1e