Mother's Remedies, Thomas Jefferson Ritter [reading well .TXT] 📗

3em">SPECIAL MONTHLY RULES FOR A BOTTLE-FED BABY.

Formula of food.—For the first month: skim off carefully the top six ounces from a quart bottle of pure milk, add to this twenty-four ounces of boiled water, in which water three teaspoonfuls of granulated or six teaspoonfuls of milk sugar have been dissolved, and then add a pinch of soda, or else one and one-half ounces of lime-water. Mix all these ingredients thoroughly, and then pour the correct quantity into each of ten clean nursing bottles. Tightly cork these bottles with clean cotton, and they can all be pasteurized or heated to a temperature of 155 degrees F. (Some say higher).

What strength is given to a bottle-fed baby of two months? From the top of a quart bottle of pure milk that has stood from three to six to eight hours, skim carefully off the top six ounces and then pour off three ounces of milk and mix them with the top milk (first skimmed off) making nine ounces in all; add to the nine ounces, twenty-four ounces of boiled water in which you should have dissolved four teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar, or six or seven teaspoonfuls of milk sugar; add a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, or two ounces of lime-water.

[572 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Formula for the third month.—(This is often used), Carefully skim off the top six ounces from a quart bottle of pure milk, then pour off six ounces of milk, twelve ounces in all, and now add twelve ounces of boiled water in which three teaspoonfuls of granulated or six of milk sugar have been dissolved, with a pinch of soda or else two ounces of lime-water; add then twelve ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel, divide into eight bottles, pasteurize, etc.; cool quickly and place where the temperature is 50 degrees F., until meal time, when one of the bottles should be warmed by placing it in warm water. Pour a little out in a spoon to test the warmth, etc.; when the milk is lukewarm remove the cotton cork and attach the rubber nipple. He should be fed regularly and equally every three hours up to ten p. m., then have one at two or three a. m., and nothing until seven a. m. He should get three and one-half to four ounces at each meal, so that much should be put in each bottle.

What is the formula for a bottle-fed baby of four months? For a healthy baby, six ounces of top milk skimmed from the top of a quart bottle of milk, six ounces of milk then poured off, twenty-four ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel, six teaspoonfuls of milk sugar or three of granulated sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda; or if lime-water is used instead, take one ounce of lime-water to each twenty of the milk and gruel. He should have four or five ounces of this mixture every three hours up to 10 p. m., then one meal at about 2 a. m. None until 6 or 7 a. m.

Will a child lose weight when placed upon this diet? It will often do so for a week or more, but he will soon gain gradually and regularly.

Formula for the fifth month.—Skim off the top six ounces as before, then pour off nine ounces of milk and mix it with the top-milk, add twenty-four ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel, a pinch of salt, four teaspoonfuls of granulated or seven of milk sugar, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and proceed as before. He should be fed every three hours during the day until 10 p. m. Give five to six and one-half ounces at each meal, making six meals in the whole twenty-four hours.

Formula for sixth month.—Six ounces of the top-milk skimmed off from a quart of pure milk, ten ounces of milk then poured off. Twenty-four ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel, in which has been thoroughly dissolved four teaspoonfuls of granulated or seven of milk sugar, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and a pinch of salt. Pasteurized as before, etc. Give baby from four to six ounces at each meal every three hours up to 9 or 10 p. m. If the day is exceedingly warm, pour out one or even two ounces from each bottle of the regular mixture and substitute boiled water for it. If the baby is inclined to vomit, it will be better during the hot weather to use less of the top milk, four, or five ounces instead of six or eight, and add so much more gruel. Barley gruel is better than oatmeal gruel unless baby is constipated. Again if the baby has delicate digestive organs, one meal each day during the very hot weather, can be made of mutton broth prepared as follows: Cut up one pound of neck of mutton, one pint of cold water and a pinch of salt; this is cooked very slowly for three hours until half a pint is left, adding a little water from time to time as it boils away; strain through muslin and allow to cool, and when cool take off all of the fat. Add this to an equal quantity of barley water and feed lukewarm to the baby from the nursing bottle. These measures may ward off summer complaint and assist in teething.

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Formula for the seventh month.—From a quart of pure milk carefully skim off the top six ounces, pour off fifteen ounces of the milk and add twenty-one ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel to which has been added dissolved four teaspoonfuls of granulated or seven of milk sugar, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Give six or seven ounces at each meal and six meals in twenty-four hours.

Formula for the eighth month.—Skim six ounces of top-milk as before directed, pour off seventeen ounces of milk, add twenty-one ounces of barley or oatmeal gruel, four of granulated or seven teaspoonfuls of milk sugar, a pinch of salt and bicarbonate of soda. Give six and one-half to seven ounces every three hours up to 10 p. m.

Formula for the ninth month.—Use six ounces of top-milk skimmed off as before, twenty ounces of milk poured off, twenty-two ounces of either barley or oatmeal gruel, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and salt added to the gruel, and five teaspoonfuls of granulated or eight of milk sugar dissolved in boiled water and put in the gruel. Give seven or eight ounces of this every three hours up to 10 p. m.

Formula for tenth month.—The milk in a quart bottle is stirred and thirty ounces of this is taken and twenty ounces of either barley or oatmeal gruel is added to it, to which three teaspoonfuls of granulated or seven of milk sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda have been added. Feed the child every three and a half hours up to 10 p. m., making five meals in twenty-four hours, and seven to eight ounces at each meal.

Formula for eleventh month.—Stir up the entire quart of milk, add thirteen ounces barley or oatmeal gruel and to this add one tablespoonful of granulated or two of milk sugar dissolved in boiled water, a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Treat as used; eight or nine ounces are given at each feeding, and five feedings given during the twenty-four hours.

Formula for twelfth month.—Stir up the entire quart of milk; add eleven ounces of gruel, one tablespoonful of granulated or two of milk sugar, a pinch of salt and bicarbonate of soda. The child should now have five regular meals daily, arranged about as follows: Six a. m., nine ounces of this modified milk; 8 a. m., teaspoonful of prune jelly or strained juice of an orange; 10 a. m., seven ounces of the modified milk and two tablespoonfuls of a well cooked cereal; 2 p. m., five ounces of beef juice or six ounces of mutton or chicken broth, or else a coddled egg (alternate on different days), five or six ounces of modified milk and a small piece of zwieback; 6 p. m., nine ounces of modified milk; 10 p. m., ten ounces of modified milk.

[574 MOTHERS' REMEDIES] BARLEY AND OATMEAL GRUELS.

How is barley gruel made? Rub up one teaspoonful of the flour with a little cold water, and then stir this into a pint of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and boil it fifteen minutes, strain if it is at all lumpy.

How is oatmeal gruel made? In the same way, but use two teaspoonfuls of the flour.

SPECIAL RULES OF FEEDING AND NURSING FOR EACH MONTH IN CONNECTION WITH THE FORMULA GIVEN.

How can milk be pasteurized? A regular pasteurizer can be bought for three dollars; or the bottles, ten or less, can be placed in a pot partly filled with water which is rapidly brought to the boiling point about 155 degrees F. These bottles are filled with each regular feeding before being put in the water. The milk should not boil. Then remove the pot from the fire and allow the bottles to stand in it for one-half hour, then take them out and cool them as quickly as possible by allowing first warm and then cold water to run over the outside of the bottles; when they are cold, place them on ice or where the temperature is about 50 degrees F., and keep them until meal-time. Then one of the bottles is placed in warm water until the milk is lukewarm, the cork can then be removed and the nipple applied. These ten bottles were equally filled with the modified milk as prepared under the formula for the first month.

How much modified milk should be placed in each bottle? For the first week of life one to two and one-half ounces are placed in each of the ten bottles, and two or three and one-half ounces for the last two weeks of the first month.

What should be done if the baby vomits or has curds in his stools? Use a little less cream and a little more water. Remember, two tablespoonfuls equal one ounce.

What kind of bottles should be used? Round cylindrical bottles with the ounces marked on them.

What color of nipples? Black rubber nipples.

How should the bottle be treated when emptied? Rinse it out with cold water and then allow it to stand full of cold water with a pinch of soda or borax in it.

How should the bottles be prepared before the food for the whole day is put in them and pasteurized, etc.? They should be thoroughly rinsed in hot soap suds, and then rinsed and boiled in clear water for ten minutes.

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What about the nipples? Rinse them first in cold then in hot water and allow them to stand in a covered cup of boric acid solution or borax water solution one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Once or twice each day they should be turned inside out and scrubbed with a brush and water. The hole in the nipple should be only large enough for a rather coarse needle to go through. The hole in the nipple can be made by such a needle heated red hot and then run through the nipple.

When can you begin to add barley and oatmeal gruel to the baby's milk? In the third month. The gruel should be made daily. If the child is not constipated use barley gruel; if constipated use the oatmeal gruel.

If you cannot get the flour, how can you prepare the gruel from the grain? Take two teaspoonfuls of barley or three of oatmeal and allow it to soak over night in cold water; add one quart of cold water the next morning and boil steadily down to a pint, (for about four hours), then strain through muslin.

Do some physicians advise feeding nursing babies one or two meals daily, beginning the fourth month? Yes.

What strength should it be? Use the formula for bottle-fed babies of the first month and the same amounts.

How can you calculate the amount necessary? Take one-eighth or one-fourth either for one or two meals daily of the separate ingredients mentioned in the formula for the first month.

Following order may be as follows: First give baby three ounces of the formula, and if all goes well in a day or two give him three and one-half ounces and miss one meal at the breast. After one week if the baby is well suited, give him three ounces of the formula