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

for the two-months-old baby; wait a few days, then give him four ounces of this formula at the one meal. Then in a week's time if all goes well, give him four ounces of the formula for the three month's baby. Use this for one week, and then give him four and one-half ounces of the same formula. If after another week is past, there are no signs of indigestion, give him four ounces of the four-month formula, and if he enjoys this very much wait for a day or two and then increase the amount to four and one-half ounces of the same formula, and then to five ounces; as he grows older give him of the same formula as the bottle-fed infant of the same age, and the same amount at the one feeding; if he vomits or has curds in his stools or colic keep him on a weak formula longer than formerly advised.

If you have fed a breast-fed baby one meal a day from the bottle when can he be given two feedings from the bottle? During the tenth month.

COWS' MILK.—Does cows' milk contain all the elements present in the mother's milk? Yes, but in different proportions.

Why not use prepared foods? They are not thought so good, and are more likely to produce poor nutrition.

What is, the difference between cows' milk and mothers' milk? Cows' milk contains nearly three times as much casein (curd) or cheesy matter, and only about one-half as much sugar.

[576 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

What kind of cows should be selected? They should be healthy and the milk should be clear and fresh.

Is it best to select Jersey cows? The milk from Jersey and Alderney cows is generally too rich; common grade cows are best.

Should the milk be from one cow? It should be from the mixed or herd milk since that varies little from day to day.

How fresh should the milk be? In winter it should not be used after it is forty-eight hours old; in summer not after it is twenty-four hours old, and sometimes it is unsafe in a shorter time.

How should the milk be cared for at the dairies? It must be kept clean and free from being contaminated. Cows, milkers and stables must all be kept clean, and the milk must be carried in sealed bottles; those that handle the milk must not be near a contagious disease; all milk pails, bottles, cans, etc., used for the milk must be steamed and boiled before being used.

Should it be immediately cooled after leaving the cows? Yes, and kept at a temperature of about 50 degrees F.

How should the family care for it after it is delivered fresh from the cows? Strain it for infants through a thick layer of absorbent cotton or through several thicknesses of cheese-cloth into quart jars or milk bottles, covered and cooled immediately. This is best done by placing the bottles in ice water or cool spring water that comes up to their necks and allow them to remain there at least one-half hour. What you wish to use for the children who drink plain milk you may pour into one-half pint bottles, and these should be placed in an ice chest or in the coolest possible place. The first rapid cooling is very important and adds greatly to the keeping qualities of the milk, for the milk loses its heat quickly when cooled in water, but very slowly when it is simply placed in a cold room. After standing for four or five hours or longer, the top milk can be strained off; the cream may be removed after waiting twelve to sixteen hours.

How should it be cared for when received in bottles? The temperature of the milk is always raised during the delivery, so it should be cooled as before described. If it was bottled at a dairy the cream or top milk can be removed in an hour or two.

How should milk and cream be cared for by the family when purchased in bulk? This milk should never be used for infants, as it is liable to be contaminated. Both cream and milk should at once be poured into vessels, covered and kept in a cool place. There will not be much cream or top milk upon such milk.

[ALL ABOUT BABY 577]

How should refrigerators be treated? The inner portion should be of metal. An ordinary metal refrigerator, as sold, if encased in a wooden box makes the best kind. A covering of felt and heavy quilting can be made for the refrigerator which can be removed easily when wet or soiled—it must be kept absolutely clean. The compartments for the milk should be so arranged that the milk bottles be either in contact with the ice or near it. The supply of ice should always be abundant, or the temperature of the milk will not be low enough. The temperature should not be higher than 50 degrees F.; it is oftener 60 to 65 degrees F. To tell the temperature, use a nursery thermometer and this should be used from time to time to know what temperature the milk is in. Milk is often spoiled in too warm temperatures in refrigerators, and also in unclean refrigerators. Many cases of sickness are caused by it. The refrigerator should carry a temperature of near 50 degrees F., and be absolutely clean, and the compartment for the milk should be absolutely separated from other food compartments.

MODIFIED COWS' MILK.

Can cows' milk be fed to infants without being modified? No; because, although the elements are similar to those in mothers' milk, they are not identical, and are present in different proportions.

Is this a matter of great moment? Yes, for very few infants can digest cows' milk unmodified.

What does modifying cows' milk mean? It is changing cows' milk so as to make it more nearly like mothers' milk.

What is this changed milk called? Modified milk; and the original milk is known as "plain milk," "whole milk," "straight milk" or "milk."

State the principal differences between cows' milk and mothers' milk? Cows' milk contains a little more than half as much sugar. It contains nearly three times as much proteids (curds) and salts, and the proteids are different and much harder to digest. The reaction is decidedly acid, while the mother's milk is faintly acid or neutral.

Any other things of importance to consider? Yes; mothers' milk is always fed fresh and sterile, while cows' milk is always more or less contaminated by dust or germs which increase rapidly with the age of the milk in proportion to the amount of dirt in it and with any increase of temperature at which the milk is kept. So pasteurization and sterilization are done to destroy the effect of germs.

How can the acidity of cows' milk be overcome? By adding lime-water or bicarbonate of soda.

How much lime-water should be used? About one ounce to twenty ounces of food.

How much bicarbonate of soda? About twenty grains to twenty ounces of food.

Suppose there is a tendency to constipation in the infant? You can then use Phillip's milk of magnesia, or some other good preparation, adding one-half to one teaspoonful to each twenty ounces of food.

How can the sugar be increased? By adding milk or granulated sugar to the cows' milk.

[578 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

How much milk sugar is added to twenty ounces of food? About one ounce will do for the first three or four months. This makes it between six and seven per cent sugar.

How should you prepare the sugar? Dissolve it in boiled water and strain if there is a deposit after standing, by pouring it through a layer of absorbent cotton one-half inch thick placed in an ordinary funnel.

Is not granulated (cane) sugar recommended also? Yes; but all infants cannot use it. It is cheaper, but a good article of milk sugar should be bought. It costs from twenty to sixty cents per pound. The cheap variety contains many impurities.

But if cane sugar is used, how much is needed? Usually about one-half or a little over one-half as much as milk sugar, or about one half ounce to twenty ounces of food.

What occurs if too much is used? The sugar is likely to ferment in baby's stomach and cause colic. The milk is made too sweet.

If you continue to overfeed granulated sugar, what happens? Gas, colic, restlessness, uneasiness, lining of the bowels becomes reddened and irritated; the redness shows externally around the rectum, and in severe cases around the hips.

Unless the amount of sugar is now reduced, what occurs? There follow frequently watery, splashy stools with much gas and foul odors.

Is cane or granulated sugar safe to use after six months? It does not usually produce so much trouble later on.

Suppose milk sugar produces irritation? The quantity used should be reduced to one ounce to twenty-five ounces of food or even less for a short time.

As a rule should milk sugar be preferred the first six months? Yes.

What are the best grades of milk sugar? Merck's, Mallinkrotz's, or
Squibb's.

Is sugar added to sweeten and make the milk palatable? No; although it does that, its use is to furnish one of the needed elements for the growth of the baby, and it is required by young infants in the largest quantity.

How do we know that this is true? Because in good mothers' milk the amount of sugar is greater than that of the fat, proteids, and salts combined.

As cows' milk has nearly three times as much proteids (curds) and salts as mothers' milk, how can these be diminished? By diluting the cows' milk.

How much should cow's milk be diluted for a very young infant? Diluted twice will give almost the same proportion of proteids present as in mothers' milk, but as the proteids of cows' milk are so much harder for the infant to digest, the milk should, in the beginning, be diluted five or six times for most infants.

[ALL ABOUT BABY 579]

Does the diluted cows' milk with lime-water and sugar added resemble mothers' milk? No; for this mixture does not contain enough fat.

How can this be remedied? By increasing the fat in the milk before it is diluted.

How is this done? By adding top milk or milk and cream.

What is the top-milk? It is the upper layer of milk, one-third or one-half of milk removed after it has stood a certain number of hours,—six to eight hours.

How is the strength of the top-milk measured? By the fat it contains. A ten per cent milk contains a ten per cent of fat; a seven per cent milk contains a seven per cent of fat.

Are these strengths used for infant feeding? Yes, they are most used.

What increases the percentage of fat in the top-milk? 1. The longer time it stands. 2. Manner of its removal. 3. Number of ounces removed. 4. Thickness of the milk used.

When is top-milk removed? If milk is fresh from the cow or before the cream has risen, is bottled and rapidly cooled, it may be removed in four hours. It does not make much difference in bottled milk, and it may stand much longer.

How should top-milk be removed? Skim carefully off with a spoon, or cream- dipper (specially prepared) holding one ounce. It may be taken off with a glass or rubber syphon, never pour it off.

How can ten per cent top-milk be obtained from the different kinds of cow's milk? From rather poor milk (three to three and one half per cent fat) remove the upper eight ounces from a quart.

How can it be obtained from good average milk (four per cent fat?) Remove the upper eleven ounces or one-third.

From rich Jersey milk (five and five one-half per cent fat)? By removing sixteen ounces or upper one-half from the quart.

How is seven per cent top-milk obtained? 1. By removing the upper eleven ounces or one-third of a quart from poor milk. 2. By removing the upper half from average milk. 3. By removing two-thirds or about twenty-two ounces from rich Jersey milk. As stated before the seven per cent and ten per cent are the two kinds generally used.

If top-milk is treated in this way, is it like the human milk? The proportion of the fluids and solids are about the same, but the elements are different. The curd (albuminous element) is still different in structure and action from the same element in human milk. The curd of human