It should take about twenty minutes for the baby to drink the prescribed amount of either breast milk or artificial food. In cold weather it is a good idea to cover the bottle with a little flannel or crocheted bag, to keep it warm until the last drop is drained. Food which becomes chilled may cause colic.
CHAPTER V
FORMULAS FOR ARTIFICIAL FOODS
FORMULAS FOR MODIFYING MILK—MILK SUGAR, CANE SUGAR, OR MALT SUGAR—HOW TO TELL WHEN THE BABY IS PROPERLY NOURISHED—LIME WATER IN THE MILK—CONDENSED MILK—PATENT FOODS
Formulas for the preparation of artificial food for infants will some day form a vital feature in the practical education of girls for motherhood. Chemistry, physiology and dietetics, all subjects which are taught to young women in high schools and colleges, will contribute to a better understanding of this very important subject.
The mother who is able to nurse her child has no conception of the difficulties which confront her sister or neighbor who must raise a baby on the bottle. She should be profoundly grateful that she is spared the study and working out of food formulas by the gracious dispensation of Providence which supplies her child with the natural form of nourishment. Certainly no woman who reads the chapters of this book, devoted to the sanitary and scientific care required to carry a baby through the period of bottle feeding, will wean her baby unless such a step is absolutely necessary.
The mother whose family physician has specialized in diseases of children and infant feeding has half the battle fought for her. The physician who has made a study of artificial feeding knows exactly the proportions necessary for producing a nourishing modified milk, and the quantity to be given at each feeding. But there still remain all over the country a large number of busy and successful general practitioners who have given little or no study to formulas for infant feeding, a condition fortunately due to the fact that the majority of the mothers whom they attend nurse their babies.
Again many mothers are so situated, geographically and economically, that they cannot place the baby to be artificially fed under the constant supervision of a physician. It is for such mothers that this chapter has been written, and the material which it contains represents the best ideas of men who have long specialized on the feeding of infants.
These physicians have decided that the simple formula which includes plain cow’s milk, with the cream stirred in, water and sugar, is the best substitute for mother’s milk until the baby has passed its sixth or seventh month. Then barley or oatmeal gruel may be used instead of the water. Cream, top milk, whey, lime water and patent foods should not be used except with the approval of a physician. The mother who finds herself forced to work out alone the problem of artificial feeding, should give the simple formula a thorough trial before trying more elaborate experiments, and, above all things, before taking the advice of her neighbors.
Mother’s milk is composed of thirteen parts solids and eighty-seven parts water. The solids are fat, sugar, proteids and salts. The fat is represented by cream; the sugar by lactose or milk sugar; the proteids by the milk-curd. The fat encourages bone growth and fat in the baby’s body; it produces heat and is good for the nerves. The sugar also produces fat and heat and has a laxative effect on the bowels. The proteids go to make body cells in the blood, the muscles and the various organs. The salts are needed for bone-making. The water serves two purposes: it keeps the solids in solution so that the food can be easily digested; it forms the medium through which the body throws off its waste material.
Formulas for artificial food should follow the proportions found in mother’s milk by expert analysis. Plain cow’s milk unmodified is too rich in solids to be given to an infant. On the other hand, the nursing baby, or the baby fed on properly modified milk, does not require much plain water, as it receives an ample supply of water in its feedings to quench thirst and keep the body in good condition.