The sterile nipples may be taken in a sterile jar and a deep cup or kettle will be needed in which to warm the bottle before each feeding. It is usually possible to obtain water on the train which is hot enough for this, or cans of solid alcohol, a stand and a metal tray may be added to the traveling outfit. If fresh formulæ cannot be delivered to the train, daily, and the journey is to last more than twenty-four hours, one of the proprietary foods or a powdered milk will often prove to be a satisfactory solution to the problem of feeding the baby while traveling. The course to be followed, however, should be selected by your doctor.
Fig. 67.—If traveling is unavoidable the baby will be comfortable and undisturbed in a basket converted into a bed. (By courtesy of the Maternity Centre Association.)
The baby will usually travel more comfortably and sleep better if he is carried in a basket. A large market basket with a handle or a small clothes basket will serve. It may be lined with a sheet or a blanket; have a small hair pillow or folded blanket in the bottom and be made up like a crib. (Fig. [67].) If this basket stands on the car seat during the day, and on the foot of your berth at night, the baby will be cleaner, quieter and less exposed to drafts than if carried in the arms.
As we look back over these pages of somewhat detailed description of the baby’s care it is borne in upon us that the nursing of this unfailingly delightful and engaging little person has special adjustments and adaptations for different seasons and circumstances. But that on the whole the care of all babies, the year round, resolves itself into the observation of a few general principles, namely: proper feeding; fresh air, rest and quiet; regularity in the daily routine; cleanliness of food, clothing and surroundings; preservation of an even body temperature; consultation with the doctor at regular intervals and also whenever the baby seems ever so little ill.
If you are guided constantly by these general principles and apply them conscientiously, you may revel in the satisfying consciousness that you are keeping your pledge to your baby by giving him the best possible start on his life’s journey.
CHAPTER XI
THE NUTRITION OF MOTHER AND BABY
Perhaps you are wondering, just a little, why I devote even a short chapter to the subject of nutrition when I have already given you suggestions about dietaries for yourself and your baby. I am doing so because this question of nutrition is one of such enormous importance in relation to the baby’s future well-being that I want to give it special emphasis.
It is probably safe to say that the two most influential factors in creating and maintaining a satisfactory state of health are suitable nutrition and the prevention of infection. Although we shall concern ourselves solely with nutrition, in this chapter, it may be stated in passing that a state of good nutrition goes far toward protecting one from infection.
It will help to make the entire matter clearer to explain in the beginning that a state of good nutrition is not necessarily evidenced by one’s being tall nor by being fat. But it is evidenced by normal size and development; sound teeth and bones; hair and skin of normal color and texture; blood of the normal composition; stable nerves; vigor both mental and physical; normally functioning organs; resistance to disease, and above all that indescribable condition which is summed up as a state of general well-being.