If the nurse is confronted with the necessity of choosing and making temporary use of a prepared food she may be guided by considering the general principles of baby feeding and the character of the materials at her disposal.
The Proprietary Foods may be divided into two general groups: one kind contains milk powder and is usually added to water while the other consists largely of sugar and starch and is added to fresh milk before being given to the baby.
Canned Milk is of two kinds; evaporated, which is unsweetened, and condensed, which is sweetened. Evaporated milk is whole milk from which part of the water has been removed, the milk then being canned and sterilized. The addition of water to evaporated milk restores it to the composition of whole milk in many respects, but it is still milk that has been heated. Condensed milk is evaporated milk to which cane sugar has been added to aid in its preservation. Since bacteria do not grow well in highly sweetened foods, it is not necessary to bring sweetened condensed milk to as high a temperature as the unsweetened product, to prevent subsequent bacterial decomposition. The high percentage of sugar in condensed milk quite obviously renders it unsuitable for continuous use as the sole article in a baby’s dietary.
Milk Powders or Dried Milks are prepared by rapidly evaporating the water from whole milk, skimmed milk or partly skimmed milk, leaving the solid constituents in the form of a light, white powder. Milk powder readily dissolves in water, forming a “reconstructed milk” which closely resembles the fresh milk from which it was prepared. But it must not be forgotten that reconstructed milk has been heated. Many doctors consider whole milk powder the most satisfactory form of preserved milk which is available for baby food. Should it be used, however, the importance of keeping it tightly covered and in a cold place must be recognized, for the presence of fat renders it likely to become rancid if not kept cold.
ARTICLES OF FOOD WHICH ARE SOMETIMES INCLUDED IN THE BABY’S DIETARY
Barley Water, sometimes used to dilute whole milk, is made by mixing the barley flour to a smooth paste in cold water, adding boiling water and boiling for twenty minutes or cooking in a double boiler for an hour, straining and adding enough water to replace the amount lost in cooking. The proportions for different ages are as follows:
- Three months, ½ level tablespoonful barley flour to 16 oz. water
- Six months, 1½ level tablespoonful barley flour to 12 oz. water.
- Nine months, 3 level tablespoonfuls barley flour to 10 oz. water.
Potato Water. One tablespoonful of thoroughly boiled potato is mashed into one pint of the water in which the potato was boiled and carefully strained.
Spinach. Spinach is carefully washed, steamed for half an hour and mashed through a fine sieve. It is sometimes started at the sixth month; one teaspoonful daily, gradually increased to one or two tablespoonfuls daily.
Orange Juice. The orange should be dipped in boiling water and wiped on a clean towel before being cut and squeezed, to avoid possible infection of juice. It is usually given to babies getting heated milk, sometimes as young as one month old. It is carefully strained and started gradually by giving one teaspoonful in water once or twice daily between feedings and increasing to ½ or 1 ounce by the sixth month and 1½ to 2 ounces by the end of the first year.