Foods containing growth-producing principles are needed daily. Little is yet known of this factor. Some foods that, according to their chemical composition, would be considered valuable for growth, have been found on experimentation to be lacking in growth-producing properties; among these are corn, bacon, gelatine. Other foods have marked growth-producing results, and among these are milk, butter, eggs, whole wheat.
Foods Permissible for Children at Different Ages. Add each new food gradually, beginning with a mere taste and observing whether it agrees. Eggs, especially white, should be added cautiously, and discontinued if they cause swelling, indigestion, or diarrhea. Raw fruits must be selected with great care, neither overripe nor underripe, nor swallowed in lumps; they are prohibited in diarrhea.
10 months:
- Milk
- Oatmeal or whole wheat jelly
- Rice or barley jelly
- Zwieback, hard toast
- Strained spinach
- Prune juice, prune pulp
- Orange juice, strained, diluted
- Gelatine
12 to 15 months, add:
- Baked potato
- Junket
- Egg yolk hard-boiled, grated
- Coddled egg (½)
- ½ egg (raw) beaten in milk
- Vegetable broth with purée of potato, carrot, or spinach
- Stale whole wheat bread
- Wheatsworth crackers
- Olive oil
- Cottonseed oil
- White grape juice
- Chicken bone or chop bone, cooked, meat scraped and wiped off
15 to 18 months, add:
- Rice boiled or steamed (cooked 3 to 6 hours)
- Oatmeal gruel (cooked 6 to 12 hours)
- Butter
- Baked apple (pulp)
- Date pulp
- Custards
18 to 24 months, add:
- Purée (strained) of fresh peas, dried peas, celery, onions, corn
- Hominy (ground) cooked 12 hours
- Tapioca thoroughly cooked
- Scraped raw apple
- Ripe raw peach
- Strained honey
- Stewed dried peaches, mashed