Children well and happy

by May Dickinson Kimball

At one week the average child requires five ounces of milk daily, which should be diluted with ten ounces of water. To this should be added one and one-half even teaspoons of sugar and one ounce of limewater. This should be given in seven feedings. The milk should be increased by one-half ounce about every four days. The water should be increased by one-half ounce every eight days.

MODIFICATION OF THE MILK

At three months the average child requires sixteen ounces of milk daily, which should be diluted with sixteen ounces of water. To this should be added three tablespoons of sugar and two ounces of limewater. This should be given in six feedings. The milk should be increased by one-half ounce every six days. The water should be reduced by one-half ounce about every two weeks.

At six months the average child requires twenty-four ounces of milk daily, which should be diluted with twelve ounces of water. To this should be added two ounces of limewater and three even tablespoons of sugar. This should be given in five feedings. The amount of milk should be increased by one-half ounce every week. The milk should be increased only if the child is hungry and digesting his food well. It should not be increased unless he is hungry, nor if he is suffering from indigestion, even though he seems hungry.

At nine months the average child requires thirty ounces of milk daily, which should be diluted with ten ounces of water. To this should be added two even tablespoons of sugar and two ounces of limewater. This should be given in five feedings. The sugar added may be milk sugar or, if this cannot be obtained, cane (granulated) sugar or maltose (malt sugar). At first plain water should be used to dilute the milk.

At three months, sometimes earlier, a weak barley water may be used in the place of plain water; it is made of one-half level tablespoon of barley flour to sixteen ounces of water and cooked for twenty minutes. (See [Appendix B].)

Fill the feeding bottles, cork them, and put on the ice. If the milk is not certified, it should be pasteurized.

Utensils. The utensils used for preparing the baby’s food should be reserved exclusively for that purpose. The best material for these utensils is enamel or agateware.

LIST OF UTENSILS