Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children

by Pye Henry Chavasse

If it be ascertained, past all doubt, that a mother cannot suckle her child, then, if the circumstances of the parents will allow—and they ought to strain a point to accomplish it—a healthy wet-nurse should be procured, as, of course, the food which nature has supplied is far, very far superior to any invented by art. Never bring up a baby, then, if you can possibly avoid it, on artificial food. Remember, as I proved in a former Conversation, there is in early infancy no real substitute for either a mother's or a wet-nurse's milk. It is impossible to imitate the admirable and subtle chemistry of nature. The law of nature is, that a baby, for the first few months of his existence, shall be brought up by the breast, and nature's law cannot be broken with impunity. [Footnote: For further reasons why artificial food is not desirable, at an early period of infancy, see answer to 35th question, page 26.] It will be imperatively necessary then—

"To give to nature what is nature's due."

Again, in case of a severe illness occurring during the first nine months of a child's life, what a comfort either the mother's or the wet-nurse's milk is to him! It often determines whether he shall live or die. But if a wet-nurse cannot fill the place of a mother, then asses' milk will be found the best substitute, as it approaches nearer, in composition, than any other animal's, to human milk; but it is both difficult and expensive to obtain. The next best substitute is goats' milk. Either the one or the other ought to be milked fresh and fresh, when wanted, and should be given by means of a feeding-bottle. Asses' milk is more suitable for a delicate infant, and goats' milk for a strong one.

If neither asses' milk nor goats' milk can be procured, then the following Milk-water-salt-and-sugar Food, from the very commencement, should be given; and as I was the author of the formula, [Footnote: It first appeared in print in the 4th edition of Advice to a Mother, 1852.] I beg to designate it as—Rye Chavasse's Milk Food:—

New milk, the produce of ONE healthy cow;
Warm water, of each, equal parts;
Table salt, a few grains—a small pinch;
Lump sugar, a sufficient quantity, to slightly sweeten it.

The milk itself ought not to be heated over the fire, [Footnote: It now and then happens that if the milk be not boiled, the motions of an infant are offensive; when such is the case, let the milk be boiled, but not otherwise.] but should, as above directed, be warmed by the water; it must, morning and evening, be had fresh and fresh. The milk and water should be of the same temperature as the mother's milk, that is to say, at about ninety degrees Fahrenheit. It ought to be given by means of either Morgan's, or Maw's, or Mather's feeding-bottle, [Footnote: See answer to Question 24, page 24.] and care must be taken to scald the bottle out twice a day, for if attention be not paid to this point, the delicate stomach of an infant is soon disordered. The milk should, as he grows older, be gradually increased and the water decreased, until two-thirds of milk and one-third of water be used; but remember, that either much or little water must always be given with the milk.

The above is my old form, and which I have for many years used with great success. Where the above food does not agree (and no food except a healthy mother's own milk does invariably agree) I occasionally substitute sugar-of milt for the lump sugar, in the proportion of a tea spoonful of sugar-of milk to every half pint of food.

If your child bring up his food, and if the ejected matter be sour-smelling, I should advise you to leave out the sugar-of milk altogether, and simply to let the child live, for a few days, on milk and water alone, the milk being of one cow, and in the proportion of two-thirds to one-third of warm water—not hot water, the milk should not be scalded with hot water, as it injures its properties, besides, it is only necessary to give the child his food with the chill just off. The above food, where the stomach is disordered, is an admirable one, and will often set the child to rights without giving him any medicine whatever. Moreover, there is plenty of nourishment in it to make the babe thrive, for after all it is the milk that is the important ingredient in all the foods of infants, they can live on it, and on it alone, and thrive amazingly.

Mothers sometimes say to me, that farinaceous food makes their babes flatulent, and that my food (Pye Chavasse's Milk Food) has not that effect.

The reason of farinaceous food making babes, until they have commenced cutting their teeth, "windy" is, that the starch of the farinaceous food (and all farinaceous foods contain more or less of starch) is not digested, and is not, as it ought to be, converted by the saliva into sugar [Footnote: See Pye Chavasse's Counsel to a Mother, 3d edition.] hence "wind" is generated, and pain and convulsions often follow in the train.