It is necessary to keep up the proportion of protein, as this alone contains the important food element, nitrogen. From one-half to three-fourths of an ounce of milk-sugar is added to the twenty-four hours’ supply of food to approximate the seven per cent. found in breast milk.
The proportion of milk and milk-sugar is gradually increased and the water decreased, so that at the end of the first or second month the baby gets equal parts of milk and water and about an ounce more of milk-sugar. This process is continued until, near the end of the first year, the child is on whole milk. The sugar is lessened as the water is omitted.
If, after a few months, it is desired to give a baby starch in its food, cereal waters made of barley, rice, wheat, or oatmeal may be used in place of plain water.
As cow’s milk leaves the stomach more slowly than mother’s milk, longer intervals between feeding seem advisable. When the breast-fed infant receives nourishment every two and one-half to three hours, an infant given a cow’s-milk preparation would be fed every three and one-half or four hours.
The most important thing is to prevent both overfeeding and underfeeding as these are often the greatest factors in producing infantile disturbances. A too rapid gain in weight, (from 8 to 12 ounces a week), which often occurs in artificially fed infants, is not a good sign.
Milk prepared according to the formula desired by the physician can now be secured from milk laboratories in all of our larger cities. However, the milk is apt to spoil in transit, and to secure its freshness when one is not in or near a large city, it is best to prepare it at home. Any intelligent mother or nurse can do this very satisfactorily if the physician gives definite instructions.
Its careful preparation is quite as important as the correct formula.
Mineral (calcium) and protein are bone and other tissue builders, and it is a significant fact that cow’s milk contains about twice as much protein and a little more than twice as much of the mineral as mother’s milk, indicating that the growth of the human infant is to be slow. The calf requires about four years for full growth and the human being twenty-one years. Both human and cow’s milk, however, contain an equal amount of fat, the heat-producing element, as Nature intended that the infant should be warm and active.
It seems almost impossible to get milk from the cow as clean and free from bacteria as it should be and therefore sterilization and pasteurization are resorted to almost universally. Various substances such as formaldehyd, boric acid, and salicylic acid are used by dealers to preserve the milk. These all have a deleterious effect on the child. Therefore the safety of the child demands that the mother choose a reliable dairy. The milk may be analyzed occasionally to make sure of its purity.
Top-Milk