The Care and Feeding of Children loog 



barley and oatmeal are much used in place of water to dilute milk mixtures. 

 They help to break up the curd formed from the casein of the milk during 

 the process of digestion. Some of the patent foods act in the same way 

 and this is one of the secrets of their success. Occasionally a patent food 

 used without milk is of value to tide the baby over a period of indigestion, 

 to help when a trip is to be taken and fresh, clean milk is not available, 

 or to take the place of the mother's milk during a brief temporary illness 

 of the mother. On the whole, however, canned milk and patent foods 

 used without milk should be last resorts. They may make a fat baby, 

 but fatness does not mean development of muscles, bones, and nerves, 

 or assurance of vigor and endurance. 



USE OF solid foods 



If a child has been bottle-fed, the use of semi-solid or solid foods begins 

 somewhat earlier than with the breast-fed baby. Wise care should underlie 

 this use of solid foods and the baby should not participate in the family 

 dietary, as so frequently happens, just because milk is no longer its sole 

 maintenance. 



CARE IN PREPARING FOODS 



The cereals given to the baby should be very thoroughly cooked. Many 

 times failure to make children like cereals is due to improper cooking. 

 The half -raw cereal has an unpleasant taste and causes indigestion. Pack- 

 age directions should not be depended on; they are given to tempt us to 

 save time. Even partially prepared cereals, as rolled oats, when served 

 to very small children should be cooked i| to 2 hours. A fireless cooker 

 will make this both easy and cheap to accomplish and every family can 

 afford at least a home-made cooker. Vegetables should be carefully 

 prepared so as to keep them mild and delicate in flavor. At first they 

 should be strained or rubbed through a sieve to remove all lumps or hard 

 pieces. 



FOOD AND CARE FOR OLDER CHILDREN 



To realize the significance of an understanding of the right way to feed 

 children, it is necessary simply to turn to some of the recent biilletins on 

 the feeding of animals. The writer has in mind one bulletin that gives 

 the results of experiments in feeding growing swine. The kind of food 

 given to them during their growth period was found to affect greatly the 

 size and strength of the bones, the vigor and amount of inuscular tissue, 

 the size and activity of the lungs, kidneys, and liver, total growth and 

 weight, and ultimately the ability to produce healthy offspring. So, after 

 all, Providence is not altogether responsible for our physical defects. 



