AN UNCONSCIOUSLY UNKIND ACT 



011 the part of many in charge of young children namely, laying them flat in 

 perambulator or cradle without shielding their eyes from the bright light, or even 

 from direct sunshine. A moment's experiment with ourselves in a similar position 

 will fill us with self-reproach. By preference such shades should be a pale green; 

 on no account resort to a flapping and bewildering sunbonnet or floppy hat ; though, 

 on the other hand, no young child should be taken out with unprotected head. The 

 bones of the skull are very immature during these early years and, in conjunction 

 with the scanty hair natural at this stage of life, afford no adequate protection from 

 the sun. 



FOOD IN INFANCY 



should offer no difficulty. Nature provides all that a baby needs for the first nine 

 postnatal months. Week by week this supply is adapted in quality and quantity to 

 its growing requirements. Few people are aware of the subtle, marvellous changes 

 in these respects which take place in Nature's own laboratory, the mother's breast. 

 To imitate or replace them by artificial means is absolutely impossible. " The only 

 way in which 



TO ADAPT COW'S MILK TO AN INFANT'S NEEDS," 



writes one of the first authorities on the management of babies, " is to pass it through 

 the mothers body." It suffices to say that the death-rate among hand-fed children 

 is from twenty to thirty times greater than among those whose mothers fulfil their 

 maternal duties in this respect; while here, again, must be borne in mind the risk 

 of damaged physique among the children who survive being fed on cow's or other 

 forms of milk, though it may be years before the damage shows. 



NO TROUBLE IS TOO GREAT 



to enable a mother thus to safeguard her infant during these months of helplessness 

 and dependence. The latest teaching on the intervals between feeds advocates three 

 hours after the first fortnight, from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m., with a six-hours interval 

 at night, which allows the mother necessary repose and rests the digestive organs of 

 the infant. 



Never break the habit of absolute regularity. There are many other reasons for 

 crying than hunger, and a teaspoonful of warm boiled water will often soothe a 

 fretting baby, who cannot voice ifis thirst by any other means. 



HAND-FED INFANTS USUALLY SUFFER FROM EXCESS OF FOOD. 



Fig. 4 illustrates the exact size of a baby's stomach at birth ; most feeding-bottles 

 hold 8 oz., a capacity not attained by the stomach under at least three months; and 

 our sensations must have taught us at some period or other of our lives that to fill 

 the stomach to its utmost capacity is accompanied with feelings of great discomfort ! 

 The use of tube feeding-bottles is forbidden by law in France and discouraged in 

 every country. 



Fig. 4. Infant's stomach at birth ; exact size 

 14 



