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SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
Punctual feeding makes good digestion, and even if 
the baby takes an extra nap it is better to wake a healthy 
baby to give him his meals at regular hours than to let 
his digestion get out of order. Between meals a little 
water which has been boiled and cooled and kept cov- 
ered will wash out its mouth as well as refresh the child. 
The average infant is fed every three hours until it is 
five months old. After that it is fed every four hours 
until it is fifteen or sixteen months old, when it is shifted 
to three meals a day with perhaps a cup of milk in long 
intervals. Solid food, such as zweiback and milk or 
cereal, is begun at seven months, and by thirteen or four- 
teen months the child will be eating cereal, bread, broth, 
beef juice, potato, rice, vegetables, etc. Candy is harm- 
ful for children, and even older children should eat candy 
only after meals. Raw fruit, except orange juice, is apt 
to be upsetting in summer. 
Keep the baby and everything around him clean. The 
baby’s food is the most important thing to keep clean. 
The cleanliness of the bottle, when it is necessary to feed 
the baby from one, is very important. Choose a bottle 
of fairly heavy glass with rounded bottom and wide 
mouth, so that it may be easily cleaned. Short rubber 
nipples which clip over the neck of the bottle and which 
can be easily turned inside out, should be selected, and 
discarded when they become soft, or when the openings 
become large enough for the milk to run in a stream 
instead of drop by drop. Remove the bottle from the 
baby’s mouth as soon as empty, rinse at once in cold 
water and then fill with a solution of bicarbonate of 
soda (baking soda), about one teaspoonful to a pint 
of water. Before rinsing wash in hot soapsuds, using 
a bottle brush, rinse well in plain water, and boil for 
twe minutes, placing a clean cloth in the bottom of 
the basin to protect the bottle from breaking. Before 
