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when attacked, especially in summer time. As such a large number of children
die from diarrhoea, parents are advised in all cases to immediately seek medical
advice.
The principal cause of diarrhoea is improper food and feeding.
Until eight or nine months old an infant has neither the teeth to chew nor the
juices to digest starchy foods, such as bread, potatoes, biscuits, rusks, oatmeal,
arrowroot, wheat flour, and such foods cannot be made digestible by mixing them
with milk and water, they should therefore not be given to young infants.
Milk is the proper food for a young infant, and mother's milk the most natural,
but, if absent, the best substitute is fresh cow's milk.
Boil half-pint of cow's milk, remove the scum, add a teaspoonful of sugar, and
dilute with half-pint of water, or a little more during the first three and a little
less water during the last three months of the nine. As stale food is dangerous
to an infant, small quantities should be frequently made as required, in the
proportions mentioned.
Use a feeder, the old-fashioned boat, or the long slipper-shaped bottle, with an
opening at each end, one closed by a cork, the other by a teat. This form of
feeder is the most easily cleansed, and an uncleansed feeder is dangerous to an
infant.
Cleanse the feeder before refilling by boiling it in water, thoroughly and
completely cleansing the cork, and the teat, inside and out. It is convenient to
have two feeders in use, the one not in use being placed after boiling in clean
cold water, with the teat and the cork loose, until required.
Feed every two hours during the first three months, every three hours during
the second three, and every four hours during the third three. Feed also once or
twice in the night for the first few months, then gradually discontinue night
feeding.
The quantity of milk and water should not exceed one pint a day during the
first week, gradually increased to three pints at the ninth month. At the eighth
or ninth month a commencement may be made with sops and porridges, at about
the twelfth month pounded meat and soft foods may be given, and by the
eighteenth month light solid foods.
flaw hard fruits and vegetables should not be given to children under two years
of age, and at no age should unripe or over-ripe fruit and vegetables be allowed to
be eaten, particularly in summer time.
July, 1898.
John F. J. Sykes,
Medical Officer of Health.