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57
After the sixth week or thereabouts, breast feeding is often not maintained,
nd for various reasons the mothers begin to give additional feeds. In some cases,
the mother goes back to work at this time ; the baby is put out to be minded with
a neighbour, who is often unfortunately too old to give the baby the care and attention
it needs.
In these cases, breast feeding is continued at night, and whenever possible the
mother will return during the dinner hour to feed her baby. During the mother's
absence, the child is fed from a bottle with cow's milk, or condensed, or dried milk.
The bottle used for feeding is either the proper boat-shaped feeding bottle, or
else a medicine bottle fitted with a wide mouthed teat. The latter arrangement is
quite satisfactory. The filthy, long tube feeding-bottle has quite fallen into disuse
in this district.
The use of dried milk is growing more widespread, and results from it seem
quite satisfactory, if it be not continuously used for too long a period. Its use during
the summer months is advantageous. It can be kept free from dust and flies, in
a closed tin, and the risk of contamination is reduced. The difficulty of keeping
cow's milk fresh and pure, during the hot season, in homes where there is no provision
for suitable storage, is so great as to make its use for babies very unsafe, unless the
mother is an intelligent careful woman.
The greatest evils as regards feeding, that the Health Visitor has to contend
with are, firstly, irregularity of feeding, and secondly, the giving of additional
feeds of sop made with bread or biscuit, oatmeal or cornflour, usually on the
recommendation of the grandmother. Both of these evils result in digestive disturbance,
and often end with causing wasting disease.
Irregularity of feeding is the beginning of a bad habit which continues throughout
childhood.
In many of these cases, the Health Visitor is handicapped by the fact, that the
mothers are getting to know, almost too well, what account of baby the Health Visitor
likes to hear, and what she disapproves of. It is often said, that baby is having the
breast milk only, every two hours regularly, and that the sop standing on the table
is for the older baby, aged about 2 years
The mothers have made some progress as regards feeding is obvious, as it is
rarely found, nowadays, that young infants have such unsuitable food as was
formerly the case.
However, quite recently when one of the Health Visitors called at a certain
house, she found the mother and her first baby, aged 3 weeks, at breakfast.
The mother was having bacon and eggs, and the baby, bacon fat, and the yolk of egg !