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15
Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames.
THE FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF BABIES.
Do not be persuaded to give up nursing your own baby,
unless this is specially ordered by a doctor—a very rare event.
The best food for the baby is mother's breast milk alone
without any other food whatever. Babies nursed by their
mothers have nearly three times as good a prospect of
reaching one year of age as babies who are hand-fed. Consider
then the danger to your baby's life which is involved in
not giving it breast milk during the first nine or ten months
of its life.
NEVER give the baby "some of what you have yourselves."
It is especially dangerous to wean your baby during the
summer months of June, July, August and September. Death
from Diarrhœa is very common among hand-fed babies, very
rare among breast-fed babies.
Do not overfeed the baby—Do not feed the baby too
often.
FURTHER ADVICE AS TO BABIES.
If the baby cannot possibly be breast-fed, please note
the following important points
NEVER give the baby bread or sops or gravy, or any
food except milk, until it is more than seven months old.
NEVER use a feeding bottle with a long tube.
NEVER use a dummy teat or "comforter."
Dirt is the great danger to the baby's health. Comforters
are always getting dirty, and a long-tubed feeding bottle
cannot be kept properly clean.
NEVER give the baby soothing syrups, or teething
powders, or anything of the sort.
THE PREVENTION OF RICKETS.
Rickets is a very serious disease of childhood, not only
because it causes "bandy legs" and other deformities; but
also because it helps to produce dangerous chest diseases, like
bronchitis and pneumonia; and increases the number of
deaths occurring during attacks of measles and whooping
cough.
Rickets is one of the main causes of disease and death in
the first five years of life.
It is very rare in breast-fed babies.