The foundations of nutrition / by Mary Swartz Rose.

  • Rose, Mary Swartz, 1874-1941.
Date:
[1927], ©1927
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The foundations of nutrition / by Mary Swartz Rose. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    hood. There is nothing to lose and a chance of much to gain by its use. Weaning the Breast-fed Baby In the sixteenth century mothers were advised not to wean their children until they had all their teeth. To-day in the United States it is usually possible to wean a baby before it is a year old. By that time it is stronger, so that the inevitable differences between the best “artificial” diet and mother’s milk need not be a serious obstacle to success. A very young baby is in danger of having his digestion upset by any food but his mother’s milk. In case of misfortune, we must do the best we can, but it is usually best to give the baby the benefit of his mother’s milk through the first nine months of his life. This does not mean, however, that we are to let the baby subsist exclusively on his mother’s milk for nine months and then abruptly change to other food. Such a course is fraught with peril if not disaster. Prepara- tion for weaning should start some months beforehand, and the baby should gradually be accustomed to the foods which are to be his diet when weaning is fully accomplished. Since nursing babies are liable to rickets, it is well to begin cod-liver oil early, especially if the baby is born in the fall and must depend on a fickle sun for ultra-violet rays. At the age of three months, from one-half to one teaspoonful of cod-liver oil may be given once a day between two breast feed- ings and continued until long sun baths can be taken daily in a brilliant sunshine. The next addition should reinforce the mother’s milk