Artificial diet for infants.

 Artificial diet for infants.

It should resemble breast milk as much as possible. It is prepared by mixing cow’s milk, water, and sugar in the following proportions.

Fresh cow’s milk, two-thirds; boiled water or soft malt water, one-third; baking sugar, the amount is enough for sweetening.

This is the best diet that can be used in the first six months, after which it can be combined with some delicacies.

In early childhood, mothers used to give thick porridge, Canada, biscuit powder, and so on., believing that a lighter type of diet would not nourish. This is wrong; because these preparations are too solid; they overload the stomach and cause indigestion, flatulence, and constipation. These create a necessity for laxatives and antiparasitic drugs, which again impair digestion and, because of abnormal irritability, perpetuate the diseases that make them necessary. Thus, many children are kept in a constant cycle of fullness, indigestion, and purification. They are given vitamins and medicines, which, if their diet in terms of quantity and quality copes with the forces of the digestive system, will not need the help of a therapist or doctors.

When preparing this diet, it is important to have pure milk, not skimmed or mixed with water; in hot weather, it is taken from the cow. It should not be mixed with water or sugar until he wants it, and the child will not take it, since it must be prepared fresh for each meal. It is better not to heat the milk on the stove, but to let the water boil when mixed with it so that it is given to the baby warm or lukewarm.

As the infant grows, the proportion of milk can accumulate; this is necessary after the second month when three parts of milk are allowed for one part of water. But there should be no changes in the type of diet if the child’s health is good and his appearance is improved. There is nothing more ridiculous than the idea that young children need a variety of food; only one type of food is prepared by nature, and it is impossible to circumvent this law without noticeable injury.

There are two ways for a spoon and a bottle. The first should never be used during this period, because the strength of the digestive system in infants is very weak, and their food is designed by nature to be brought to the stomach, bought from the breast by sucking. A large amount of saliva is secreted, poured into the mouth, mixed with milk, and swallowed with it. To imitate nature, it is advisable to consume food by suction from a bottle, as this allows for a slow intake and ensures that enough saliva mixes in for optimal digestion. Regardless of the type of bottle or nipple used, do not forget about hygiene for the success of this parenting plan.

The amount of food served at each meal is regulated by the child’s age and digestive strength. A little experience will soon allow an attentive and observant mother to determine this point. When the child grows up, the amount, of course, must be increased.

The fundamental mistake in raising young is overeating; the most dangerous of them; but it can be easily avoided by a parent who follows a systematic plan regarding feeding times, and then only succumbs to appetite indicators, administering food slowly, in small quantities at a time. This is the only way to effectively prevent indigestion, intestinal disorders, and nervous state of the nervous system, which is very common in childhood, safe for a healthy infant diet, and the consequent strength of the Constitution. As he also stated, “Nature never intended to turn an infant’s stomach into a vessel of laxatives, carminative, antacids, stimulants, and astringents; and when these become necessary, we can find out what is wrong with our administration, no matter how ideal it may seem to us.”

The frequency of Food Administration should be determined by providing an interval between each meal that ensures the digestion of the previous amount; this can be set to approximately every three or four hours. If you deviate from this norm and the baby receives a new supply of food almost every hour, then there will be no time to digest the previous amount. Because of this intermittent process, the food passing through the intestines will not be digested, it will ferment and turn sour, inevitably produce colic and cleansing, and in no way contribute to the nutrition of the baby.

The position of the baby when feeding: - it is important to take care of it. She should not receive her meals lying down; the head should be raised on the nurse’s arm, which is the most natural position, a position in which there will be no risk of food spoilage, as it is called. After each meal, the little one should be put to bed, or put on his mother’s lap, for at least half an hour. This is essential for digestion, as exercise is significant at other times to promote health.

As soon as the child has teeth, and at this time one or two will appear, hard varnish boiled in water can be applied, beaten through a sieve, and mixed with a small amount of milk. Or tops and bottoms, soaked in hot water, with the addition of fresh milk and a loaf of sugar to sweeten. And the baby can now, for the first time, be fed with a spoon.

When one or two large grinding teeth appear, the same food can be continued, but it does not need to be passed through a sieve. Beef tea and chicken broth can sometimes be added; and as a prelude to using a more complete animal diet, a portion, from time to time, of a boiled egg; and a small bread pudding, made with an egg in it, can be eaten as a dinner.

Nothing is more common for parents during this period to give their children animal food. This is a big mistake. Feeding an infant with animal food before he has suitable teeth for chewing, shows a complete disregard for the simple indicators of nature, clogging these teeth so that the system needs their help to chew solid food. The method of grating and shelling meat, as an alternative to chewing, can be suitable for a toothless octogenarian, whose stomach can digest it; but the stomach of a small child is not adapted to digest such food and will be upset by it.

It cannot be reasonably said that the child’s mouth is toothless, and the mouth of an adult, lined with the teeth of omnivorous and carnivorous animals, was designed by the creator for the same type of food. If chewing solid food, be it animal or vegetable, with an appropriate admixture of saliva, is necessary for digestion, then solid food cannot be suitable, when there is no strength for chewing. If swallowed in large quantities, it cannot be chewed at all and will have little chance of digestion; and in case of indigestion, it turns out to be harmful to the stomach and other organs involved in digestion, forming unnatural compounds. The practice of giving solid food to a toothless child is no less ridiculous than expecting to grind corn where there is no device for grinding it. What can be considered evidence of stupidity or insanity in the latter case, is defended and practiced in the first case. In addition, if the Solid, be it animal or vegetable, is broken into small pieces to avoid this evil, the infant will swallow it immediately, but it will not be mixed with saliva. However, when observing every day, it will become clear that children are fed at their most tender age; and it’s not so wonderful that current diseases are produced in this way, laying the foundation for the disease in the future.