The (Improper) Feeding of Infants

This is a subject on which the greatest ignorance prevails, and the enormous infantile mortality is undoubtedly due to this fact. The following are some rules which should be strictly observed by every mother or nurse.

An infant should be fed upon human milk until it is eight or nine months old, and during this time it should have no other food whatever. If for some reason or other the mother cannot suckle the child, then the child must be fed from the bottle with cow's milk that has been made as nearly as possible like human milk; but it should be distinctly understood that the child will thrive most on the mother's milk, and that rearing a child by the bottle means that additional risks are run.

Comment: Not that this is my speciality, but the suggestion that nothing but milk will do for up to 9 month-olds will work led me to do some reading on the topic. The NHS, for example, has a whole load of advice+videos to explain how to go about doing this. I've also read that up to four months, a baby should only be fed milk or formula (and nothing else). Beyond 4 months, the baby can start assimilating solid foods.

If fed by the breast, the child should be put to the breast every two hours, from about six in the morning till twelve at night, during the first two months. During the third month, it should be fed every three hours, and from the third to eighth month every four hours. About the ninth month the child may be weaned, and for several years from this age the main food should be cow's milk.

Comment: No wonder such a heavy schedule leads many working mothers to shift to formula-based feeding or to the use of breast pumps!  Respect!

If there is no human milk forthcoming, an artificial human milk is most easily prepared as follows:-- Measure twelve tablespoons of cow's milk, having previously boiled it and allowed it to cool. A convenient measure is the ordinary medicine bottle which contains sixteen tablespoonfuls and is usually graduated at the back. It must be kept scrupulously clean. Add to this one tablespoonful of cream, nine tablespoonfuls of boiled water, six tablespoonfuls of lime water, and two teaspoonfuls of sugar. If the cream cannot be afforded it must be dispensed with.  This mixture shouldb e given for the first month. It must be kept in air-tight bottles. For the second month and up to the fourth, reduce the boild water to five table-spoonfuls and after that age add only the lime water to the milk. For the sake of variety, barley water may be occasionally substituted for lime water. The best form of sugar to use is lactose or milk-sugar, which can be easily obtained. The child will probably consume more than half a pint of the mixture per day for the first few days and then the amount will increase to about two pints per day at three months of age.

Comment: to quote wikipedia: "Whole cow's milk contains too little iron, retinol, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin D, unsaturated fats or essential fatty acids for human babies." What's more surprising is the recommendation to add lime water! That's calcium hydroxide.... which, according to this site, will clearly irritate the child's digestive system... 

Improper Feeding of Infants
As the salivary glands are not fully developed during the first few months of an infant's life, the food of the infant should not contain starchy matter, as there are no salivary juices to digest this. Milk is the best food for infants. If starchy or other unsuitable food is given to infants, they are liable to attacks of vomiting, convulsions, and diarrhoea -- the latter being a particularly fatal disorder. Rickets, also, may occur in children who are fed too early on starchy foods, especially if at the same time their surroundings are not hygenic.

Comment: now I won't be sharing my biscuits with my baby nieces and nephews!

Condensed milk should never be used where it is possible to obtain fresh milk. It is greatly inferior to fresh milk. If it has to be used, the unsweetened brands are the set. It should also be mixed with sixteen parts of water for children under one month, and then the amount of water gradually decreased until only seven parts are added when the child is eight months old.

Two or three feeding bottles should be kept, and scrupulous cleanliness is absolutely essential. After the child has finished its meal, the bottle and tubes should be thoroughly cleaned with hot water, and a new teat put on frequently. The best kind of bottle is the "lamb feeder," which is easily cleaned and dispenses with the objectionable tubing.

After nine months of age, small amounts of other foods may be given with the milk, such as milk pudding, custard pudding, sop, broth, bread crumbs soaked in gravy, etc... but the stable food for several years should be boiled cow's milk.