The Care and Feeding of Children Part 16

The bottle should not be given except at night. Cereals may now form an important part of the diet. They should be very thoroughly cooked, usually for three hours, and strained.

The daily schedule should be about as follows:

6.30 A.M. Milk, warmed, eight to ten ounces, given from a cup.

9 A.M. Fruit juice, one to three ounces.

10 A.M. Cereal: one, later two or three, tablespoonfuls of oatmeal hominy or wheaten grits, cooked for at least three hours; upon this from one to two ounces of thin cream, or milk and cream, with plenty of salt, but without sugar.

Crisp dry toast, one piece; or, unsweetened zwieback; or, one Huntley and Palmer breakfast biscuit.

Milk, warmed, six to eight ounces, from a cup.

2 P.M. Beef juice, one to two ounces; and one egg (soft boiled, poached or coddled); and boiled rice, one tablespoonful; or, broth (mutton or chicken), four ounces; one or two Huntley and Palmer breakfast biscuits, or zwieback; and (if most of the teeth are present) rare sc.r.a.ped meat, at first one teaspoonful, gradually increasing to one tablespoonful.

6 P.M. Cereal: two tablespoonfuls of farina, cream of wheat, or arrowroot, cooked for at least one half hour, with milk, plenty of salt, but without sugar.

Milk, warmed, eight to ten ounces, given from a cup.

10 P.M. Milk, warmed, eight to ten ounces, which may be given from a bottle.

_Give a proper diet for an average child from the eighteenth month to the end of the second year._

The same order of meals as for the months just preceding should be followed. For most children milk at 10 P.M. is desirable. There are many, however who sleep regularly from 6 P.M. until 6 A.M. without food; for such the night feeding should, of course, not be insisted upon.

The daily schedule should be about as follows:

6.30 A.M. Milk, warmed, ten to twelve ounces, given from cup.

9 A.M. Fruit juice, two to three ounces.

10 A.M. Cereals: similar to those given from the fourteenth to the eighteenth month; they need not be strained although they should be cooked and served in the same way.

Crisp dry bread, zwieback, or Huntley and Palmer biscuits, without b.u.t.ter.

Milk, warmed, one cup.

2 P.M. Beef juice and one egg; or, broth and meat; care being taken that the meat is always rare and sc.r.a.ped or very finely divided; beefsteak, mutton chop, or roast beef may be given.

Very stale bread, or two pieces of zwieback.

Prune pulp or baked apple, one to two tablespoonfuls.

Water; no milk.

6 P.M. Cereal: farina, cream of wheat, or arrowroot, cooked for at least one half hour, with milk, plenty of salt, but without sugar.

or, milk toast or stale bread and milk.

10 P.M. If required, ten to twelve ounces of plain milk.

_What fruits may be given at this period?_

If the child has a feeble digestion, only the fruit juices previously allowed; strong children may have in addition prune pulp, baked apple, and applesauce. The prune pulp is prepared by stewing the dried prunes without sugar until they are very soft, and removing all the skin by putting the fruit through a strainer; of this from one to two tablespoonfuls may be given at one time. The baked apple should be given without cream, and the applesauce should have very little sugar.

_How and when should water be given?_

Throughout the second year water should be given freely between the feedings, especially in warm weather; from one to three ounces may be given at one time, either from a spoon, a gla.s.s, or a bottle. The water should be boiled daily and then cooled. It should not be allowed to stand in the room, but fresh water should be put into the bottle each time.

FEEDING DURING THE THIRD YEAR

_What changes may be made in the diet during the third year?_

The night feeding at 10 P.M. should be omitted. A greater quant.i.ty of solid food may be allowed, particularly at the mid-day meal. It is not advisable to begin potato and other vegetables until this age is reached. Three regular meals should be given and milk once besides, either between the breakfast and dinner or dinner and supper, whichever is the longer interval. Water should be allowed freely between meals.

_What would be a proper schedule for an average child during the third year?_

7.30 A.M. Cereal: cooked (preferably over night) for three hours, although a somewhat larger variety may be given than during the second year; given as before with milk or thin cream, salt, but very little sugar.

Warm milk, one gla.s.s.

A soft egg, poached, boiled or coddled.

Bread, very stale or dry, one slice, with b.u.t.ter.

10 A.M. Warm milk, one cup, with a cracker or piece of very stale bread and b.u.t.ter.

2 P.M. Soup, four ounces; or, beef juice, two ounces.

Meat: chop, steak, roast beef or lamb or chicken.

A baked white potato; or, boiled rice.

Green vegetable: asparagus tips, string beans, peas, spinach; all to be cooked until very soft, and mashed, or preferably put through a sieve; at first, one or two teaspoonfuls.

Dessert: cooked fruit--baked or stewed apple, stewed prunes.

Water; no milk.

6 P.M. Cereal: farina, cream of wheat, or arrowroot, cooked for at least one half hour, with plenty of salt, but without sugar; or, milk toast; or, bread and milk; or, stale or dry bread and b.u.t.ter and a gla.s.s of milk.

PART III

THE DIET OF OLDER CHILDREN (FOURTH TO TENTH YEAR)

Throughout this period the largest meal should always be in the middle of the day, and a light supper given, very much like that described for the third year. During the first half of this period, milk may be allowed once either between breakfast and dinner or dinner and supper; no other eating between meals should be permitted, but water should be allowed freely.

MILK AND CREAM

_What part of the diet should milk form during childhood?_

It should form a very important part up to the tenth year; nothing can take its place. There are comparatively few children who cannot take and digest milk if it is properly fed.

_Why is milk so advantageous?_

Because no food that we possess has so high a nutritive value as milk, for the amount of work required of the organs of digestion. It is, therefore, peculiarly adapted to the diet of the child.

_What are the essential points in the use of milk?_

It should be clean and fresh, but not too rich. It is a mistake to select for any children the rich milk of a Jersey herd and use it as though it were an ordinary milk. For children who have difficulty in digesting milk, it should be somewhat diluted, i.e., one part of water to four parts of milk, or salt or bicarbonate of soda should be added.