The Feeding of Children
Ways in Which a Child May Be Supplied With Food
There are three ways in which a child may be supplied with food during its infancy: by its mother; by a substitute for its mother—a wet nurse; and by artificial feeding. This chapter will treat only of the latter method.
The child is fortunate whose mother can supply it with a sufficient quantity of wholesome milk. There is nothing more to be desired for it during the first ten or twelve months of its life. But often a mother, for one reason or another, is not able to nurse her child, and other means of feeding must be sought. In such cases, among the wealthier classes, a wet nurse is sometimes employed; but with the majority of people there is no alternative except artificial feeding. When this has been decided upon, the question naturally arises as to what shall be the best substitute for the natural nourishment of the child—mother’s milk, which must always be taken as the perfect type of infants’ food.47 To this subject doctors and hygienists have given much attention for a long time. Many kinds of food preparations have been made and tested. The result has been that, almost without exception, authorities agree that milk from healthy, well-fed cows, properly prepared, is the most valuable substitute for human milk that is at present known.48