Page:Scouting for girls, adapted from Girl guiding.djvu/207

Rh mother's milk is the best food for him, and if he is unfortunate enough to have to take his milk from a bottle you will have to learn the best kind of bottle to use and how to prepare it. Baby is very particular about his milk being fresh and good.

Punctual feeding makes good digestion and even if he wants that extra nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meal at regular hours, than to let his digestion get out of order. Some babies are very punctual and feel it keenly if you do not feed them at the fixed hour. They will very likely let you know it too, and woe betide you if they find you have not properly boiled the bottle after each meal to sterilize it. Between meals a little drink of water which has been boiled and cooled (sterile water) will wash out his mouth as well as refresh him. Do not give a baby too much food at a time, and keep him on plain food. This applies to you as well as to baby. When the digestion is not right the appetite will not be good. Digestion makes the food you eat ready to be turned into muscle and bone and brain, and indigestion means that you have not used up the food you ate and therefore you have those uncomfortable pains in the middle of the night. Eat only the foods you know you can digest comfortably.

By the time a child is two years old, he should have a well varied though simple bill of fare. This may include cereals such as well cooked oatmeal and cream of wheat, soft boiled eggs, fresh juice, (beef) milk puddings, milk toast, baked potatoes, apple sauce and chicken broth.