A practical treatise on the management and diseases of children / by Richard T. Evanson and Henry Maunsell.
- Evanson, Richard Tonson, 1800-1871.
- Date:
- 1843
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A practical treatise on the management and diseases of children / by Richard T. Evanson and Henry Maunsell. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![guardians, as to sleep, &c.; but the general principles should, under all circumstances, be observed, of permitting no variation, from day to day, in the time for the different meals, and of not breaking in upon these by giving food at irregular periods; while, at the same time, protracted fasting must not be allowed. During the day-time, about four hours is quite sufficient interval between any two meals: this will give time enough, in children, for the stomach, and commence- ment of the small intestines, to perform their offices in the process of digestion, and allow the former an opportunity of recovering energy after the discharge of its function.* It is better not to allow a child to acquire a habit of being fed during the night, as uninterrupted sleep is what they then require most; to ensure which, it is neces- sary that the stomach should be in a state of comparative rest. Per- haps, the best mode in which we can illustrate our ideas with respect to the plan upon which a child should be fed, will be, to describe specifically a day's feeding of a healthy child, — premising that we do not mean to enforce a literal observance of certain hours, &c., specified, but merely to give an example of the working of the prin- ciples we have laid down. A healthy child, of two or three years old, commonly awakes hungry and thirsty, at five or six o'clock in the morning ; sometimes even earlier. Immediately after awaking, a little bread and sweet milk should be given to it, or (when the child is too young to eat bread) a little bread pap. The latter should be warm; but in the former case, the bread may be eaten from the hand, and the milk allowed to be drunk cold, as it as well, at this meal, to furnish no inducement for eating, beyond that of hunger. After eating, the child will generally sleep again for an hour or two ; and about nine o'clock, it should get its second meal, of bread softened in hot water, which latter is to be drained off, and fresh milk, and a little sugar, added to the bread. Between one and two, the child may have dinner, consisting, at the younger ages, of beef, mutton, or chicken broth (deprived of all fat), and bread. When a sufficient number of teeth are developed to' admit of chewing being performed, a little animal food, as chicken, roast or boiled mutton, or beef, not too much dressed, should be allowed, with a potato or bread, and some fresh, well-dressed vegetable, as turnips or cauliflower. After dinner, some drink will be requisite ; and a healthy child requires, or indeed wishes for, nothing but water. Light, fresh table beer, would not be injurious to a child of four or five years old ; but it is unnecessary, and no advantage would, in this instance, result from the creation of a hew want.'' Between six and seven o'clock, the child may have [Independently of the appetite for stimulating drinks which may be created by allowing children beer, it will in most cases produce a directly injurious effect upon their stomachs, and thus disturb the regular nutrition of their bodies. — C] * The importance of not settingr the stomach to work during the latter stages of digestion, is well put \>y Dr. Paris, in his able article on Dietetics, in the Cyc. of Pract. Med. The maxim should be carefully aUended to in feeding children.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21118346_0047.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
