Child Nutrition — Feeding the Infant in the Third Month of Life

The feeding program after the sixtieth day

(1) Six o'clock in the morning: nursing.
(2) Ten o'clock in the morning: a) A mixture of four teaspoons of lukewarm water and two spoonfuls of orange or tomato juice.
b) Nursing.

(3) A sun bath between ten in the morning and three in the afternoon.

(4) Two o'clock in the afternoon: a) Three drops of concentrated vitamin D.
b) Nursing.

(5) Six o'clock in the evening: nursing.
(6) Ten o'clock at night: nursing.
(7) Two o'clock in the morning: nursing.
(8) Lukewarm water, previously boiled, two or three times every day when the child is thirsty.

The child's weight should increase during the third month at a faster rate than it did during the second month. The following list shows the child's approximate weight at the end of the third month, "90 days," and its relation to height:

Height — Weight / Height — Weight
53 cm — 4.40 kg / 63 cm — 6.3 kg
56 cm — 5.00 kg / 66 cm — 6.8 kg
58 cm — 5.5 kg / 68 cm — 7.2 kg
60 cm — 5.9 kg

A well-nourished child should be able to raise his head when he lies on his stomach.

When the weather is fine and the baths are given to the child regularly, three drops of vitamin D can suffice him. But if the sun baths are irregular, the amount of vitamin D may be increased to four drops, and later to five drops daily.

The quantity and strength of the orange or tomato juice should be increased gradually until, at the end of the month, the quantity becomes half a coffee cup of juice mixed with an equal amount of lukewarm water.

Around the middle of the third month, cereals should be added to the child's food. Any of the cereal flours mentioned below will serve the purpose, though the cereals marked with the sign × are better than the others, because they contain a larger quantity of vitamins and mineral substances: semolina ×, corn flour ×, oats, unsifted wheat flour ×, ground rice starch. There are also a number of preserved cereals, containing a mixture of various kinds of flour, prepared especially for children.

The flour should be cooked slowly in water in the following manner: mix one teaspoon of flour with half a cup or a cup of water and cook it gradually for half an hour, adding a little salt to give it some flavor; then pour the food through a sieve and mix one teaspoon of this mixture with an equal amount of boiled milk. Give this kind of food to the child after giving him the orange juice at the ten o'clock morning feeding, or before the six o'clock evening feeding. The quantity may be increased gradually to 1–3 teaspoons at the end of the month; but if the child's weight is above normal, the quantity given should be kept moderate.

The scientific bases of the feeding directions given above

Mother's milk is very nearly a complete food. It contains protein for the building of the muscles and the delicate tissues; it contains carbohydrates and fat to supply heat and the other kinds of energy to the body; it contains lime and phosphorus for the building of the bones; and it contains vitamin A and the vitamin B complex (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin), which are necessary for the growth of the body and the improvement of its health. As for vitamin C and vitamin D, together with iron, they are present in quantities so small that they do not suffice for the best nutrition. Vitamin C is necessary for the formation of the cells of the bones and teeth, while vitamin D helps in the (absorption) of the lime and phosphorus which harden the bones. The first — vitamin C — is found abundantly in oranges, tomatoes, lemons, and certain

fresh fruits and vegetables; the second — vitamin D — appears in the directions given in this article in concentrated form, and it is also generated in the skin during sun baths.

There is in the child's liver a quantity of iron sufficient for the body until the child reaches five or six months — provided the quantity of iron the mother took with her food was sufficient. But if the child is pale in the third month, the doctor should be consulted, so that he may prescribe for the child a medicine that supplies the necessary quantity of iron.