'Growing Babies': Defining the Milk Requirements of Infants 1890-1910

Weaver, L. T. (2010) 'Growing Babies': Defining the Milk Requirements of Infants 1890-1910. Social History of Medicine, 23(2), pp. 320-337. (doi: 10.1093/shm/hkp058)

Abstract

How babies should best be fed was a pressing question at a time when infant mortality in many parts of Europe and North America was well above 100 per 1,000 live births, and recognised to be strongly associated with 'improper feeding'. This paper compares and contrasts three national answers to this question. In France a gravimetric method, in Germany a caloric method and in the USA a volumetric method of calculating how much milk infants needed to thrive was developed and adopted in the 1890s. Each was born of and reflected local traditions of paediatric care, cultures of nutritional science and professional interests. These three apparently conflicting, but actually complementary approaches to infant feeding were not reconciled until the 1920s when a new generation of paediatricians succeeded the champions of each.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Weaver, Professor Lawrence
• Authors: Weaver, L. T.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > Clinical Specialities
• Journal Name: Social History of Medicine
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0951-631X
• ISSN (Online): 1477-4666