From the day of its birth till it is four or six months of age the child should be nour ished, in ordinary circumstances, entirely by its mother's milk, and during that period no other food of any kind whatever ought to be allowed. It is a mother's chief duty in relation to her child to suckle it, and neither her pleasure nor convenience should, for a moment, be allowed to come into consideration. A bad state of the mother's health may make it advisable, not for her own sake only but also for her child's, that the child should be otherwise reared, but this is the only valid reason as a rule.
It often happens that there is no milk in the mother's breasts for some hours after the birth of the child, and it is the custom of most nurses in the meantime to feed it with spoonfuls of sweetened water. This is entirely a wrong and unnecessary proceeding. There are few children that cannot afford to wait for twelve or even twenty-four hours. The proceeding is also hurt ful, leading to irritation of the child's stomach, and the production of wind, colic, and other evils. In every case the child should be put to the mother's breast immediately after it has been washed and dressed, if the mother is not too tired, and at latest within an hour or two after birth. It often needs the exercise of some little patience before the child obtains a proper hold of the nipple. It should be aided by the nipple being drawn out with the fingers and moistened with milk. If there is milk in the breast the child will obtain satisfaction, and will soon relax its hold and drop off to sleep. The nipple should be removed from its mouth and dried to prevent hacking. But if no milk has been in the breasts, some advantage is yet gained in the drawing out of the nipple, and in the stimulus which has been given to the gland to hasten its activity. Between two and a half and three hours after the last suckling the child must again be put to the breast, and this is the proper interval between each period of suckling for the first ten days or a fortnight after the birth. Regularly as the clock comes round to wards the third hour, night and day, for the period named, the child is to be lifted to its mother's breast. This is the first rule of infant nursing. It must not be broken for any reason. It is a great temptation, if the child is sound asleep, to let the hour slip past ; and many are proud to tell how the child slept for five or six hours on end. This is a mistake. The child
must be wakened at the hour and sufficiently roused and kept awake till it has taken a proper quantity of milk, when it will in all probability, drop off at once to sleep again. On the other hand, if it has been allowed to sleep for five or six hours, the chances are that wind has collected in its stomach and bowels, and its next drink will be followed by an attack of colic and a screaming fit. The mother or nurse will pay dearly for her five or six hours' rest by half an hour's entertainment of this sort. If, on the other hand, the rule is strictly followed, the child will fall in with the regular ways almost naturally. Within a couple of days the mother will have no need of a clock to regulate her suckling. The child will wake up at the hour with almost perfect regularity, will go to sleep after its drink almost immediately, and in ordi nary circumstances will give no trouble what ever. Each breast should be given alternately. Often one nipple is hacked and very painful, and the mother shrinks from giving that breast, and delays. This is a most serious mistake, and the greater evil of a " gathered " breast may be the result. To prevent such results the slightest crack of the nipple should be treated thus : Carefully dry the nipple after each suckling and place over it a pad of cotton-wool, the centre of which is soaked with glycerine of tannin (obtained from druggists). Before the child is again put to the breast remove the wool and bathe off the glycerine of tannin, which is again applied when the child is removed. If this is not sufficient to heal the hack, then let the mother secure, without delay, a glass nipple shield with india-rubber tube and teat attached. (Pl. XXXI.-APPLIANCES FOR THE NURSERY.) usually the shields are sold with the teat on the end of the glass, no tube intervening. It is better to have the tube, because by it the mother may apply the shield and herself suck till the milk fills the tube, then potting the teat into the child's mouth. Thus the child is not worried by sucking in vain for some time. The shield should be worn at each suckling, and the wool with glycerine of tannin applied in the interval till the nipple is quite healed.