The Care and Feeding of Children. 813 



faring with its powers of digestion, but it affects the quahty as well as 

 quantity of the mother's milk by overworking the milk-producing glands. 

 One cause of failure in the mother's supply of milk is due to habitual 

 irregularity in feeding the child. 



(a) Length of time of nursing. — About twenty minutes should be given 

 to each nursing. If the time is shorter than this it usually means that 

 the milk flows too freely and that the quick feeding may result in diges- 

 tive disturbances. Under these circumstances the flow of milk should 

 be controlled by pressure of the nipple between the fingers. If the 

 child falls asleep while nursing it should be awakened and kept awake 

 until it has finished the meal. The contents of one breast should be 

 sufiicient for a meal, especially with younger babies, and the breasts 

 should be alternated. As the child grows older, or if the yield of milk 

 is not large at any one time, it may be necessary to give both breasts 

 at a meal. After the child has been fed it should be placed in its crib 

 on the side which has been uppermost during the nursing. This rests 

 tired mucles and ensures better sleep. 



Care of the breast. — Indigestion in breast-fed babies is sometimes 

 caused by a lack of care of the mother's breast and of the child's mouth. 

 Before and after each nursing the nipples should be washed with a dilute 

 boric acid solution and rinsed with fresh water. The baby's mouth 

 should also be cleansed by wrapping a little soft cloth or cotton around 

 the finger and swabbing out the mouth with clean water. Milk left on 

 the nipples or in the mouth of the child may sour or become otherwise 

 contaminated and cause as much trouble as unclean milk from any 

 source. The milk which accumulates in the milk ducts is often con- 

 taminated and it is often best to withdraw a little of the milk before 

 nursing the child. 



The mother's food. — The general health and nutrition of the mother 

 affect the composition and quality of the milk. Often a scanty supply 

 can be increased, or the ratio of the different ingredients changed by a 

 change in diet, in exercise, or in general hygiene. 



The diet of the nursing mother should be much the same as it has been 

 during the nine months previous to the birth of the child. It should 

 be rich in milk, eggs, well-cooked cereals, vegetables and fruits. Meat 

 should play an unimportant part, unless the mother has been accus- 

 tomed to a large meat diet. Under these circumstances the withdrawal 

 of this stimulating food may be unwise. Strong vegetables as onions 

 and turnips which produce flavors in milk should be avoided. Liberal 

 use may be made of such fruits as apples, which are often better cooked, 

 as they are more easily digested, oranges, prunes, ripe peaches and pears. 

 The belief is a mistaken one that fruit in the mother's diet is a cause of 



