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41 [1910
" You can check a mother's milk by constant or too many night feedings,
or by disturbing the woman's hours of sleep in any other way.
" You can spoil the best breast milk in the world by feeding the woman
with too rich food, giving her alcoholic tonics and checking normal exercise.
" You can ' upset' the baby by putting it to the breast too frequently,
loading a halfempty stomach with a fresh meal. Vomiting, colic, green
stools and diarrhoea are some of the results.
" You can get the best results by first knowing what the wet nurse yields
to her baby by a system of weighing the child before and after nursing
Every baby doctor should keep suitable scales to rent or lend for this purpose
until he is satisfied on the matter.
" The interval between nursings can best be regulated when you know
how much milk the baby gets in twentyfour hours. An ordinary baby will
thrive best on not more than seven meals in twentyfour hours during the
first three months of life, and often will do as well or better on six feedings.
An effort should be made early to cut down night feedings, as it favours the
welfare of both the mother and child.
" When the yield of breast milk is scanty and the child not gaining,
give an ounce or two of artificial food just after its nursing, rather than omit
a breast feeding altogether, if the child is under six months or even older,
and if the time be midsummer, as such a method keeps the breasts up to their
best yielding capacity. The old way of substituting a bottle for one or two
feedings only checks the yield of milk all the more.
" Mixed feeding, when properly conducted, may be begun with benefit
to the nursling in its eighth or ninth month, but the physician must instruct
the mother what, when and how much she shall give. The following will do
no harm, but will greatly help nourish breastfed babies when eight or nine
months old if properly prepared, given at the proper time, and in proper
quantities.
"' Pap' (stale bread) soaked in boiling water and cooked with cow's milk
for a few minutes.
" Vegetable soup, strained, with a little toasted bread.
" Farina, or other similar cereal, boiled and served with clean cow's milk.