There can be no doubt that this, being the natural, is at the same time the proper method of nourishing the human infant; and fortunate is the baby that, in our day of advanced civilization and city living, can draw from the breast of a robust mother an abundant supply of pure, health-giving, tissue-building food.

It follows, therefore, that every woman who is free from certain contraindicating diseases, to be mentioned later, should nourish her child solely from her breast up to the age of eight months, and partially to the end of the first year, or, failing in either limit, as long as possible.

The infant should be put to the breast as soon as the mother has recovered somewhat from the fatigue of labor - some four or eight hours after birth. Of course no milk can be drawn at this early date, but the baby gets a small quantity of thin, watery fluid, called colostrum, which affords sufficient nourishment, and at the same time, from its laxative properties, clears away the greenish or black viscid material that collects in the infant's intestinal canal during intra-uterine life. This procedure, too, is of great advantage to the mother, for it insures proper contraction of the womb, draws out the nipples, and encourages the formation of milk.

As the secretion of milk is never fully established until the third day after labor, it stands to reason that no food other than the colostrum is required before that time. Hence, the practice of filling the infant's stomach with gruel, sugar and water, and other sweetened mixtures, is more than useless, for it diminishes the activity of sucking and the consequent stimulation of milk production. Put the child to the breast every two hours while the mother is awake, and there need be no fear of starvation.

After the third day, should the breast not yield a supply of milk, a mixture of cream, two teaspoon-fuls, whey and water each three teaspoonfuls, and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of sugar of milk, may be given every fourth hour, the baby being put to the breast in the meanwhile. When the flow begins, however, the artificial feeding is to be discontinued.

Usually on the fourth day milk is secreted and regular lactation commences. Many untrained mothers make a failure of nursing because they know nothing of the manner of giving suck; of the length of time the child should be kept at the breast; of the proper time for and interval between feeding, and the importance of regularity. Upon these points the physician should give minute instructions.

When giving the breast, the infant must be held partly on its side, on the right or left arm, according to the gland about to be drawn from, while the mother must bend her body forward, so that the nipple may fall easily into the child's mouth, and steady the breast with the first and second finger of the disengaged hand, placed above and below the nipple. In case the milk runs too freely - a condition very apt to excite vomiting - the flow is easily regulated by gentle pressure with the supporting fingers. Each of the breasts should be drawn alternately, the contents of one being usually sufficient for a meal; and a healthy child may be allowed to nurse for fifteen minutes or until satisfied, when he will stop of his own accord, drop the nipple and fall asleep with milk still flowing over his lips.

During the first six weeks the breast is required every second hour, from 6 A. M. until 10 p. m. At night the infant should be put in a crib by the mother's bed, or in an adjoining room, under the care of a competent nurse, and there remain quietly until the morning feeding. This secures the mother eight hours of uninterrupted repose, a matter of great importance to her general health and consequent capacity for prolonged lactation. As to the infant, he may rebel at first, and wake and cry, so that it is necessary to quiet him with a little milk and water administered from a bottle; but often, after a few days and certainly at the end of a week or two, the good custom of sleeping at night is formed, and there is no further trouble.

Regularity in meal hours is even of more importance in early than in adult life, on account of the natural feebleness of digestion, and, further, regular nursing has a marked influence upon the maternal food supply, for it is a fact that breasts which are emptied at fixed intervals produce more and better milk, than those called upon irregularly and too frequently. To secure regularity, it is only necessary to have a little perseverance, for infants are such creatures of habit that a short training brings them into the way of expecting food only at certain times, and, when healthy, they wake to suck the breast with almost the precision of the clock. While insisting upon this rule, one must recognize the fact that, although in the vast majority of instances a two-hours' interval is most suitable up to the second month, there is no absolute law as to the number of daily nursings. Some infants seem to need food less frequently, and it is best to respect their peculiarity and not force the breast upon them so long as they sleep well, do not fret when awake, and thrive generally. Others, again, may require it oftener, every hour and a half, perhaps, and once or twice at night. In these exceptional cases an appropriate schedule can only be made by close observation of individual characteristics.

A common and most ruinous mistake is to resort to constant feeding as a means of pacifying crying. Babies certainly do cry from hunger, but just as frequently the crying results from colic, or from the discomfort and pain of indigestion. Every mother should be able to recognize the difference. The cry from hunger usually begins after a sound sleep. It is not peevish, and stops at the sight of the breast, when the infant rouses himself, presents an expression of pleasure, clinches his hands and flexes his limbs. The cry of colic is violent and paroxysmal; the face is livid and wears an expression of suffering; the abdomen is distended and hard; the hands and feet are cold; the legs are drawn up or kicked violently about; and an explosion of wind from the mouth or bowels ends the attack. A peevish cry, hot skin and sour breath attend indigestion.