POSITION DURING FEEDING
And now we realize that we are about to advise against the time-honored injunction which has been handed down from "Grandma This" and "Mother That" to all young mothers who have lived in their neighborhoods: "My dear young mother, if you can't nurse your precious infant, you can at least 'mother it' at the nursing time by holding it in your arms and gently rocking it to and fro as you hold the bottle to its lips." This so-called "mothering" has resulted in regurgitation, belching, and numerous other troubles, as well as the formation of the "rocking habit."
A young mother came running into my office one day saying: "Doctor, it won't work, the food's all wrong; my baby is not going to live, for he throws up his food nearly all the time." We arranged to be present when the next feeding time came and watched the proceedings. A dear old friend had told her "she must 'mother' her baby at the nursing time," and so she had held the child in a semi-upright position as she endeavored to hold the bottle as near her own breast as was possible. The hole in the nipple was a bit large, which occasioned the subsequent bolting of the food, and then to continue the "mothering" she swayed him to and fro, all of which was interrupted suddenly by the vomiting of a deluge of milk.
Fig. 10. Heating the Bottle.
I drew the shade in an adjoining room, opened the windows, and into a comfortable carriage-bed I placed the baby on his side. Seating myself beside him I held the warm, bottled meal as he nursed. Several times I took it from his mouth, or so tipped it that "bolting" was impossible. Gradually, carefully, and slowly, I took the empty bottle away from the sleepy babe, and as I closed the door the mother said in anxious amazement: "He won't forget I'm his mother if I don't hold him while he nurses?" You smile as I smiled at this girl-mother's thought; but, nevertheless there are many like her—anxious, well-meaning, but ignorant.
The infant stomach is little more than a tube, easily emptied if the baby's position is not carefully guarded after nursing. No bouncing, jolting, patting, rocking, or throwing should take place either just before, during, or immediately after meals.