Difficult as I acknowledge it is to lay down an universal Rule, I will here attempt what appears to me to be generally practicable. According to the usual Management of Children at the Breast it may be averr’d, that they have too little Sleep, and too much Food: that is, their Sleep is short and broken thro’ Mismanagement, and they are suckled or fed oftener than is conducive to Health. Now to remove this Error, I will not offer any Restraint in the Day-time, (tho’ that in the opinion of an ingenious Writer[3] requires it) but endeavour to effect it by regulating the Night. To this End let a Child be undress’d, it’s Night things put on, and be fed or suckled at seven o’Clock, and then put into it’s Cradle; where without rocking (if used to it and in Health) it will fall asleep. Supposing the Mother to go to Bed at ten or eleven, if the Child should happen to be awake, let it be turn’d dry (as the Nurses term it) and suckled again; and it will sleep soundly for six or seven Hours: perhaps now and then it will whimper a little, but if it is not touch’d it will fall asleep again immediately. But supposing it is not awake when the Mother goes to Bed, let it not by any means be disturb’d, for that breaking of Childrens Rest so common with Parents makes them vastly tiresome; all that the Mother has to do in this Case is, to keep a warm Cloth in Bed with her, and when the Child awakes take away the wet one as soon as possible, that it may not be too much disturb’d by the Sense of Cold; that done, let it have the Breast, and it will commonly sleep again till it is time for the Family to rise. The Child should not have its Cloth shifted again; for frequently opening it when it ought to sleep is a great Impediment to it’s Rest; and while wrapt up warm, and it lies still, it receives no Harm from being wet: to this must be added, that the Mother be very hush; no talking, no shewing the Candle, the Daylight, or any thing that may awaken it thoroughly. If this Method be adher’d to, I am persuaded it will have many good Effects; it will give a longer respite than usual from feeding or suckling; it will obtain what is of great Consequence to a Child’s Health, Sleep; and it will facilitate the Mother’s Task by lessening her Fatigue.
To suffer by Hunger or Fatigue does great injury to the Mother principally, but Fretting has always a double Consequence; it hurts the Child too. A fretful Temper turns even Pleasure into Pain; well then may it make a necessary Care a Fatigue. One Distinction however I would make that I think deserves Attention; whether the Fretfulness be in Nature, be fixt and incurable; or whether it be owing to external Accidents, the Occurrences of Things; such as frequent Provocations from a Husband, untoward Children, wasteful Servants, vexatious Law Suits, and many other Evils Life is fraught with. In the first Case, Women would do well to let suckling alone; for warm as I am in recommending this Practice, it is certain there are some few Exceptions, and this is one. But in the other, I urge suckling in great measure as a Remedy. For let the naturally good-temper’d Mother but once reflect that Fretting hurts her Child, and she will avoid it for her Infant’s sake: besides, the Love created in her for it by the Exercise of this natural Duty, will make her forget many other Cares; at least it will counterpoise her Troubles, by mingling Pleasure with Pain.
There is a Class of Women who are lifeless and sluggish, an insipid Race that do neither good nor harm; these should by all means suckle their Children, for by so doing they would be enliven’d, and animated with a Desire to become useful. If too they reflect, that the Intention of Nature is, that they should rear their Children as well as bear them, they will soon be ashamed of doing their Work by halves: and thus become much happier in themselves, and of much more Consequence to Society.
By the Observance of these few Rules, Mothers in general may suckle their Children, not only without Pain or Injury, but even with Pleasure and Profit. They may sometimes improve their Health; often lessen their Cares, and mend their Temper and Dispositions; and will always have a pleasing Consciousness that they have obey’d the Laws of Nature, by having done all that was incumbent on them.
If after all that has been said it is not thought expedient that a Child should suck it’s Mother; a Breast is certainly the best Substitute: but great Care should here be taken, in the Choice of a Nurse. She should be young, healthy, good-humour’d, sprightly, and temperate. The newer her Milk the better; it is best not to be above three Months old; and should never exceed six Months, when the Child is first put to her Breast; if beyond that, either the Child must be wean’d too soon, or suck a staler Milk than perhaps it ought. Some are of Opinion, that Breast-milk begins to lose of it’s nutritious Quality after the Expiration of a Year; but let us here observe the Operations of Nature. The younger Breast-Milk is, the thinner and lighter it is; fitted by Nature for the tender Stomachs of new-born Babes: as it grows older, it becomes thicker, richer, and more stubborn of Digestion; by which gradual Change it is suited to the relative rising Powers of Digestion in the Child. Hence it would seem, that Breast-milk, does not at this stated Time become poorer, but richer; rich perhaps to a degree of Rancidity; which, like gross Food to others, is sometimes stronger than Children can bear: and on this Principle it is I recommend where a Breast is to be sought, that either the Milk be young, or the Child wean’d soon.
But supposing a Child to have no Breast (as Arguments whether good or bad will often be brought against it) the want of it must be supply’d by coming as near to Nature as we can. In order thereto, it is the Opinion of a Physician[4] in the Practice of Midwifry, whose Judgment in this Matter ought to have weight, that Cows-milk be diluted with Water, ’till it becomes as thin as Breast-milk, and given warm several times in the Day; that is, as often as a Child would have the Breast were it to be suckled: besides this, it should sometimes be fed with other Milk Diet; viz. Bread and Water boil’d lightly together, and Milk added to it.
When a Child sucks it is usual to feed it with nothing but Water Pap, that is, Bread and Water boil’d together, without the Addition of Milk; from a Notion that it should not have two sorts of Milk; but this Treatment is surely erroneous. Nay, there are some who improve upon this Error, and give their Children (at least for the first Month) Water Pap only, even tho’ they have no Breast.
It is both natural and commendable in Parents to inform themselves what Distempers Children are subject to, and usually dye of; and if we farther refer them to the Bills of Mortality, they will constantly find, that Gripes, Looseness, and Convulsions make a great Part of the Account. Now besides the latent Causes of these Diseases, they have a very obvious one, viz. improper Food. For my own part I am convinc’d, even to Demonstration, that many Infants owe their Death to the Mistakes committed in this Point; and often to the false Practice of giving them Bread and Water only, and omitting that most salutary part the Milk. Milk (again I repeat it) is the Food of Nature; with that alone, to an Infant, we may do almost every thing; without it, nothing.
Tho’ these first Rules here laid down should meet with general Approbation, and Parents from seeing how natural and reasonable this Doctrine is, be induced to follow it; they have still many things both to do and avoid, that are greatly conducive to their Childrens Health; and therefore demand their Attention and Regard.