1909 Breastfeeding Instructions

This article was in a 1909 issue of McCall's. lol, Can you believe it?


"In breast feeding, which is, of course, the best for babies, great care must be taken in teaching the little one how to nurse. When putting the child to the breast, do not place it in such a position as to have the baby's head crowded so hard against the breast that it is impossible for it to nurse. Be sure the baby's nose is not obstructed, as breathing must of necessity be through the nose. Babies should not be nursed more than fifteen minutes at a time. Let the nursing periods be regular. Fix certain times - hours - just as we do in supplying the food needs of grown-ups. Care of the nipple is most important. Wash it both before and after nursing in cold boiled water.

A baby should be nursed for the first three months at intervals of two and one-quarter hours, beginning at six o'clock in the morning. It should not have more than nine nursings in twenty-four hours. From three to six months old, nursings should be at three hour intervals during the day - seven or eight nursings during twenty-four hours.

From six to nine months, the child takes a larger quantity at each nursing and should be nursed at three or three and a half hour intervals.

All children shouold be weaned at the age of twelve months, except in midsummer or if otherwise ordered by a physician. A good way for a mother to spoil a child's digestion and temper is for the mother to take it up and nurse it whenever it cries or to rock the cradle or carriage every time it is fretful."

Then it goes on to say that all children should sleep in a crib, calls this "a most important health rule" because "no baby can sleep with a grown person or anyone older without suffering therefore in loss of strength and vitality, although such loss may not be apparent to those about."

Amazing!