Page:The physical training of children (IA 39002011126464.med.yale.edu).pdf/43

 not in the east or in the northeast, he may then brave the weather. He will then come from his walk refreshed and strengthened, for cold air is an invigorating tonic. In a subsequent conversation I will indicate the proper age at which a child should be first sent out to take exercise in the open air.

28. At what age ought an infant "to be shortened?"

This, of course, will depend upon the season. In the summer, the right time "for shortening a babe," as it is called, is at the end of two months; in the winter, at the end of three months. But if the right time for "shortening" a child should happen to be in the spring, let it be deferred until the end of May. The English springs are very trying and treacherous; and sometimes, in April, the weather is almost as cold, and the wind as biting, as in winter. It is treacherous, for the sun is hot, and the wind, which is at this time of the year frequently easternly, is keen and cutting. I should far prefer "to shorten" a child in the winter than in the early spring.

DIET.

29. Are you an advocate for putting a baby to the breast soon after birth, or for waiting, as many do, until the third day?

The infant ought to be put to the breast soon after birth; the interest, both of the mother and of the child, demands it. It will be advisable to wait three or four hours, that the mother may recover from her fatigue; and then the babe must be put to the breast. If this be done, he will generally take the nipple with avidity.

It might be said that at so early a period there is no milk in the breast; but such is not usually the case. There generally is a little from the very beginning; which acts on the baby's bowels like a dose of purgative medi