Give the directions for preparing the food according to any of the above formulas.

The nurse’s hands, bottles, tables, and all utensils should be scrupulously clean.  First dissolve the milk sugar in boiling water, filtering if necessary.  Then add the milk and cream and lime-water, mixing the whole in a pitcher.  A sufficient quantity of food for twenty-four hours is always to be prepared at one time.  This is then divided into the number of feedings required for the day, each feeding being put in a separate bottle, and the bottle stoppered with cotton.  The bottles should then be cooled rapidly by standing, first in tepid then in cold water, and afterward placed in an ice chest.  If the milk is to be pasteurized or sterilized, this should precede the cooling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FEEDING INFANTS

How should the bottle be prepared at feeding time?

It should be taken from the ice chest, and warmed by standing in warm water which is deep enough to cover the milk in the bottle; it should then be thoroughly shaken and the nipple adjusted; the nurse should see that the hole in the nipple is not too large nor too small.

How may the temperature of the milk be tested?

Never by putting the nipple in the nurse’s mouth.  Before adjusting the nipple, a teaspoonful may be poured from the bottle and tasted, or a few drops may be poured through the nipple upon the inner surface of the wrist, where it should feel quite warm but never hot; or a thermometer may be placed in the water in which the bottle stands.  A dairy thermometer should be used, and the temperature of the water should be between 98 deg. and 105 deg.  F.

What is a simple contrivance for keeping the milk warm during feeding?

A small flannel bag with a draw string may be slipped over the bottle.

In what position should an infant take its bottle?

For the first two or three months it is better, except at night, when it may be undesirable to take the infant from its crib, that it be held on the nurse’s arm during the feeding; later it may lie on its side in the crib provided the bottle is held by the nurse until it has been emptied; otherwise a young infant readily falls into the bad habit of alternately sucking and sleeping, and often will be an hour or more over its bottle.

How much time should be allowed for one feeding?

Never more than twenty minutes.  The bottle should then be taken away and not given until the next feeding time.  Under no circumstances should an infant form the habit of sleeping with the nipple in its mouth.  A sleepy infant should be kept awake by gentle shaking until the food is taken, or the bottle should be removed altogether.

Should an infant be played with soon after feeding?

On no account; such a thing frequently causes vomiting and sometimes indigestion.  After every feeding the infant should be allowed to lie quietly in its crib, and disturbed as little as possible.