By this time the olive oil or vaseline has softened the cheese-like substance which encrusts the skin of the new-born baby. The nurse fills the basin or tub with water, which registers 100 degrees F., if a bath thermometer is used, or which will feel comfortably warm when she thrusts her bare elbow into the water. Making a soft suds with Castile or Ivory soap, the nurse then lathers the entire body, taking great care not to get soap in the baby’s eyes. The soap is rinsed off with gauze or old linen and clear water, and the flesh is patted dry with old soft towels which have been warmed. The tender skin must never be rubbed. Talcum powder is then applied, and the baby is ready to be dressed in flannel binder, shirt, soft diaper, flannel skirt and outing flannel wrapper. As the little body is indescribably tender and sensitive at this time, the nurse must handle it with exquisite care, always supporting the head and back and protecting it from draughts; she must be very careful not to let a strong light strike the eyes. If the baby is normally healthy and has been made comfortable, it now falls sound asleep. This is nature’s way of permitting the mother to recuperate before nursing the baby for the first time. When the baby wakens, the mother will have regained her strength in that amazing way which is appreciated only by those who have watched her pass from the ordeal of labor into the joys of maternity as through a miracle. The baby should be given the breast when it awakens from its first sleep, and if there is any flow of milk whatever, no artificial food should be supplied. Thus does the baby start aright its splendid progress toward a normal, healthy childhood. CHAPTER III THE NURSING BABY THE NURSING BABY—WHY THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND BABIES ARE SACRIFICED EVERY YEAR TO IGNORANCE—INFLUENCE OF THE MOTHER’S DIET ON THE BABY’S HEALTH—WHEN THE NEW-BORN BABY MUST BE BOTTLE-FED—A WELL-BALANCED DIET FOR THE NURSING MOTHER—CARE OF THE BREASTS AND NIPPLES—IMPORTANCE OF REGULARITY IN NURSING Correct feeding is the foundation on which the baby’s good health rests. A dirty baby, properly fed, will thrive. A baby deprived of fresh air, but wisely fed, will survive and even develop into a strong man or woman. But the baby raised according to the latest and most approved rules of sanitation and hygiene, if improperly fed, will languish and die. If every mother who reads this book will grasp this vital fact and live up to the doctrine for which it stands, she will not only reduce the family doctor bills, but will protect herself from untold hours of trouble, sleeplessness, anxiety and, perhaps, grief. Correct feeding and good digestion for the baby spell health-insurance. The well-nourished body of a properly fed child does not furnish an abiding-place for disease-germs.