In fact, sanity, good judgment, ordinary common sense, should govern the planning of diet for the nursing mother. It should include cereals, soups, meat at least once a day, fish, eggs, macaroni or spaghetti, fresh vegetables, salads, fruits, and light, wholesome desserts. The fresh vegetables and salads prepared with olive oil are particularly good, as they prevent constipation. Stewed fruit is better than fresh, especially when the fruits are highly acid. No dessert like pies, pastries, or puddings made from heavy dough, which are apt to lie undigested on the stomach, should be eaten; but custards and all desserts with fruit for a foundation are desirable. Nuts are highly recommended by vegetarians, but they must be well chewed. The nursing mother must bear in mind that she is eating for two. If she depends upon the three daily meals served to the balance of her family, she is apt to become very hungry and to overeat at the table. It is better for her to eat wisely between meals, in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon. These lunches should consist of milk, cocoa, a cup of soup or gruel, or a little stewed fruit, with zwieback or toast. Crackers do not make more or better milk. The nursing mother who must prepare breakfast for her family should eat a little fruit, or a slice of bread, or drink milk, before taking up her task, and she should also have a nourishing drink just before retiring. The busy house-mother who is nursing her baby is particularly warned against nursing the child when greatly exhausted. It is far better to keep the baby waiting a few minutes, while the mother sits down and rests or sips a glass of milk. Nursing a baby when overtired or overheated, or extremely nervous and angry, is positively injurious and unjust to the child. Of the utmost importance in regulating the condition of the baby’s health through breast milk is the condition of the mother’s bowels. These should move once daily and, if possible, the movement should be natural. Drastic cathartics disturb both mother and child. If constipation in the mother does not yield to careful diet, including fresh vegetables and fruit, she should consult her physician and not dose herself. If the mother’s bowels are in good condition and the baby’s are not, the physician should be consulted about the baby. The care of the breast and nipples is extremely important, for many ills, notably the very painful abscess of the breast, may spring from lack of cleanliness. The tugging of the baby’s mouth on the nipple makes it soft and tender, often laying it open in tiny cracks which are easily infected. The nipple, therefore, should never be handled by mother or nurse unless the hands have first been scrubbed with soap and a nailbrush.