A baby comes into the world sleepy. If well and left to his own devices, he sleeps twenty-two hours out of every twenty-four during the first few weeks of his life. The mother who interrupts his slumber to cuddle him or show him off is endangering his health, and her future peace of mind. Take a lesson from puppies and kittens. They sleep day and night. The wise mother-dogs and mother-cats do not disturb them. The wise house-mother tells her children not to touch or disturb the new-born pets, and yet she will permit family and friends to break in upon the slumber of the new-born baby of the household. Directly a baby has been ushered into the world, washed, dressed, and fed, it goes to sleep. Unless roused for feeding, it is apt to sleep many hours. This is nature’s warning to mothers that new-born babies need just three things—warmth, food, sleep. And for the future good of the household, the greatest of these is sleep, and the habit of sleeping. When a new-born baby is permitted to sleep and trained to sleep, the family and the household routine are not disturbed. The healthy baby starts life by sleeping two or three hours, and then waking to be fed. If the quality of the breast milk or bottle milk fed him is sustaining and satisfying the three-hour interval is correct. If the milk is not quite heavy enough he may wake at intervals of two hours and a half; but no baby should be fed oftener than once in two hours. If he does not sleep in stretches of two hours there is something wrong with his general health or the quality of the milk he takes. For two or three months the baby varies this monotony of eating and sleeping only by an enforced daily bath and an occasional crying spell. Some babies drop right off to sleep after being fed; others cry a little. Moderate crying does not hurt a baby nor indicate a serious condition. It is about the only form of exercise he has, and, in moderation, is good for his lungs. But if his sleep is badly broken and his crying is shrill and prolonged, his digestion is probably at fault. If the baby wakes up inside of two hours, and there is no evidence of ill-health or discomfort, the mother should let him wait, even if he cries, until the two-hour limit is up. This period she can gradually increase to two hours and a half, and then to three hours. The healthy baby is easily trained. Of course, a dimpled, rosy baby is a great temptation to the mother, especially when she is lying restfully in bed, with a nurse in attendance. It is so delightful to snuggle the baby against her, and cuddle its tiny fists, to smooth its soft cheek and silky hair. But every time baby’s sleep is interrupted by these maternal pettings, mother is laying foundations for future trouble. When she is up and about, with no nurse to relieve her, and household duties to perform, she will wish that she had trained baby to sleep to the limit of his desires and inclinations.