The baby is usually put to the breast for the first time, between eight and twelve hours after he is born. This gives the mother an opportunity to rest, and the baby too profits by being quiet and undisturbed during this interval. His need for food is not great as yet, nor is there much if any nourishment available for him. There is no hard and fast rule for the mother’s position in bed, while nursing her baby, beyond the fact that both she and the infant should be in a relation that makes the nursing easy. One very natural and satisfactory method is for her to turn slightly to one side, and hold the baby in the curve of her arm so that he may easily grasp the nipple on that side. If you take this position you should hold your breast from the baby’s face with your free hand by placing the thumb above and the fingers below the nipple, thus leaving his nose uncovered to permit free breathing, as shown in Fig. 29. You and the baby should lie in such positions that both will be comfortable and relaxed and the baby will be able to take into his mouth, not only the nipple but much of the dark circle as well, so as to compress the base of the nipple with his jaws and extract the milk by suction. The comfort of this position is sometimes increased by laying the baby on a small pillow placed close to the mother’s side, thus raising his body to the level of his head as it rests upon her arm. You and the nurse may have to resort to a number of expedients in persuading the baby to begin to nurse, for he does not always take the breast eagerly at first. He must be kept awake, first and foremost, and sometimes suckling will be encouraged by patting or stroking his cheek or chin or lightly spanking his buttocks. If his head is drawn away from the breast a little, as he holds the nipple in his mouth, he will sometimes take a firmer hold and begin to nurse. Moistening the nipple by expressing a few drops of colostrum or with sweetened water may whet the baby’s appetite and thus prompt him to nurse. [Illustration: FIG. 29.—A comfortable position for mother and baby, while nursing in bed. ] You must be prepared to find the early attempts to nurse your baby far from satisfactory, but if you persevere in making attempts regularly, you will almost certainly succeed. During the first two or three days the baby obtains only colostrum while nursing, but the regular suckling is extremely important, not alone for the sake of getting him into the habit of nursing but because his suckling is the best and surest means of stimulating your breasts to produce milk. And, as we shall see in a moment, the irritation of the nipples in this manner so definitely promotes desirable changes in the uterus that these go on more rapidly in women who nurse their babies than in those who do not. [Illustration: FIG. 30.—Protecting cracked or sore nipples by having the baby nurse through a shield. ]