=Method of Nursing.= The baby should be put to the breast for the first time between eight and twelve hours after he is born. This gives the tired mother an opportunity to rest and sleep, and the baby, too, is benefited by being kept warm and quiet during this interval. His need for food is not great as yet, nor is there much if any nourishment available for him. In preparing to nurse her baby, the mother should 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. She should hold her breast from the baby’s face with her free hand by placing the thumb above and fingers below the nipple, thus leaving his nose uncovered, to permit his breathing freely. (Fig. 138.) The mother and 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 the areola as well, so as to compress the base of the nipple with his jaws as he extracts the milk by suction. [Illustration: FIG. 138.—Position of mother and baby for nursing in bed. ] 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 and sometimes suckling will be encouraged by patting or stroking his cheek. Or if his head is drawn away from the breast, a little, 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 stimulate the baby’s appetite and thus prompt him to nurse. The young mother must be prepared to find very discouraging the early attempts to induce the baby to nurse, but if the nurse will help her to persevere in making regular attempts she 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 for the sake of stimulating the breasts to secrete milk. Moreover, the irritation of the nipples so definitely promotes involution of the uterus that this process goes on more rapidly in women who nurse their babies than in those who do not. If the nipples are not sufficiently prominent for the baby to grasp them, a shield will have to be used while they are being brought out. But the shield should be discarded as soon as possible for it is the baby’s suckling that produces the physiological effects. If a shield is used, it should be washed and boiled after each use and kept, between nursings, in a sterile jar or a solution of boracic acid.