Her exercise will have to be adjusted to her tastes, customary habits, circumstances and physical endurance, for it must always be stopped before she is tired. Walking is often the best form of exercise that the nursing mother can take, though she may engage in any mild sports that she enjoys. Violent exercise is inadvisable because of the exhaustion that may follow. =Recreation.= Part of the value of exercise lies in the pleasure and diversion which it gives, for a happy, contented frame of mind is practically indispensable to the production of good milk. In addition to some regular and enjoyable exercise, therefore, the mother needs a certain amount of recreation and change of thought and environment. If her life is monotonous and colorless, the average woman is likely to become irritable and depressed; to lose her poise and perspective; to worry and fret, and then, no matter what she eats nor how much she sleeps, her digestion will suffer, her milk will be affected and the baby will pay. This, of course, goes back to the question of her mental state and the condition of her nerves as being determining factors in the young mother’s ability to nurse her baby successfully. For the sake of giving her an opportunity to go out, mingle with her friends or enjoy some music or a play, it is often a very good plan to replace one breast feeding, some time in the course of each day, with a bottle feeding. The freedom which this long interval between two nursings gives the mother for diversion and amusement, will usually affect her general condition so favorably that the quality of her milk is better than it otherwise would be, and the baby is benefited as a result. This single supplementary feeding cannot be regarded lightly, however, for it must be prepared with the same cleanliness and accuracy as an artificial diet. =Weaning.= One advantage in giving the baby a supplementary bottle, once a day, is that it paves the way for weaning, when the time comes to make this change. Under ordinary conditions, the mother begins to wean her baby about the eighth or tenth month. Having started by replacing one breast feeding, daily, with a bottle feeding, she should gradually increase the number of daily artificial feedings until all of the breast feedings are discontinued by the time the baby is eleven or twelve months old. There are exceptions to this general rule, of course, and under any conditions the weaning should always be directed by a doctor, for the baby will suffer unless it is skillfully done. If the mother’s milk is satisfactory and the baby is doing well, it is often considered wiser not to discontinue the breast feeding entirely, during the hot summer months, even though the weaning falls due at this time.