Artificial feeding lays the foundation for many troubles which may not
manifest for several years. The bottle-fed babies are often plump, even
fat, but they are not as strong as those who are fed naturally. They
take all kinds of children's diseases very quickly. The glandular
system, which is so readily disturbed in children, is more easily
affected in bottle-fed babies. And so it comes about that they often
have swollen salivary glands, or swelling of the glands of the neck or
of the tonsils.
Do not be in a hurry to feed the baby after birth. Nature has so
arranged that the infant does not require immediate feeding. It is a
good plan to wait at least twenty-four hours after birth before placing
the baby at the breast, for then all the tumult and excitement have had
a chance to subside.
Many give the baby a cathartic within a few hours after birth. This is a
mistake. Cathartics are irritants and it is a very poor beginning to
abuse the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract immediately. This
mucous membrane is delicate and in children the digestive apparatus is
easily upset. Before birth there was no stomach or bowel digestion, all
the nutritive processes taking place in the tissues of the little body.
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