it is a way they have sometimes to entertain themselves; they, too, like to hear their own voice. If that indulgence does them no harm, let them cry: their lungs will receive the beneiit of this muscular action.
The cries of hunger, which may occur soon after feeding, if the mother's milk is poor in quality, are generally ac- companied by throwing the little arms about, turning the head to the breast, and opening the mouth to everything offered.
If the child is weak, and can nurse only a little at a time, it may, of course, be necessary to nurse it oftener; but this should be done only with a perfect understanding of the child's condition.
At night, the child should not be nursed as often as dur- ing the day. For the three first months, nurse it when you put it to bed, say six or seven o'clock, P. M.; then at eleven or twelve o'clock; then at five or six, A. M, After that period, you may omit the midnight meal, and, if the child wakes, give to it a sip of water. This method will secure many an hour of good sleep to the mother, and give whole- some habits to the child.
A child in good health generally wakes spontaneously when it needs nourishment. Some children, however, are slow in taking the nipple. In that case, wet the nipple with a little of the milk, and titillate the child's mouth with it until it takes hold. When the child does not wake, through constitutional weakness, it should be wakened at stated periods. If it is very weak, it may sleep almost constantly, and the mother may rejoice at the quietude of her infant; but she will soon find that the child is less and less inclined to nurse after each prolonged sleep, that it cries very weakly, and is ready to go to sleep again. Such evidence of weakness is dangerous in the extreme; and the child should
