This is my third instalment from "The Care and Feeding of Children" by L.
Emmet Holt M.D. (1917 edition)

"Does the nervous condition of the mother affect the milk?
Very much more than her diet; worry, anxiety, fatigue, loss of sleep,
household cares, social dissiaption, etc., have more than anything else to
do with the failure of the modern mother as a nurse.  Uncontrolled emotions,
grief, excitement, fright, passion, may cause the milk to disagree with the
child; at times they may excite acute illness, at other times they may cause
a sudden and complete disappearance of the milk.

"Does menstruation affect the milk?
In nearly all cases the quality of milk is lessened during the period so
that the infant is not satisfied and may not gain in weight.  In many cases
the quality of the milk is also affected to such a degree as to cause slight
disturbances of digestion, like restlessness, colic or some derangement of
the bowels.  In a few, attacks of acute indigestion are excited.


Is the return of menstruation a reason for stopping nursin?
Not usually; as a rule both functions do not go on together.  But if the
child is gaining regularly in weight between the periods, nursing may be
continued indefinitely, although it may be well to feed the infant wholl or
in part during the first day or two that the mother is unwell.

What symptoms indicate that a nursing infant in well nourished?
The child has good color, sleeps two or three hours after nursing, or, if
awake, is quiet, good-natured, and apparently comfortable.  It has normal
movements of the bowel and gains weight steadily.

What symptoms indicate a scanty milk supply and that an infant who is
nursing is not properly nourished?
It does not gain weight and may even lose weight.  It no longer exhibits its
usual energy and playfulness, but is either listless and indifferent or
cross, fretful and irritable, and is apt to sleep poorly.  It grows pale and
anaemic and its tissues become soft and flabby.  When the milk is scanty it
will often nurse a long time at the breasts, sometimes three quarters of an
hour, before stopping.  At other times it may take the breast for a moment
only. and then turn away in apparent disgust.  The only sure way of telling
how much milk a child is getting is to weigh it before and after  nursing,
four or five times a day; the child need not be undressed for this purpose."


Tomorow I will write on what a mother should do if she does not have enough
milk and how to tell that a mother's milk disagrees with her baby.  Stay
tuned for part 4.
Nancy Sherwood LLLL, IBCLC- Perth, Australia