When my daughter was born 18 years ago, my mother-in-law gave me the book
that her mother had used when she (MIL) was born in 1997.  I will put some
excerpts from it here.  The book is called "The care and feeding of
Children" by L. Emmet Holt MD and was originally published in 1894- I have
the 1917 edition.
Here's th first instalment.: Chapter ll Infant Feeding;
"What is the best infant food?  Mother's milk.
 Of what is mother's milk composed?  Thirteen parts solids and eighty seven
water.

What are the solids?  Fat, sugar, protien, and salts.
What is the fat?  The cream.

What is the sugar?  It is lactose or milk sugar.

What is the protein?  The curd of the milk.

Are all these elements necessary?  Yes; we cannot expect to rear a healthy
infant unless they are all in his food.


Nursing;

Why should mothers nurse their children?
First, because there is no perfest substitute for good breast-feeding.
Secondly, statistics show that the mortality of bottle-fed infants during
the first year is fully three times as great as that of those who are
breast-fed"


This is the end of my first instalment.  Unless there are objections, I plan
to include more from this book in the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Nancy Sherwood LLLL, IBCLC Perth, Australia