When Did Bottle Feeding Of Infants Begin?
The time is identified by a true-life experience. In 1907 an American girl, on seeing a neighbor give her baby a bottle, ran home to ask her mother the reason for this peculiar thing. Later, in the 1920’s, this same girl, while serving as a nurse, said that she was surprised when she saw a mother breast-feeding. The change from nursing babies to feeding them artificially occurred that quickly in parts of the United States. The development of cow’s milk formulas, refrigeration, sterilization and extensive advertising was largely responsible. Few families apparently wanted to appear old-fashioned, so they accepted the new method of feeding. Many mothers found that it fit in with their new, industrialized life-style. But with the changing life-style and the popularity of bottle-feeding, a strange circumstance was noted. Modern life—and especially city life—has in some way rendered a certain proportion of women incapable of producing breast milk for their offspring. A recent study made in
