DOES THE NEWBORN BABY FIND THE NIPPLE BY SMELL

We studied the involvement of naturally occurring odours in guiding th e baby to the nipple. One breast of each participating mother was wash ed immediately after delivery. The newborn infant was placed prone bet ween the breasts. Of 30 infants, 22 spontaneously selected the unwashe d breast. The washing procedure had no effect on breast temperature. W e concluded that the infants responded to olfactory differences betwee n the washed and unwashed breasts.