Freud_Burlingham_1943_War_and_Children_k_text

weekly and only a few less often. There arecertain very natural, very possessive motherswho behave in much the same way on theirvisits. They enter the room and make straightfor the cot where their baby is lying. They immediatelypick it up and handle it in the mostconfident manner.One mother of twins for instance placed thechildren with us when they were four monthsold. They have now been with us for a periodof nine months and during that time she hasnever failed to visit them daily in her off hoursfrom work. At times our nurses were shockedat her apparent rough treatment of them.They worried, as time went on, why she didnot learn something from their much quieterhandling of babies. This mother seizes onetwin after the other out of her cot, hugs it,holds it firmly in her hands and squeezes it.Both children react to this rough handlingwith evident pleasure. Now that they are oldershe even slaps them to the horror of the nurses.But the twins show more contact with the visiingmother than with the nurses who are constantlywith them. This is shown very clearlyat their feeding time. Whenever a nurse feedsone of the twins, the other waits more or lesspatiently in its bed. But when the mother isfeeding, the twin who is kept waiting screamsand makes impatient noises all the time to call168