From the age of 43 to 75, Cixi never stopped drinking human milk during the 37,766 years of her life. It was caused by Cixi's serious illness at the age of 43. The imperial physician believed that human milk had a nourishing effect and suggested that Cixi drink it. After Cixi tried it, her body gradually recovered. From then on, Cixi took human milk as a tonic and drank half a bowl of it every day.

In order to provide Cixi with healthy and sufficient human milk, the Qing Palace would select 40 wet nurses every season and set up a special room in the palace for maintenance. They are called confinement pacifiers. The three meals at Naikou in the current season are carefully prepared by the palace. Salt and soy sauce are not allowed to ensure the quality of the milk. The wet nurse who is about to collect milk must have taken a bath three days before. There is no odor or perfume, and there is a natural milk fragrance. When taking milk, you have to wear a special tight-fitting top made by the palace. In addition to sitting on the breasts during the season, eighty wet nurses were also imprisoned in the palace. When nipples come up unexpectedly on the show, they fill in the gaps, called point-to-point nipples. The nanny will change a batch every season.

The Qing Palace would select wet nurses in the ceremonial room outside Dong'an Gate, and the requirements were extremely high. A woman must be between fifteen and twenty years old. In addition to good health, she must also be beautiful in appearance, because Cixi firmly believed that she could only look beautiful if she drank the milk of a beautiful wet nurse. The wet nurse also needs children, a husband alive, and a woman who has given birth to a third child. Cixi believed that women who gave birth to too many babies had stronger vitality and higher milk quality. Nannies are generally selected by Daxing and Wanping counties and major agencies, with 20 nurses selected from each place.

Being selected as a wet nurse is actually a good job. After all, there is good food and drink in the palace, and work is easy. Some wet nurses were so favored by Cixi that even their families were protected. But for the Qing Dynasty, having such a luxurious queen mother was definitely not a good thing.