Similarly, the patient should drink quantities of between 32 and 40 grams of fluid, waiting approximately 5 minutes between each sip. If at any time the patient feels he is well enough to lengthen the intervals or stop eating and drinking altogether without harm, he may do so. If, on the other hand, the patient or the patient’s doctor feels the intervals should be shortened or that the patient needs to eat unrestricted amounts without any interruption, the patient should do so. Any doubt in the matter must be resolved in favor of avoiding danger to the patient’s health rather than in favor of fasting.
A pregnant woman or a woman between the third and seventh day after birth may fast unless she feels faint, in which case one reminds her that it is Yom Kippur; if she still requests food, one offers it to her in the quantities described above until she recovers. A woman in labor, or within three days after birth, is not allowed to fast. Food or drink taken through infusion is not considered eating or drinking for the purposes of Yom Kippur. Accordingly, a patient who is about to be detached from an infusion on Erev Yom Kippur, and who the doctor would allow to fast if the infusion remained attached, may fast with the help of the infusion. However, the infusion should not be inserted in the first place solely to enable one to fast.
Small children should not fast. However, according to some authorities, children between 9 and 11 should, if they can, postpone their regular meal times by escalating amounts of an hour or two or three according to their age and strength. According to the Mechaber, a child of eleven may fast all day, but the Rema discourages this. The sage Shammai was of the opinion that children should fast. But the rabbis disagreed and forced him to feed his children. Following the Mussaf prayer, Rabbi Acha would announce in his synagogue that those with children should go home and feed them.