Potina is a Roman Goddess of Children, Who specifically watches
over them as they take their first drinks after being weaned. Her name comes
from the Latin potina, meaning "She of the Act of Drinking",
from potus, "a drink" or "something to drink" (which
also gives us the English word potable, meaning "fit to drink"). She
may be both the Goddess Who taught a child to drink for the first time (which
is after all a different skill than suckling milk from a breast) and the Goddess
Who ensured that those drinks were healthy and good for the child, and Who did
Her part in making sure the child was hydrated, nourished, and well.
Potina and Her associates, the Goddesses Educa,
Cunina, Cuba, and Rumina,
watched over various aspects of early childhood (respectively, eating, sleeping
in a cradle, sleeping in a bed, and breastfeeding), a perilous time in ancient
days, and seem to have grown out of the natural concerns of mothers for their
children's health. They were associated with the great Mother-Goddess Juno,
who was also concerned with the health of children. They were said to be either
attendents of Juno, or direct aspects of Her.