JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<div id="main">
<div class="item">
<p>some words</p>
</div>
</div>
JavaScript
document.write(jQuery('#main').find('.item:not(:last)').length)
<div id="main">
<div class="item">
<p>some words</p>
</div>
</div>
document.write(jQuery('#main').find('.item:not(:last)').length)