Better babies and their care

The efficient mother does not need a doctor to tell her whether her baby is growing and developing at a normal rate. She has a certain set of standards by which she measures her own child’s development. Physicians have compiled tables of standards showing normal weight and measurements, the dentition table published on page 101, also certain tests known as mental and developmental, which are based largely on the Binet-Simon standards of mental development. Any mother who reads this chapter can assure herself as to whether her baby is keeping up with the standards as a normal child should.

First, she should know whether he is gaining daily in strength. The scales and the tape-line tell the story of baby’s physical development. He should be weighed once a week, and measured once a month till a year old. He should be weighed when stripped and before feeding.

The best scales are those known as the grocer’s platform scales, weighing up to twenty-five pounds. The bar must be divided into ounces, and on the platform there should be one of the wicker weighing-baskets which can be bought at any department or drug store. Either dial or spring scales are inaccurate, as baby’s every movement affects the spring. The ordinary steel tape-line, which may be purchased at any hardware store for twenty-five cents, is better than a linen tape-line.

At birth the average baby weighs seven pounds. The first few days after birth he loses a little. Then, if he is normal and healthy, he begins to gain in weight as well as to grow. Until he is six months old his average gain in weight should be from four to eight ounces a week. At six months his weight should be at least twice what it was at birth. He should then take on about two and one-half or three ounces a week until he is a year old. After that his gain is five pounds a year.

The following table of weights and measurements, prepared by one of the most eminent children’s specialists in the East, will show the average growth of a healthy child:

Very important are the proportions between the circumference of head, chest, and abdomen. When they do not correspond with the measurements given on this standard table there is a reason, and the mother should seek till she finds it.

For example, at twelve months, when Baby is cutting many teeth, the head, the chest, and the abdomen should be uniform in circumference. A head two inches larger is out of proportion and usually means trouble for the baby in teething, convulsions, intense nervousness, or brain disorder. Such a child must be carefully watched and screened from shock of any sort. At twenty months the chest should be gaining on the head; and at no time should the baby’s abdomen be larger than the chest. If it is, his diet needs changing. He is being fed too often or too heavily, or there is gas on the stomach.

There are times, of course, when even a normal baby does not measure up to these standards. While teething he may lose flesh for a time, then regain it. If attacked by measles, or whooping-cough, or other juvenile ailments, he will lose flesh. If he does not regain flesh when the illness passes he is not convalescing properly.

The baby’s mental and developmental growth should correspond with its physical growth. Here are some simple tests which any mother can apply:

At six months a child sits alone; plays with simple objects, like a spoon or a pencil; grasps for a watch; turns in the direction of unexpected noises, and follows moving objects.

At one year it stands without support; walks with support; plays with toys; listens to the ticking of a watch; looks in the direction of noises; follows moving objects; says one or two words; shows how it knows its mother by crying when taken from her; responds to children, and is interested in its surroundings.

At eighteen months it both stands and walks without support; says quite a few words; cries when taken from its mother; follows intelligently what is going on around it.

At two years it runs; joins words to make short sentences; speaks without defects; is interested in pictures; can point to eyes, nose, ears, etc.

At three years it talks normally without defects; repeats six syllables perfectly, “It rains—I am hungry”; repeats two figures, “6-4, 7-3”;
enumerates objects seen in pictures; and knows the names of the various members of the family.

The mother should be absolutely certain that her baby’s sight and hearing are good. If she has reason to suspect that his vision is imperfect, or his hearing defective, she should consult a specialist at once. It is not natural for a baby to suffer with ear-ache. Do not use laudanum to relieve ear-ache. Have your doctor learn the cause of the pain and remove it.

“When should my baby begin to sit up?”

“How soon should I let my baby walk?”

These questions are frequently asked by mothers at Better Babies Contests.

The normal, healthy baby, properly clad, given legitimate freedom will choose its own form of exercise and gain strength through a God-given instinct. The parent who retards its activities or stimulates them makes a grave mistake.

For a few weeks after its birth the only exercise a baby has or needs is crying. Crying in moderation is good, healthful exercise. At two months, if the baby is still sturdy, he should begin to have what is termed play periods. All his clothing except the belly-band or shirt should be removed. Then, with the temperature of the room at 70° F., he is laid on a bed protected from draught, and permitted to kick and roll as his fancy dictates. When he is tired he will stop. Babies know better than grown-ups how to conserve their energies.

At four months, the healthy baby holds up his head and shows a desire to sit up with support. At six months he sits up with a pillow at his back. At nine months he is able to sit alone on the floor, with no pillow supporting his back; and, about this time, he will make occasional efforts to creep.

This is a critical time in baby’s career. He is so cunning, so enticing, that parents and relatives are very apt to urge him on faster than nature decrees. As soon as he begins to creep adult hands offer to help him stand erect. He is overpersuaded to take the funny, tottering steps before the bones and muscles are strong enough to support his growing body. This may result in bow-legs, knock-knees, flat feet, pigeon-toeing, all sorts of defects in gait that are sad crosses to bear in later years.

Encourage, but do not urge, your baby to activity, during these months of rapid development. Let Nature direct his progress. She knows the condition of his bones and muscles better than you do. When he discovers that his feet were made to walk on, he will drag himself to an upright position by a chair or stool. If he is walking at twelve months, he is developing rapidly enough and taking sufficient exercise. If very heavy, and he does not walk until fourteen months, do not worry. Nature is watching and guarding him. But if he is not walking at eighteen months, his condition should be examined by a physician, who may find backward mental symptoms.

One thing which often retards a baby’s walking is heavy, bunglesome diapers. At one year a baby’s habits should be such that diapers can be laid aside for drawers and rompers, which facilitate walking.

Another factor of daily life which interferes with baby’s development is the pressure of duties on the average mother. She has so many other things to do that she cannot superintend her baby’s exercise. So long as he is safe from danger, and is amused and quiet, she does not realize that he is suffering from lack of exercise. I have seen babies strapped in carriages and high-chairs for long stretches of time, without any change of position, without any opportunity to use their muscles, simply because they were amused and quiet, not disturbing “Mother.” An occasional change of toys, a cracker or a sweet, even a “pacifier,” are offered in lieu of what the child needs, exercise for its cramped muscles. This sort of child does not learn to creep or walk as it should, because it is given no opportunity.

Many women ask whether their babies should be “exercised.” If this means a system of rubbing, working of muscles, artificial exercise and stimulation for the normal baby, I should say most emphatically “No!” Calisthenics of any sort should not be forced on a young child; many a well-meaning father with physical culture fads has developed a normal, healthy child into a nervous, pallid baby, by attempting to give it exercise designed for sluggish adult systems. Even a good thing like physical culture can be misapplied.

If a baby is listless, puny, and backward, consult a physician; do not apply your own particular methods of stimulation. What your child may need is better nourishment, not exercise that will weaken it further.

A very common question asked by young mothers is this:

“How soon should the soft spot on the top of Baby’s head close?”

The “soft spot” referred to is known to physicians as the fontanel. At birth, it is like a wide separation of the bones on top of the head, and feels like a hole in the skull. Gradually this opening closes, and the top of the head becomes firm and hard. The time of closure varies from fourteen to twenty-four months, but the average is eighteen months.

A mother should guard the shape of her baby’s head with care. In tucking him into his crib it is advisable to lay him first on one side and then on the other, and always with his ears carefully laid back. If the ear is pressed forward or curled up for hours at a time, it may become slightly misshapen. Ears that are protruding at birth are a real deformity. They cannot be cured completely, but the defect can be reduced if, from birth, the baby sleeps in a ventilated cap made for the purpose.

A mother should know whether her baby breathes properly. The child that suffers chronically from “snuffles” needs medical attention. If he does not receive it, he may develop a case of catarrh that will make himself and everybody around him miserable. The baby that breathes with its mouth habitually open is generally found to have adenoids. Mouth breathing always justifies an examination of the baby’s throat by the best specialist at command.

A mother should know why her baby does not speak distinctly from the day it first forms words. The normal child is born a mimic. It tries its best to speak precisely like the older persons with whom it comes in contact. If the speech is defective, thick, guttural, and unintelligible, a physician should examine the mouth, throat, and nose. There may be a growth in the passageway, enlarged tonsils, trouble with the palate, or the child may be tongue-tied. This advice does not refer to the baby under one year of age whose gooing and gurgling cannot possibly be interpreted as speech. But once the child utters words like “Mama,” “Papa,” “baby,” “bottle,” etc., the sounds should be reasonably clear.

If an examination does not disclose any physical defect to interfere with clarity of speech, then the baby has been started wrong, often permitted to develop slovenly habits of pronunciation. The task of curing this defect lies with the mother, who can correct it gradually by persuading the child to repeat words, over and over, until they are clear and distinct. Lisping, stuttering, mispronouncing certain consonants, twisting and omitting certain letters, are tricks of speech which can be cured, if the mother takes them in time. It is most unjust to the child to encourage these peculiarities; as, once they become habits, they are hard to break. I have heard children five and six years old talking a jargon which only immediate members of their family could interpret; and I have seen mothers punish children of school age for tricks of speech which were considered “cute” when the baby first learned to talk.

When a child reaches the age of eighteen months without making any effort to talk, and if he points to objects rather than asks for them, he should be taken to a physician for physical and mental examination. It may be found that he is merely lazy, and he has learned that he can get what he wants without asking. Then he must be encouraged, not urged, to talk. The child who is not talking at thirty months is either mentally deficient or deaf.

A mother should know why her baby cries. In a very young baby, as I have said before, a little crying is good exercise. This is baby’s way of demanding notice.

If an ordinarily contented baby, presumably comfortable, dry and well-fed, persists in crying, the mother should investigate. Among small causes of discomfort may be mentioned an open safety-pin; an over-tight belly-band; folds in those instruments of torture, the muslin bands of skirts fastened with safety-pins; a small arm twisted under the body; sun shining into the eyes; flies or mosquitoes; and wet diapers. Make a baby absolutely comfortable in clothing and position, and he will not cry long.

The following table of reasons why babies cry is reprinted, by permission, from “Hints to Mothers Who Want Better Babies,” issued by the Better Babies Bureau:

If the mother’s conscience is easy on all these points, then she must look for a deeper and graver cause. To do this she must first learn to analyze the different forms and varieties of crying. In the new-born baby, crying is normal and useful. It expands the lungs and improves the circulation. This form of crying is loud and strong and has a healthy ring, not like a scream. The baby becomes red in the face from the effort, and generally turns silent as suddenly as he began to cry. A young baby can cry from fifteen to thirty minutes a day and be none the worse for this form of lung exercise. Young mothers frequently express fear that such crying will cause rupture. Nature has provided against this catastrophe.

Abnormal, unhealthy crying strikes the maternal ear immediately as unnatural. Also, it lasts longer and comes at more frequent intervals. It can be traced to various causes, such as temper, habit, hunger, pain, and illness. The temper cry is louder and stronger than the normal cry, and is best described by the word violent or tempestuous. It is usually accompanied by vicious kicking, even in a very young baby, or by the stiffening of the entire body. The cry which springs from indulgence or habit has much the same quality but is less violent. It generally follows in the train of some indulgence permitted during the first few months after birth, and then regretted by mother or nurse. This habit may be rocking, wheeling in the baby-buggy, a bottle to suck and hug after all the milk has been drawn off, a “pacifier,” or even a light in the nursery. To test the cry, try distracting the attention. If it come from temper it will often yield to change of thought. If it spring from indulgence or habit it will cease immediately baby gets what he demands, whether this be attention or a “pacifier.”

This sort of crying can be cured only through stern discipline, represented by allowing baby to cry it out. The first lesson may mean an hour of bitter, determined shrieking on the part of the baby, and great mental anguish for the mother. But if the mother is quite satisfied that temper or habit is at fault, she must stand firm for discipline. The second attack will be lighter, and baby will soon learn that violent crying does not bring results.

The hungry-cry is continuous and fretful. If the baby is fed regularly, then the quality of the food must be improved, or the strength increased. The tired, fretful hungry-cry is a danger signal. It points to malnutrition.

The cry of pain is sharp, shrill, and strong, and generally intermittent. It is frequently marked by jerking and by the drawing up of the legs, and by a contracted or pinched look about the face. No time should be lost in locating the cause of this cry.

Another cry which demands immediate attention is the hoarse, throaty cry, which indicates cold, incipient croup, or bronchitis.

The saddest cry in the world is that of a helpless baby when it is seriously ill. This is a low wail or moan, indicating that the baby has passed the point where it can fight against pain. It strikes terror to the heart of that mother whose child is suffering with “summer complaint” or any form of bowel trouble. When the child screams out sharply in the night, not once or twice, but habitually, it should have medical attention. This is one symptom of bone tuberculosis.

Most crying can be traced to physical discomfort which can be relieved, or to spoiling and indulgence which can be checked. In this day of intelligent care and disciplining of children, there is absolutely no excuse for having a screaming baby in the house. The modern mother not only realizes that behind the crying lies a good and sufficient cause, but she traces the cause to its lair—and lays it low.