OUR BABIES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 80, 1 October 1910, Page 15

OUR BABIES.

CBy Hygeia.) Published undefr the a'us'tftrti of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children. "It 111 1 wiser to put up a fence i>t the top ot a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." 54DDRESS OF PLUNKET NURSE AND .SECRETARY. (Wellington— Plunket Nurse M'Donuld, 73, Aro-street. Tel. 2425. Hon. sec, Mrs. M'Vicar, 27. Brougham-street. Plunket Nurse's servjoes free. BABY'S WEIGHT. A correspondent from the Catlins disIrict \Vntes as rdilows: — Thank you very much for sending the sections of the book. They were a great help to me. lam sending for the book "Feeding and Oare of the Baby," as I *cc it is published now. My wee girl is 13 months old, and is • doing so nicely. Sire still gets some Humanised Milk. Should a< baby, 101 b at birth weigh gOlb at 12 months? My baby was 101 b at birth, and she only weigned 231 b at 12months. Should *h« toe h"eAviet than 23ft>? She has kept improving every month, and i 8 as healthy a baby as one would wish to see. Her *fotfd always agrees wilh her. She has plenty of outdoor exercise, and has her regular times for meals, sleep, etc. In the "Our Babies" Column it says a baby js suppoßed t* treble its birth weight at the end of a year. Thirty pounds seeme big weight for a baby 12 months old. Wishing the society every, success, — I am, etc. REPfcY. When a baby is said to weigh so much over the average at birth one is inclined to wonder whether ,the weighing was quite accurate — whether allowance had been made for clothes. Frequently the nurse merely guesses at the weight, without actually weighing, and the mother relies on what really has no value at all. I have found women Very far a stray jn their estimate as to the b&by's weight, and they generally err on the side of overstating it. The average weight of a baby girl one year old is 20£lb. Twfenty-three pounds was an excellent weight for your little girl, even though sh© had been a iow pounds heavier than the average at birth. The rule about a child trebling its {weight at a year old is merely a statement of the average. It gives the mother some idea as to what she should expect. In general it applies most closely in the case where a baby weighß about 71b at birth; but even then a deviation of a pound or so either way iwould not be considered wrong, provided that the baby was obviously well-nour-ished, bright, active, vigorous, healthy, jmd contented. The liormal development of the child in all its organs and activities is a more important consideration than weight alone^— though, of course, due increase in weight should be maintained. WEIGHT NOT THE SOLE. CRrftSBION. Mothers are sometimes inclined to cen jfcre attention on weight alone, and to Asfeuinfe that if a child is lieayy it is ettre to be all right, whereas in truth maaiy heavy babies are most unhealthy, owing to tbjeir having been fed largely on starches, patent foods, condensed milk, etc. — and due also to their being oVetfed aod getting insufficient outing and exerotee. Under such conditions babies often fatten unduly for a time-, and if weight .were the only criterion they might be regarded as above the average; indeed, they are often so regarded, as proved by the fact that they take prizes at baby shows when exhibited in competition with perfectly normal, sound, firm, healthy iuf&nfa. However, rapid growth founded on a wrong basis is rarely main- . tamed for many years, the tendency being to fall off owing to imperfect development of bohefi, muicleSj teeth, digestive organs, etc. TEST OF FITNESS. One -of the moefc striking tests of th» ''fitness" of a baby and the rightness or .wropgness of the way he has been reared is what takes place in the presence of disease ; "he throws off the germs as an ocean liner throws the spray off her bows," and if he does get sick the .disease does not overmaster him—^he generally Picks up quickly and thoroughly. Tfie reverse is true all roMnd of tho soft fat baby, with imperfect •tamina. He tends to catch disease, when ill he is liable to he very*ill, he often succumbs, and if he recovers the tendency is to slow convalescence, and very often the evidence of permanent injury to the system remains behind in the form of damaged nose and throat, deafness, kidney disease, etc. The mother should read carefully page 53 of the society's book, where the master is fully explained and illustrated by the relative appearances presented by sections across young pigs which have been properly and improperly fed — both bedng the same size, but the one largely (made up of sound bone and muscle, while in the other soft, fatty tissue predominates. THE SOCIETY'S NEW BOOK. Th» "Feeding and Care of the Baby" ie now obtainable from the Plunket nurses, and from the leading bookseller* throughout the Dominion. Price Is, or posted Is 3d. W^e would again remind our reader* that we must constantly refer them to tho book. The following introductory paragraph explains this :->- TO PARENTS AND NURSES. This text-book for mothers will be supplemented and kept abreast of the times by "Out Babies" Column. The weekly articles should be cut out, pasted into a scrapbook, and indexed for future reference, as they will, not be republished. If the mother is in doubt as tc the carryihg out in practice, or as to the meaning and inten^ tion of anything contained in any of the society's publications, she should apply to the local Plunket nurse, or write to "Hygeia." Paffints aye advised to make themselves thoroughly conversant with th 6 contents of the book. This the\j- can do quit* easily if they take a Single section at a time and discuss it with one another. Only confusion would result from trying to take in hastily,at one sitting, what should be mastered deliberately. The mother who has once familiarised herself with the contents of the book will have no trouble in finding any passag* she may want afterwards by means of the full index on the last page. The Secretary of the Board of Trade has written to the Secretary of the Imperial Merchant Service Guild, Liverpool, advising that in reply to the latter's request that the certificates of officers which had been suspended by Courts of Enquiry should be returned as an act of clemency on the accession of King George, the Board oi Trade, with his Majesty's approval, had decided to return at one© those certificates which had been suspended for acts of professional def&ult, and to remit on*-third of the original pefiod of suspension in the case of those ■ officers •whose certificates had been suspended for offences involving personal misconduct. For Cold* in tbe fiead and Influenza, .Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, li 6d and g» 6d per bottle.-Adrt.