OUR BABIES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 10 March 1928, Page 17

OUR BABIES.

(By “Hygeia.”)

Published under the auspices of the Roy a 1 New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). A PLUNKET NURSE’S TALK TO MOTHERS. Foreword. —Our leaders will perhaps appreciate the following little “talk 1 ' most thoroughly if the vision of a perfectly normal, healthy baby is borne in mind throughout. The nurse who gave the talk used also a. large circular poster having in the centre the pictured presentment of a beautiful normal child. Surrounding the child, and forming a complete circle round it, were set out the “Twelve Essentials” —those guardians of health, as given on the first two pages of the society’s book “Feeding and Care of Baby,” THE NORMAL CHILD. “My subject, the normal child, is on©' with which most of us are happily familiar. To you, a.s mothers, it is of vital importance'; to the Plunket Society it is a starting point in this generation, and a goal for the next. “We are fortunate indeed in this country that the majority of our children are healthy and happy, but we are far from realising the ideal of normal childhood for all. Sir Harry Johnston said: ‘ln thinking over the problem of manhood after the war we perceive that we must bend all our energies to seeing that every child who comes into the world is taken the greatest care of. Loss of fatherhood must be compensated by ensuring better motherhood.’ The babies of today are the parents of to-morrow; it behoves us to see to it that by them the national standard is maintained and' improved. Infant .welfare should not be the monopoly of a few enthusiastic idealists, but rather the chief concern of every one of as. Motherhood and mother craft must become recognised' as women’s' highest profession.

“As I said before, the normal baby is no stranger to us —we meet him daily in ever-changing moods and stages. Attempt to give a brief description of him, however, and one finds him hardl to define, so perhaps a brief inspection of this complex and wonderful little individual may help us to a better understand of him and his needs.

“The normal child is the ideal child, from' the point of view of parents, doctors, teachers, and the community as a whole. He is one whose nutrition is good, that is, he possesses a sound nervous system in a sound body. IJis physical, mental, and moral qualities are developing steadily' and evenly; hisi food for the first' nine months after birth is, ideally, his own mother's milk. His height and weight are correct, taking into consideration family' and racial characteristics; his muscles are firm and in good tone; there is a moderate amount of fat-; the eyes are dry and clear, the' hair smooth and glossy; the skin is soft and without eruptions; the hearing and breathing are clear, the hack and limbs straight and strong, the abdomen soft and not distended; the teeth begin to erupt about- the seventh month without marked general upset. Such babies are seldom ill, and, if so, they very cpiickly and completely recover. They hate a. general appearance of happiness, vitality, and elasticity characteristic of healthy childhood. Let me quote a little poem to you:

Everybody knows me t am the Baby.

I am the oldest institution in the world, And the youngest. I need pure milk, fresh air, quiet sleep; I want to love, laugh, work, and play. If you make my way easy now I will repay you when I grow up. T am your hope: 1 am the Rahy. BABY’S MILESTONES.

“Life lias been likened to a highway, its intervals measured by milestones, a source of interest and. incentive to the traveller. Baby, of course, is blissfully unaware that we older pilgrims assemble with him at starting point and eagerly watch him pass his monthly and, later, his annual milestones of physical, mental, and moral progress. “The normal baby of good nutrition should pass each milestone on time, though no two babies are exactly alike. “ 1. By the. end of the first month a baby’s senses of .smell and taste are sufficiently developed to enable him to distinguish new tastes, and if not already used to water lie may refuse it. His brain begins to respoml to messages received' by touch, sight, and hearing, and henceforth the highroad ■of life slowly and steadily unfolds before his wondering eyes. “ 2. About the sixth week he really smiles a true, responsive smile. “ 3. By the eighth week he knows his mother. “ 4. During the fourth month ho asserts his own little will and holds his head up. “5. Laugh and crow, Shout and grow,’ is inscribed" on the fifth month milestone.

“6. A good honest scale hangs on the next, and baby should have doubled his birth weight in the sixth month. “7. Soon after this he may have two sharp little teeth. He realises that his hands and feet are part of himself and- will obey his wishes. Hie delights in noisily crumpling, hanging, or knocking tilings about. “ S. In the eighth or ninth month be usually sits erect, and the working partnership between mind and body steadily improves. “ f). Very soon baby extends his explorations'by creeping, and the wise mother congratulates herself _ that he is already used to his ‘kicking pen.’ He pulls himself up and soon stands alone.

“ 10. The first anniversary is a great day, and once again the scales play ft prominent part. Has baby trebled his birth weight? Has he six teeth? Can be say single words? “11. Bv the ‘fifteenth month he usually walks alone, and commences a new era of experience. “ 12. On his second birthday ho should be able to talk quite well; he should have 1(3 teeth, and the ‘soft spot’ in his head should have been closed several months. “After the first year the wonderful growth impulse slows down —fortunatelv for the one who does the sewing." During the second year the gain in weight is six to seven oounds, only about half the gain in the first year. In the third and fourth years it is halved agffn to three or four

pounds. The growth in height is about nine inches in the first year, and four inches in the second, thus easing off somewhat in proportion to the slackening of gain in weight. “The embodiment of all this arithmetic is just an average healthy boy—a normal’ child—but one who would utterly satisfy any mother and be welcome wherever he went. We coadd all name —wc can l all babies setting out bravely on life’s highway. I am sure we would all do our utmost to help them up with their milestones as the time goes on. “But what has gone to make our normal baby? Is it by accident that he possesses all these qualities? Is he just one of the lucky ones.?” The conclusion of this little talk will be given next week.