OUR BABIES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 9185, Issue 9185, 8 April 1910, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

By Hygeia. Published under the auspices of the Society for tho Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." PLUNKET NURSES' SERVICES FREE. ADDRESSES OF PLUNKET NURSES AND SECRETARIES. Dunedin.—Plunket Nurses Mrs Matheson and Mies Ellis. Office of the Society, Health Department Rooms, Liverpool street, Dunedin. Office hours, Monday, Thursday and Saturday, from 2 to 3 p.m. Tel. 1136. Hon. sec, Mrs Carr, 8 Heriot row, Tel.

1774. Christchurch.—Plunket Nurses Morgan and Macarthy. Office of the Society, . 27 Durham street South. Tel. 940. Office hours, 2 to 3 p.m. daily, except Saturdays and Sundays. Hon. sec, Mrs F. H. Pyne, Bealey avenue. Tel. 285. Wellington.—Plunket Nurse M'Donald, ! 73 Aro street. Tel. 2425. Hon. sec, Mrs M'Vicar, 45 Marjoribanks street, City. Tel. 2642. Auckland.—Plunket Nurse Chappell, Park street. Tel. 851. Office of the Society, 2 Chancery street. Tel. 829. Office hours, Tuesdays and Fridays, 2.20 to 4 p.m. Hori. sec, Mrs W. H. Parkes, Marinoto, Symonds street. Tel. 240. Palmerston North. —Plunket Nurse Henderson, care of W. Park, bookseller, The Square. Tel. 20. Hours, 3 to 4 p.m. daily. Hon. ■ sec, Mrs Jas. Young, College street. Napier. —Plunket Nurse Donald, Masonic Hotel. Tel. 87. Hon. sec. Mrs E. A. W. Henley, P.O. Box 64. Tel.

147. New Plymouth. —Plunket Nurse Warncck, "Criterion Hotel. Hon. see, Mrs R. J. Matthews. Timaru. —Plunket Nurse Bowman. Office of the Society, Arcade Chambers. Tel. 314. Office hours, 3.30 to 4.30 and 6.30 to 7.30. Hon. sec, Mrs Smithson, Faillie, Sefton street. Tel.

230. Society's Baby Hospital, Karitane Home, Anderson's Bay, Dunedin. Tel. 1985. Demonstrations on points of interest to mothers are given by the matron every Wednesday afternoon from 2.30 to 3.30. All mothers are invited.

Messages may be left at any time at the Plunket Nurses' Offices or private addresses. The Society' 6 official sheet of instructions, written by Dr. Truby King, price 3d (postage free), and all other information available from the hon. secretary of each branch.

MILESTONES ON THE BABY'S ROAD. Proper feeding and warmth of body afford practically the sole satisfactions of earliest infancy —expressed by contentment, quiet, and sleep. Improper feeding and wetness and coldness of tho skin are the leading sources of discomfort —expressed by fretfulness, crying, and restlessness. Feed your baby properly, give him pure, cool air to breathe, keep his body "snug," and ho will be contented; lllfecd, starve, or chill him, and he will feel wretched—and will let you know it! End of first week. —Begins to like soft diffused light. Before this baby bears light badly, and opens eyes only in darkness or shadow. Squinting k common in the first month, becauso the mechanism for properly directing tho movements of the two oyes together is not yet in working order. The occurrence of marked squint later on ie suggestive of indigestion, morbid irritation, and a tendency to convulsions. Consult a doctor. End of first month and early in second. —May begin to notice differences in food by combined smell and taste; and on thie account if offered a milk slightly- different from what ho has been accustomed to may refuse to take it. _ u Dawnings of attention begin to be expressed" by pursing up tho mouth, wrinkling the forehead, elevating the eyebrows, opening wide the eyelids, fixation of gaze, etc. From this timo forth the baby looks out on his little world with wide-open, wondering cyee, vaguely drinking in impressions more and more day by day. . Presently ho begins to manifest distinct interest and more or lose pleasure, not only in food, but also in various sensory impressions coming to him: — (a) Through touch, warmth, etc.— Likes to be stroked, handled, pattod or caressed. (b) Through sight.—Enjoys eunhght, fires, lamps, shifting lights and shadows, bright moving objects, people, animals, otc. (c) Through hearing. —Shows interest in various sounds —e.g., ticking of watch, barking of dog, musical notes, singing, etc.

Sixth to seventh week.—Birth of distinct "expression" of feelings. First true, bright, responsive smile, and cooing, chuckling, or babbling with pleasure. Eighth week.—Begins to show distinct concentrated attention; to follow slowlymoving objects with his eyes, to notice faces, etc. —"knows his mother." Fourth month.—Head ceasing to be "wobbly" —can with effort "hold up his head." (This is regarded as the first manifestation of the exercise of willpower, and as such marks an important stage in the- baby's mental progress.) Shows increasing interest and joy in parents and familiar friends, but tends , to be alarmed or frightened by strangers. Fifth month. —"Crows" and laughs aloud. Sixth month.—Weight at birth doubled. Fifth .to seventh month.—Reaches for toys and' handles them. Delights in noisily crumpling, banging or knocking things about, repeating these actions over and over again. Carries everything to hie mouth, including his own toes- — which fascinate him by their constant movements. They arc more than mere playthings—they are his chief playmates ! A young baby has no idea that his toes belong to him—they are interesting as live moving things always at hand. \bout the sixth month hero comes a dawning wondering consciousness of self. The baby then begins to realise that his own Jimbs possess for him ,a Quality which all objects apart from himself lack —thoy are sensitive—from them come feelings of pleasure or pain—they are parts of himself, and thus quite different from his toys or companions. An infant that is handling, for example a wooden brick derives from his fingers sensations of touch, of temperature, and perhaps of weight but when he drops the piece of wood and frasps his toes, stimuli now stream up to his brain, not only from the hand that grasps, but also from the toes grasped. The infant is not able at first to appreciate this difference, and is longer still in associating this peculiar quality with those objects whic'i alone possess it, and in marking them off in his own consciousness from those that lack it. But even before this understanding is reached, the child will prefer to play with his toes rather than with a piece of wood. He derives inoro sensations, and therefore more pleasure, from the former. Gradually there is borne in upon his mind the fact that a difference exists _in tho objects touched, and the earliest appreciations of this fact are associated with wonder. Thus all infant grasping hither and thither happens by chance to seize one hand with the other. Ho is plainly astonished. He becomes quite still, and steadily stares at hie interlocked fingers. Then slowly opening the enveloping hand, ho supports in its palm the fingers of the other. Again lie stares mystified. He 'begins to feel the fingers of the passive hand, bending them "open and shutting them again. This investigation {is continued, until finally the hands nioVo apart, and the child's' attention 'wanders to other things. . . . The eensel of touch is therefore of the verv greatest imno'-t----lar:ce in laying tho foundations of the .-onsdou-snoss of self.—David Forsyth, M.D, D.Sc. \

Eight to ninth month. —Able to sit erect.

Ninth to tenth month.—Crawls or attempts to bear his weight on the feet. Eleventh to twelfth month. —Stands with assistance.

Twelfth month. —Weight at birth tre bled. Six teeth cut. Says single words.

Twelfth to fifteenth month.—Walks alone. "Tho child's principal interest is no longer restricted to the immediate neighbourhood in which ho sits, but henceforth he is able to concern himself with a wider area, and in nursery, garden, or field, discovers a thoueand-and-one novel delights that urge forward hie mental development at a great speed. New experiences aro of frequent occurrence, and the eager intelligence of tho child absorbs them like a sponge ahsorbs water."—(David Forsyth, M.D., D.Sc") Eighteenth month. —"Soft spot" in head closes. (If closure is delayed beyond two years consult a doctor.) Enighteenth to twenty-fourth month. — Begins to have some power of distinguishing colours —especially red and green. Twenty-fourth month. —Puts words together into sentences, and should talk well. Sixteen teeth cut.

N.B. —If the milestones are reached in food time the mother may feel sure that er baby is not backward or defective. Thcro may be delay on account of rickets or other retarding illnesses, or marked backwardness may be tho first evidence of mental deficiency. On tho other hand a very able child may be late in holding up his head; late in walking, talking, etc.; and defectives arc not invariably much behindhand in these respects. If a baby is backward consult a doctor.