BABY 



531 



BABY 



over-dressed. Prickly heat is evidence that an 

 infant is dressed too warmly. For underwear, 

 select that made of medium-weight silk and 

 wool or cotton and wool. All-wool garments 

 are irritating to the tender skin. 



Babies should not be bounced about or 

 frolicked with, rocked or jogged. During the 

 first few months they will get sufficient exercise 

 through crying and tossing their arms and legs 

 about. The baby who is constantly played 

 with and over-stimulated will develop into a 

 nervous child. Babies should not be kissed 

 indiscriminately, and never on the mouth. 



Many infectious diseases are communicated 

 through kissing and careless exposure of the 

 child. Mothers should refuse to believe that 

 it is necessary for their children to have 

 measles, mumps, whooping cough and other 

 childhood ailments. Rather, they should sec 

 to it that the little ones are properly safe- 

 guarded. This care should extend to the child's 

 playthings, from which should be excluded 

 woolly animals and toys covered with poison- 

 ous paint. Baby has a tendency to put every- 

 thing he grasps into his mouth, and he should 

 not be allowed to play with unsanitary toys. 



Better Babies Conferences 



Baby conferences have become popular 

 features in numerous localities ; they are usually 

 conducted under the auspices of woman's clubs, 

 health boards, infant- welfare societies, parent- 

 teacher associations, civic clubs and similar 

 organizations. The purpose of these confer- 

 ences is to arouse interest in the hygienic and 

 intelligent care of children. They are educa- 

 tional rather than competitive, though the cus- 

 tom of awarding prizes adds zest to the occa- 

 sion. 



The children are examined and scored by 

 competent physicians exactly as cattle, horses 

 and hogs are appraised by stock judges. In 

 every case a standard is established, and each 

 child is measured according to that standard. 

 A typical score card would contain the follow- 

 ing points, each of which is marked on the 

 scale of 100: height; weight; circumference of 

 chest; circumference of abdomen; symmetry; 

 quality of skin and fat; quality of muscles, 

 hand grasp, rising, sitting, poise, walking, run- 

 ning; bones of skull, spine, chest, limbs and 

 feet; length of head, width and circumference; 

 pupillary distance and shape of eyes; shape, 

 size and position of ears; shape and size of 

 lips; shape and size of forehead; shape of 

 nose; shape and condition of jaw, hard palate 

 and nostrils; number, shape, size and condition 

 of teeth; disposition; energy; facial and ocular 

 expression; attention. Beauty of face or body 

 is not considered, but physical and mental 

 development; a high-grade child, however, 

 well-nourished, clean and firm of flesh, cannot 

 be anything but wholesome and attract : 



The perfect child has the following measure- 

 ment. s (one pound less being counted for girls) : 



Average weight, height and circumference of 

 head and chest (for boy a) : 



At birth Weight. 7% pounds: height, 20 ft 

 Inches; chest 13% Inches; head, 14 Inches. 



One year Weight, 21 pounds; height, 29 

 inches; chest, 18 inches; head, 18 inches. 



Two years Weight, 26% pounds; height, 32% 

 inches ; chest, 1 9 inches ; head, 1 9 inches. 



Three years Weight, 31 pounds; height, 35 

 inches; chest, 20 inches; head, 19 Vi Inches. 



Teeth Central incisors appear about the sev- 

 enth month ; lateral incisors from eighth to 

 tenth ; anterior molars, twelfth to eighteenth ; 

 eye and stomach, fourteenth to twentieth ; pos- 

 terior molars, eighteenth to thirty-sixth. 



The child should make the first attempt to sit 

 up at about the sixteenth week, be able to do 

 so at about the fortieth, and be firmly seated 

 at the end of the tenth or eleventh month. 



The first attempt to stand should be made 

 about the thirty-eighth week. The fourteenth 

 or fifteenth month is the average period for 

 walking. A child who cannot walk by the eight- 

 eenth month is backward in that respect. 



The flesh should be firm, the skin pink, the 

 lips red, the tongue uncoated and the breath 

 sweet. Breathing should be done through the 

 nose. The child should not be fretful, nervous 

 or disinclined to play. 



The normal child can say words like mamma, 

 kitty, down, etc.. by the end of eighteen months. 

 By the end of the second year It is able to Join 

 words into short sentences. 



Baby conferences have been productive of 

 so much good that they are being encouraged 

 by such an authoritative body as the Amer- 

 ican Mi ilii :il Association (535 N. Dearborn St., 

 Chicago). By applying to the Secretary of the 

 Council on Health and Public Instruction at 

 this address, full instructions for holding con- 

 ices, together with score cards and other 

 material, can be obtained. Explanatory ma- 

 il and score cards are also distributed by 

 th.- Better Babies Bureau of the Woman's 

 Home Companion, New York, and by health 

 authorities of many < H.F.H 



Conn Care and Feeding of Children; 



Pomyth'H Children in Health and Diea*e; Op- 



InVs The Nervous System and the Child, 



The above books are recommended to mothers 



- American Medical Association. 



