BACKWARD BABIES

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 3, 1 September 1924, Page 45

BACKWARD BABIES

SOME USEFUL ADVICE TO MOTHERS COME mothers are distressed when other women’s babies arc apparently more advanced than their own children. They often worry quite unnecessarily, not really knowing what constitutes a thoroughly healthy baby. Normal Progress Many mothers, for instance, boast about the abnormal weight of a baby in relation to its age. But excessive fat is.not a sign of good health, and excessive weight is very frequently a sign of constant overfeeding. The healthy baby doubles its birth weight at six months, and trebles it at a year. Mothers should not worry if baby remains stationary in weight now and again. Anxiety is justified when a baby begins losing weight. Babies vary in the rate at which they cut their teeth and begin to walk and talk. Provided a baby eats well, sleeps well, is muscular, active, alert, contented, and regular in all his habits, his mother need not worry. A normal baby should begin to cut teeth during the sixth or seventh month, and should have six teeth when a year old and sixteen when he is two years old. He should be able to stand at the end of his first year, and walk alone by the fifteenth month. By his second birthday he should be able to say little sentences. Yery many babies reach these landmarks at much earlier dates than those indicated. Other equally intelligent and healthy babies may be late in development in one respect or another. Mothers should consult a doctor if baby has no teeth at all by the tenth or twelfth month; if he is markedly lacking in muscular activity; if there is torpor or lethargy during the wakeful hours; if baby seems unable to make or hear sounds or if the soft spot or fontanelle in the front of the head is not completely closed by the second year. Exceptionally early talking, walking, or “knowingness” may only be signs of a quick, nervous temperament on the part of the baby, or forcing and over-stimulation on the part of the mother. Nothing to be Gained In any case there is nothing to be gained from a too early development. A mother can have no prouder possession than a normal baby who has perfect health, average development, and a happy disposition. Only the foolish will envy a precocious, advanced, or abnormal child. o o o