| Show Your Baby And Mine By Iy MYRTLE 1 MEYER METER ELDRED W WATCH THE LINE ON BABY'S BADY'S WEIGHT CHART weight comes up for fOJ frequent frequent fre Ire quent discussion in this department It isn't that there ar are perfect weights for babies but there are average weights Without a knowledge of how many ounces baby gains weekly we weare weare weare are completely in the dark as ns to what needs correction if il anything goes wrong If we know the gains in weight to tobe tobe be DC expected of the well and healthy baby Daby we have a clue to the solution if if baby's behavior is markedly different different differ differ- ent from the usual WEIGHT REGULARITY Weighing the bab baby weekly is a ceremony ceremony ceremony cere cere- mony most mothers enjoy It can be accomplished by putting a diaper in inthe inthe the he bottom of baby's bath bathtub tub laying the he naked baby In the tub and weighing weighing weighing weigh weigh- ing the whole on a good accurate platform scales Deducting the weight of the tub and napkin gives us the number of pounds our fledgling weighs weichs If the scales is a large one the baby may be laid directly on the he platform or in the pan But such scales arc more often found in hospitals hospitals hos hose than homes The ideal way is to take the baby to a clinic or a doctor weekly or bi bi- weekly have the w weighing done accurately ac ae- ae curate and note the thern gain on a weight chart charl There is nothing quite to the mother as watch watching watching ing ine that black line curve steadily up up- ward The average gain per week the first six months is about five tb six ounces Some babies gain seven or eight or even ten ounces but these extraordinary nar nary gains are arc lr quite as often accompanied accompanied by symptoms plainly indicative indicative indica tive live of overfeeding Babies lose their appetites they have an In excessive number of stools daily they spit pit up up have colic develop eczema and by their fretfulness and distress show clearly that they are being burdened by food The baby who gains four ounces or orless orless orless less a week often exhibits the opposite kind of behavior He too is fretful and wakeful He gnaws his fist hungrily lYe ly ly he is stubbornly constipated and his poor empty stomach rolls and grumbles with gas He is trying in every possible way to t tell ll these blind adults that he is hungry His mother would know this if It she watched his weight Su Such h low gains are inconsistent mean incon with adequate feeding LATER GAINS After the sixth month the average gain Cain drops to about four tour ounces week week- ly The old s saying ying that a a baby doubles doubles dou dou- bH bles s his weight at 5 months and nd trebles it at a year holds good only for lor the average seven pound seven pound baby But it falls down when we try to apply it to the pound birth pound nine baby or orthe the six pound one Babies gain at about abou the same rate irrespective tive Live of their birth weights so that a pound an and a half halt gain each month will wilt bring very different results when applied to babies of different birth weights Better Belter watch the weekly gain and forget torget about such stupid sayings After Alter baby has arrived at the age ot of one year the gain again slows down A weekly two-ounce two gain or half hall a pound monthly is 15 sufficient af at ter the first year My leaflet on Heights and Weights Tables Up to Five Years should prevent the mothers mother's worrying about whether her herchick herchick herchick chick is falling behind in the race for lor pounds or is leaping too tar far ahead Either condition demands attention Tomorrow Il n Easy Hasy uy to Change Chan From Lactic AcM Acid to o Sweet Milk 1 |
