WHAT SHOULD YOUR BABY WEIGH AND MEASURE?—TESTING THE BABY’S MENTAL DEVELOPMENT—HOW SOON SHOULD THE BABY WALK AND TALK?—CRYING, CAUSE AND CURE

The efficient mother does not need a doctor to tell her whether her baby is growing and developing at a normal rate. She has a certain set of standards by which she measures her own child’s development. Physicians have compiled tables of standards showing normal weight and measurements, the dentition table published on page [101], also certain tests known as mental and developmental, which are based largely on the Binet-Simon standards of mental development. Any mother who reads this chapter can assure herself as to whether her baby is keeping up with the standards as a normal child should.

First, she should know whether he is gaining daily in strength. The scales and the tape-line tell the story of baby’s physical development. He should be weighed once a week, and measured once a month till a year old. He should be weighed when stripped and before feeding.

The best scales are those known as the grocer’s platform scales, weighing up to twenty-five pounds. The bar must be divided into ounces, and on the platform there should be one of the wicker weighing-baskets which can be bought at any department or drug store. Either dial or spring scales are inaccurate, as baby’s every movement affects the spring. The ordinary steel tape-line, which may be purchased at any hardware store for twenty-five cents, is better than a linen tape-line.

At birth the average baby weighs seven pounds. The first few days after birth he loses a little. Then, if he is normal and healthy, he begins to gain in weight as well as to grow. Until he is six months old his average gain in weight should be from four to eight ounces a week. At six months his weight should be at least twice what it was at birth. He should then take on about two and one-half or three ounces a week until he is a year old. After that his gain is five pounds a year.

The following table of weights and measurements, prepared by one of the most eminent children’s specialists in the East, will show the average growth of a healthy child:

TABLE OF STANDARDS
Age in MonthsWeightHeightCircumference of HeadCircumference of ChestCircumference of Abdomen
lbs.in.in.in.in.
1821¾1513½13½
210½23¼.........
31224.........
41424¾.........
514¾25¼.........
6172717½17½17½
91928181818
12202918½18½18½
16233018½18½18½
20243118½19½19¼
242532192019½
282733½192019½
32293519½20½19½
363236½202120

Very important are the proportions between the circumference of head, chest, and abdomen. When they do not correspond with the measurements given on this standard table there is a reason, and the mother should seek till she finds it.

For example, at twelve months, when Baby is cutting many teeth, the head, the chest, and the abdomen should be uniform in circumference. A head two inches larger is out of proportion and usually means trouble for the baby in teething, convulsions, intense nervousness, or brain disorder. Such a child must be carefully watched and screened from shock of any sort. At twenty months the chest should be gaining on the head; and at no time should the baby’s abdomen be larger than the chest. If it is, his diet needs changing. He is being fed too often or too heavily, or there is gas on the stomach.

There are times, of course, when even a normal baby does not measure up to these standards. While teething he may lose flesh for a time, then regain it. If attacked by measles, or whooping-cough, or other juvenile ailments, he will lose flesh. If he does not regain flesh when the illness passes he is not convalescing properly.