Better babies and their care

by Anna Steese Richardson

“How soon should the soft spot on the top of Baby’s head close?”

The “soft spot” referred to is known to physicians as the fontanel. At birth, it is like a wide separation of the bones on top of the head, and feels like a hole in the skull. Gradually this opening closes, and the top of the head becomes firm and hard. The time of closure varies from fourteen to twenty-four months, but the average is eighteen months.

A mother should guard the shape of her baby’s head with care. In tucking him into his crib it is advisable to lay him first on one side and then on the other, and always with his ears carefully laid back. If the ear is pressed forward or curled up for hours at a time, it may become slightly misshapen. Ears that are protruding at birth are a real deformity. They cannot be cured completely, but the defect can be reduced if, from birth, the baby sleeps in a ventilated cap made for the purpose.

A mother should know whether her baby breathes properly. The child that suffers chronically from “snuffles” needs medical attention. If he does not receive it, he may develop a case of catarrh that will make himself and everybody around him miserable. The baby that breathes with its mouth habitually open is generally found to have adenoids. Mouth breathing always justifies an examination of the baby’s throat by the best specialist at command.

A mother should know why her baby does not speak distinctly from the day it first forms words. The normal child is born a mimic. It tries its best to speak precisely like the older persons with whom it comes in contact. If the speech is defective, thick, guttural, and unintelligible, a physician should examine the mouth, throat, and nose. There may be a growth in the passageway, enlarged tonsils, trouble with the palate, or the child may be tongue-tied. This advice does not refer to the baby under one year of age whose gooing and gurgling cannot possibly be interpreted as speech. But once the child utters words like “Mama,” “Papa,” “baby,” “bottle,” etc., the sounds should be reasonably clear.

If an examination does not disclose any physical defect to interfere with clarity of speech, then the baby has been started wrong, often permitted to develop slovenly habits of pronunciation. The task of curing this defect lies with the mother, who can correct it gradually by persuading the child to repeat words, over and over, until they are clear and distinct. Lisping, stuttering, mispronouncing certain consonants, twisting and omitting certain letters, are tricks of speech which can be cured, if the mother takes them in time. It is most unjust to the child to encourage these peculiarities; as, once they become habits, they are hard to break. I have heard children five and six years old talking a jargon which only immediate members of their family could interpret; and I have seen mothers punish children of school age for tricks of speech which were considered “cute” when the baby first learned to talk.

When a child reaches the age of eighteen months without making any effort to talk, and if he points to objects rather than asks for them, he should be taken to a physician for physical and mental examination. It may be found that he is merely lazy, and he has learned that he can get what he wants without asking. Then he must be encouraged, not urged, to talk. The child who is not talking at thirty months is either mentally deficient or deaf.

A mother should know why her baby cries. In a very young baby, as I have said before, a little crying is good exercise. This is baby’s way of demanding notice.

If an ordinarily contented baby, presumably comfortable, dry and well-fed, persists in crying, the mother should investigate. Among small causes of discomfort may be mentioned an open safety-pin; an over-tight belly-band; folds in those instruments of torture, the muslin bands of skirts fastened with safety-pins; a small arm twisted under the body; sun shining into the eyes; flies or mosquitoes; and wet diapers. Make a baby absolutely comfortable in clothing and position, and he will not cry long.

The following table of reasons why babies cry is reprinted, by permission, from “Hints to Mothers Who Want Better Babies,” issued by the Better Babies Bureau: