Tears. There are no tears at birth and opinions differ as to whether they appear in the course of two or three weeks or three or four months. The absence of tears is one reason for bathing the baby’s eyes so carefully during the early days and weeks, for if dust or other foreign material gets into the eyes it is not washed out by tears as it is after their flow is established.
General Behavior. During the first few weeks the average baby sleeps most of the time; that is, from 19 to 21 hours daily. He gradually sleeps less, as the special senses develop and will sometimes lie quietly for an hour or more with his eyes open, sleeping only 16 or 18 hours, daily, at six months and 14 to 16 hours at the end of a year.
The baby begins to make noises and “coo” at about two months and to utter various vowel sounds when about six months old. By the end of a year these indefinite noises and sounds become distinct words. At about the fourth month he grasps at objects and smiles, and very soon even laughs. He holds up his head at about the third or fourth month; sits up and also begins to creep at six or seven months, while sometime between the ninth and twelfth months he will stand while holding on to something secure and begin to walk with assistance.
These degrees of development at different ages are not to be taken as the only measure of normal progress, for some well babies mature more rapidly and many others more slowly than at the rate which is found to be average. In addition to these fairly specific evidences of the baby’s condition and progress, such as weight, height, strength and muscular development, there are other and less definite indications of his well-being which should be taken into account.
The baby who is well and is being properly fed in all respects, will have good color; his flesh will be firm; he will take his nourishment with a certain amount of eagerness and seem satisfied afterwards. He will sleep for two or three hours after each feeding; will sleep quietly at night and while awake, unless he is wet or uncomfortable for some other good reason, he will seem contented, good-natured and happy.
You have seen how the average, well baby grows and develops, provided he is given proper care. I want you now to have just a glimpse of the other side of the question, so that you may realize what happens to the unfortunate little citizens who are not given such care. This glimpse will make you realize more than ever, how worth while are all of the precautions that you take for your baby.
It is estimated that out of every 1000 babies born alive, in this country, 40 die during the first month of life, and that more than as many again, or about 85 all told, perish before reaching the first birthday.
So hazardous is this period of early infancy, in the United States, that our annual loss of baby life is between seven and eight times as great as was the yearly loss of our young men in the war, for upwards of 200,000 babies less than a year old die each year. That the first month is more dangerous than any which follow is shown by the fact that about 100,000 of these baby deaths occur during the first four weeks of life. The tragedy of these figures is made darker by the fact that at least half of the babies who are lost die from preventable causes. In other words, they die from lack of proper care.
That is the point of this for you. These babies die, not by an act of Providence, but from lack of care—not the difficult, complicated care needed by sick babies but just the everyday care which any mother may give—the care that keeps well babies well.
That is what you are going to do—keep your well baby well. And you are going to be surprised to find how easy it is, after all, to say nothing of the pleasure of it, for the thing very nearly sums itself up into feeding your baby as the doctor orders and keeping him clean in every particular. Bear these two factors in mind for errors in feeding and lack of cleanliness are the underlying causes of the vast majority of baby ills.