Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1910 — SCIENTIFIC BABY RAISING. [ARTICLE]

SCIENTIFIC BABY RAISING.

Sweeooa AtteoSiM* Collesre-Bired Mother’s Method of Reorin* Boy. ' “Scientific babies” are' not necessarily prodigies, neither are college women, as many writers have averred, not qualified to bo good mothers. The experience of Mrs. William Noyes, a

college graduatarwlth her son Leonard, now 2 years old, disproves both these thorles and furbishes a new line of thought in the raising of children for mothers of all classes, says Van Norden’s Magazine. It proves, too, that science is casting out and uprooting superstitious methods and la leading the mother to forego her selfish pride for the Infant's sake and that .ultimately means a better and stronger citizenship: Leonard Noyes was not clad, to begin with, In the filmy draperies with which mothers delight to clothe their children. He was never rocked or sung to sleep; he was never cuddled or shown off to an admiring company; and kissing was left entirely out of hie scheme of life. His mother had all the maternal Instincts, but science declares that these manifestations of affection are harmful to an Infant’s nervous organization and she banished them all—rfor the child's sake. To begin with, Mrs. * Noyes, before Leonard’s birth, made a layette so dlffrent from the ordinary one as to be revolutionary, being composed of loose, knitted cotton garments which would not Interefere with either his circulation or his freedom of movement. His crib—not a cradle —was a plain wicker basket, light enough to be carried from one place to another and small enough to be placed on a window sill. Soon after the child’s birth the mother began to keep a record, similar to those kept by nurses, of his treatment and his behavloßounder it. She , registered each of the” natural functions, and every rash or pimple, each cold or fever, each nap or spell of crying went down into her book. At regular intervals she entered his weight and measurements and made observations on his muscular and mental development Convinced that too little rather than too much food would be of most benefit, she reduced his meals to six a day. Just enough and not too much, was her motto. At 2 months Leonard weighed 12 pounds—one and a half pounds above the average established by Dr. L. Emmett Holt, the famous child specialist. At 3 months he was two and seven-tenths pounds above the average. From the first months he was systematically exercised, first by massage. Later, holding him by the feet, the mother began by letting him bend himself backward on her knee till his ■headlining down to the floor and he supported his body by the muscles of his feet and legs. When he began to take notice Mrs. Noyes fastened a wooden rod across his basket and he entertained himself by pulling himself up to a sitting position by its aid. The “average”, babies observed by Holt do not hold up their heads until the third or fourth month. Leonard held up his in the third - week. Holt’s babies do not laugh until the third or fourth month. Leonard laughed in his twelfth week. Holt’s babies do not reach for objects until the fifth to the seventh month. Leonard grabbed for a pair of scales In his fifteenth week.In his twentieth wesk he began pulling himself up to the sitting position by the rod fastened across his basket; in his twenty-sevqnth to pull himself up to his feet and stand alone, In his thirty-third he began to walk. Everything that affected the health or demeanor of the boy was noted on a chart such as hospital nurses heep, and this record when consulted proved to be an infalliable guide in case of a recurrence of the symptoms.