Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 76, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1910 — SCIENTIFIC BABY RAISING. [ARTICLE]

SCIENTIFIC BABY RAISING.

Sweeesa AMcsAbs Collcse-Brc4 Mother’s Method of Reerlaa Boy. “Scientific babies" are npt necessarily prodigies, neither are college women, as many writers have averred, not Qualified to be good mothers. The experience of Mm. William Noyes, a

•allege graduate, with her atm Leonard, now 2 years old, disproves both these thoriea and furnishes a new line of thought In the raising of children sor 1 mothers of all classes, says Van Norden’s Magazine. U proves, too, that science is casting out and uprooting superstitious methods and Is 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 be-, gin with, In the filmy draperies with which mother* delight to clothe their children. He was never rocked or sung to sleep; he was never cuddled or shown off to an addilring company; and kissing waa left entirely out of his 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—for the child’s sake. To begin with, Mrs. Noyes, before Leonard’s birth, made a layette so diffrent from fche 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 behavior under it. She registered each or 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, waa her motto. At 2 months Leonard weighed 12 pounds—one and a halfpounds 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. - S 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 -head hung 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 slitting position by its aid. The "average” babies observed aby Holt do not hofld 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 unUl the fifth to the seventh month. Leonard grabbed for a pair of scales in his fifteenth week. In his twentieth weak he began pulling himself up to the sitting position by the rod fastened across his basket; in his twenty-seventh 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.