The Hattiesburg news., 1913-10-07

in our country are Of children under
one year of age.
The responsibility for baby-life does
not lie with the Creator, nor with the
mother but with those whose duty it
is to see that every young wowan is
taught Babyology along with the other
"ologies" included in the course of
study set forth in public and private
schools.
Another mistaken belief about ba-
bies has been that they are born deli
cate" or Strong" and, as they are
born, so must they live that is If
they live at ALL The delicate baby
has been regarded as a dispensation
of Providence, to be accepted with pa
tience and resignation. Mother trot-
ted and dosed it by day, and Father
walked the floor with it by night and
the neighbors pitied them both. The
idea that the poor little tot was born
with the right to acquire strength and
health was not preached. The thought
of calling in science to transform the
delicate baby into a strong one is
comparatively new. 1t is part of this
wonderful, this optimistic new science
of Babyology.
And Babyology of the common
sense sort for the common-sense moth
er is the most important outgrowth of
the Better Babies Contests which have
been held at state and county fairs
all over the country during the past
summer and this fall.
At better babies contest, the beau
ty of the baby does not count.
Strength, energy, good proportions. in
telligence do. Every baby entered in
these contests has been examined by
a physician, tested by standards of
normal, healthy children. And every
mother attending these contests has
received her first instructions in Baby
ology. AS more than a hundred thou
sand babies have been examined in
these contests since January /, 1918,
by five thousand physicians of recog-
nized standing, Babyology has gotten
a mighty good start in American
homes. Tens of thousands of mothers
have become we'll acquainted with
their own babies through lessons in
Babyology. They have found out why
their babies are delicate and how they
can be made strong. They have found
out why small chests were sunken
and how they could be developed. why
stomachs and abdomens were distend-
ed and sore and how they could be
reduced to normal proportions; why
some babies who cry ought to be
smiling instead and how the smiles
can be coaXed back. To sum it I'D.
the study of Babyology has taught
these mothers that a puny, sickly.
fretful baby is not dispensation of
Providence but an unnecessary family
burden, and grave reflection on the
intelligence of its parents.
AS director of the better babies bu-
reau of the Womans Home Compan-
ion, | have attended many of these |
contests, east, west, north and south |
have conferred with hundreds of par
ents, discussed babies and Babyology |
with hundreds of physicians. What |
these parents and physicians have
learned from each other-and from the
babies examined-is the basis on
which these articles have been pre-
pared.
Mothers who cannot enter babies in
mothers who cannot ioin
clubs which are studying Babyologv.
will find help in these articles. built
on the experiences of mothers who
have done both. These talks on Baby
oiogy, twelve in number, will discuss
every phase of baby's existence, from
It's food to its maps, from its tiny
aches and pains to its play. Problems
Of feeding, bathing, dressing. Sleep
ing, teething, exercising, all the habits
'f babyhood acquired in the first few
years and, alas, so often never cast
'ff. will be considered, just as they
we're seen to come up at these con-
ests.
Babyology has one splendid object,
me throbbing message to give the
GOrld. 1t is better babies for the hnma ,