Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-10-26
LITTLE TALKS ON BABYOLOGY
b. ANNA STEESE RICHARDSON
Director of The Better Babies Bureau OF the Wonaans Home Companion
No. l.
WHAT IS B~ABYOLOGY?
bu ANMAE SIEESE hfCH4RDSONE
E Better Babies Bureau OF the Won

I, resignation. Mother trOtted and dOsed II by day, anu
Father walked the floor with 1t by night, and the neigh
bors pitied them both. The idea that the poor little
tot was born with tine right to acquire strength ana
health was not %practiced. The thought OF calling IN IN
science, to transform the delicate baby into a strong
one is comparatively new. 1t is part of this Wonwer.
full this optimistic new science Of Babyology.
And Babyology of the conmon,sense sort for the
common.sense mother is the most important out
grwth Of the Better Babies Contests which have been
held at state and county fairs all over the country dur
Ing the past summer and this fall.
AT a Better Babies Contest, the beauty OF. the baby
does not count. Strength, energy, good proportions,
Intelligence do. Every baby entered in these con.
tests 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 Babyology. AS more, than "a hundred
thousand babies have been examined in, these con:
TESTS since January l., 1919, by five thousand physi.
clans of recognized standing, B%abyology has gotten a
mighty good start in American homes. Tens of thou.
sands of mothers have become we'll acquainted with
their own babies through these lessons in Babyology.
They have found out why their babies are delicate
and how they can be made strong. They have folno
out why small chests were sunken and how they could
be developed, why small stomachs and abdomens were
~distended 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 he coaxed
back. To sum it up, the study of Babyology has taught
these mothers that a puny, sickly, fretful baby is not
a dispensation Of Providence but an unnecessary family
burden, and a grave reflection on the intelligence
OF its parents. '''@~H "'.
i AS director of the Better Babies Bureau Of the
Woman's Home Companion, I have attended many Of
these contests, east, west, north and south. I have
conferred with hundreds OF parents, discussed babies
and ~babyology with hundreds Of physicians. What
these parents and physicians have learned from each
other-7and from the babies exanined-is the basis on
which these articles have been prepared. a&
Mothers who cannot enter babies in contests, mo-
Tiers who cannot join clubs which are studying Baby
oiogy, will find help in these articles, built on the
experiences of mothers who have done both. These
talks on Babyology, tweve in number, will discuss
every, phase of baby's existence, from its food to its
maps. from its tiny aches and pains to its play. Pro
blems Of feeding bathing, dressing, sleeping, %teething,
exercising, all the habits Of babyhood acquired in the
first few years and, alas. so often never cast off, will
be considered, just as they we're seen to come up at
these contests. ~2". .''%s. '%2~t
Babyologsy has one big splendid object, one throb
hing message 10 give the world. 1t is Better Rabies
for the home and the nation. If you have no baby IN
your home, if you hope some day to have a baby rest.
ing against your heart, if you are merely a lover Of
other peoples babies, you will be interested in this
science OF babyology. It's the sort of thing you are
glad to pass on to your neighbor-your fellow worker.
If you have a problem in raising your baby, some
place inthese. talks on Babyology. it will be solved for
you. If you cannot wait for that particular article,
then write to me, in care of this paper, and your ques:
ton will be answered by the aid of physicians who
know babies and believe in the study of Babyology for
all mothers. ~ $50 So"
She next article o.. the series will deal with the vital
problem of feeding the baby.