Ottumwa Tri Weekly Courier

BABY'S SOURCE OF HEALTH AND STRENGTH-FOOD.

The last article on this fascinating subject of Babyology defined the science of baby-study, and told how it had sprung from the Better Babies contests.

Perhaps the most amazing feature of my visits to these contests where I watched doctors and mothers examining the babies, was the large number of women who did not know their own babies. Oh, yes, they knew Baby's name, the color of his hair and eyes, the exact point where his cheek or his chin broke into a delightful dimple, the side of his family from which baby kins got his many good points and his few bad ones, the day when he had first sat up or toddled across the floor, these and many other things, the mothers knew, but still they did not know what was going on inside of baby, in the digestive apparatus on which so much of his health and happiness depend.

Of course if Baby could talk, Mother would know exactly how he feels, because he could explain where the ache is located. But when one's means of communication is limited to wriggling and rolling up his eyes, and emitting disturbed yaps, Mother must look for signs or symptoms to take the place of worded complaints.

And there are so many ways in which the flesh, the skin, the eyes, the very actions of a baby indicate that his digestion is not in good working order.

And when the digestion is not working Mother must go directly to the cause Baby's food. We who are so old and strong and seasoned know what ills follow on the trail of indigestion. How we should sympathize with a tender baby whose sufferings we can alleviate by just righting the system of feeding.

If the food does not agree with Baby he may be puny or over-fat; he may be drowsy and listless or fretful and restless; he may be out of proportion in his measurements or he may have a rash.

Here are some of the things I saw and heard at the Better Babies Con-