ining there may be a loss of both of these
bodies; when one is retained in the body the other is apt to be
retained.[65]

NORMAL INFANT FEEDING

Much has been written in the past few years on the care and feeding of
infants and children. This is well, since statistics show an alarming
increase in the rate of infant mortality during the early years of
life, and anything which can be done to check this lamentable and
often avoidable waste of valuable life should be resorted to with care
and attention.

~Food for Infants.~--The natural food of all young mammals is the milk
of their own mother. The rate of growth and development differs in
every species; the calf, for example, doubles birth weight much more
quickly than does the baby of the same age. However, the milk of the
cow, which meets the needs of the calf perfectly, falls short of
meeting the requirements of the infant, whose rate of growth is not
nearly so rapid. For this reason if for no other, it would be
advisable to give the baby its natural food rather than to attempt a
substitute which is, at best, a poor one.

~Weight.~--The average infant weighs from six to seven pounds at
birth. This weight should be doubled in the first five or six months
of life and tripled by the end of the first year. The most important
business, then, in the life of the child during the early years is
growth and development. To achieve this properly the baby's habits
must be adjusted to his needs.

~Regularity in Feeding.~--He must have the proper food and enough of
it, and have it given at regular intervals, "by the clock," for
guesswork is fatal in infant feeding. He must be given water between
meals. Babies often cry from thirst when they are thought to be doing
so from hunger or temper, or both. The healthy baby sleeps about
twenty-two hours out of twenty-four during the early months, and even
during the latter six months of the first year more time is spent in
sleeping than in waking.

~The Bowels.~--The bowels should move several times a day, the stools
being smooth and of a yellowish color, of the consistency of pea soup.
After the first month, twice a day is about the normal number of
stools for the healthy baby. The infant should be placed upon a vessel
held in the lap of the nurse at regular times, preferably right before
the morning bath, and in the evening. In this way regularity in
evacuating the bowels is obtained, and a habit formed which will prove
valuable