The efficient mother does not need a doctor to tell her whether her baby is growing and developing at a normal rate. She has a certain set of standards by which she measures her own child’s development. Physicians have compiled tables of standards showing normal weight and measurements, the dentition table published on page 101, also certain tests known as mental and developmental, which are based largely on the Binet-Simon standards of mental development. Any mother who reads this chapter can assure herself as to whether her baby is keeping up with the standards as a normal child should. First, she should know whether he is gaining daily in strength. The scales and the tape-line tell the story of baby’s physical development. He should be weighed once a week, and measured once a month till a year old. He should be weighed when stripped and before feeding. The best scales are those known as the grocer’s platform scales, weighing up to twenty-five pounds. The bar must be divided into ounces, and on the platform there should be one of the wicker weighing-baskets which can be bought at any department or drug store. Either dial or spring scales are inaccurate, as baby’s every movement affects the spring. The ordinary steel tape-line, which may be purchased at any hardware store for twenty-five cents, is better than a linen tape-line. At birth the average baby weighs seven pounds. The first few days after birth he loses a little. Then, if he is normal and healthy, he begins to gain in weight as well as to grow. Until he is six months old his average gain in weight should be from four to eight ounces a week. At six months his weight should be at least twice what it was at birth. He should then take on about two and one-half or three ounces a week until he is a year old. After that his gain is five pounds a year. The following table of weights and measurements, prepared by one of the most eminent children’s specialists in the East, will show the average growth of a healthy child: