Scientific experiments and clinical study are answering many questions about the newborn baby: What is his physical appearance? What are the Signs of good development? What movements may he be expected to make? What does he see and hear and feel? Does he have a unique personality? If one has had experience with newborn babies, or has seen certain films, which are the best substitute for firsthand observation (see pages 47-48), then information from books will be more interesting and meaningful.
Although the newborn baby's repertory of responses is not very useful in its random, unmeaningful state, it represents his capacity for maturing and learning; for meeting his needs through action; for finding more and more meaning in the world about him; for making connections between what happens to him and what he does; and, later, for modifying his actions by thought.
Thirst and hunger. Thirst is present at birth and demands satisfaction more frequently than many mothers realize. A thirsty baby will cry as lustily as a hungry one. The newborn's stomach contracts in hunger just as the adult's does, but at more frequent intervals.
Scientific experiments and clinical study are answering many questions about the newborn baby: What is his physical appearance? What are the 