Reproductive System

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An Infant

11.20 When a baby is hungry, it cannot tell anyone about this. It may like to be cuddled, but cannot express it. It may like to walk and talk, but its bones and muscles are very soft. The only way it can express itself is by crying. For the first few months the baby can only cry, drink and sleep. As the baby develops, it acquires skills such as crawling, sitting, standing, walking and talking. The baby starts learning many things about itself and about the world around. For example, the baby recognises its mother and also responds to its name. The baby grows because it is fed regularly with mothers  milk .

 The Baby and the Adult

11.21 Babies are softer because their bones have not hardened. When babies are born they have few hard bones. Their skeletons are mostly made of a strong, slightly pliable material called cartilage. Later the bones grow to become bigger and harder. A child’s bones are bigger and stronger than a baby’s, but definitely not as hard as an adult’s bones. They will keep growing and getting harder until the child is about twenty-one. The bones should grow in a healthy step wise manner. Generally, if the wrist bones are growing right, then all the bones in the body will grow well. A child cannot do jobs such as lifting weights, which an adult can easily do. The mental capability of the child is limited as compared to an adult.

 What makes You Grow?

11.22  Food, water and fresh air make you grow. You need exercises like walking, running, etc to keep your muscles strong. You also need rest to grow. That is why babies sleep so much – because they are growing very fast. Your body is made up of tiny cells. You grow because these cells grow and also because new cells are added on. All foods contain different things like proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. You need the right quantity of each of these to be healthy and keep growing.