rasthenia, and hysteria could be spared much of
their early troubles and later miseries by prompt and proper methods
of early nursery discipline.

These nervous babies are born into the world with an abnormal lack of
self-control. Their "inhibition control" over the natural and
spontaneous tendency of the nervous system to manifest its inherent
impulses and passing whims is decidedly deficient. The child is unduly
sensitive, whines, hollers, or flies into a violent rage when its will
is crossed in the least degree. Such a child sometimes keeps its
mother living in constant terror because, when its will is crossed in
any particular, it will scream and hold its breath until it turns
black in the face and sometimes actually goes into a convulsion.

In dealing with these unfortunate little ones, fathers and mothers,
while they should be firm and persistent in their methods of
correction, should also be kind and patient; fully recognizing that
whatever undesirable traits the little ones manifest they have come by
honestly--these naughty tendencies being the result either of heredity
or spoiling, for both of which the parents stand responsible.

EARLY TRAINING

One of the very first things that a child, especially the nervous
child, should learn is that crying and other angerful manifestations
accomplish absolutely nothing. The greatest part of the successful
training of the nervous child should take place before it is three and
one-half years of age. It should early learn to lie quietly in its
little bed and be entirely happy without receiving any attention or
having any fuss made over it. It should not become the center of a
circle of admiring and indulgent family friends and caretakers who
will succeed in effectually destroying what little degree of
self-control it may be fortunate enough to possess.

When the little one is discovered to be nervous, fretful, impatient,
and easily irritated early in the morning, it should be left alone in
its bed or in the nursery until it quiets down. If it has a good,
healthy crying spell, leave it alone. Let it early get used to living
with itself--teach the little fellow to get along with the world as it
is--and you will do a great deal toward preventing a host of
neurasthenic miseries and a flood of hysterical sorrows later on in
life.

You must not expect to train the nervous child by the simple and easy
methods which are successful in the case of a normal child; that is,
yo