Evening journal., 1918-10-25

y Nllllu WHO Ids no lllplE lNdI ol lllN
' dark than he has Of the light. But
most children under or years expert
ence different degrees Of terror when
left alone in the dark. Fortunate is the
mother who can put her precious" TO
bed, and 90 away Immediately, secure in
the knowledge that he will fall off TO
sleep quite naturally without her by his
side to scare the ghosts away. Much as
/ regret to say it, the "'fraid cat" is a
result of incorrect training. That this
sort of fear is habit is not appreciated
by most mothers. They prefer to put
up with il, so to speak, because it is be
lieved TO be a perfectly natural tend
ency. Many a mother has made very
practical use Of the terrorizing hobgob-
Inns, and spooks, and bogey-men in the
way of punishment. That is nothing
more than the encouragement of per
nicious habit in ones child, for fear is no
more natural TO a normal little girl or
boy than leprosy.
Now, little mother, whether It be your
lot 70 break a bad habit or TO prevent
one, am offering few suggestions that
may be ever 50 helpful to you and your
wee charge. Il is never too early TO in
oulcate good habits; nor is it ever too
late to begin correcting bad ones. As a
practical demonstration of how to do
both in the very same way begin with
the last meal of the day. You, yourself,
have probably experienced the extreme
discomfort Of trying to sleep after
particularly heavy supper. Consider,
now, the trouble in his midst" that your
little one must realize after the same
thing. So it behooves the mother whC
would insure the wee ones with an un-
disturbed sleep, minus nightmares, ane
howls for mother, 70 make the third
meal lust as light and wholesome as
possible. Milk toast, light crackers and
a bit of prune jelly are quite enough
for the child Of or 4 years. Another
simple menu is Bread and butter,
warm milk, thin, well-boiled porridge
and marmalade. In general, for chill
dren under 7, remember to avoid goose,
liver, salt beef, salt fish, pork, raw
egetables-cucumbers and radishes in
cluded-fried onions or fried potatoes,
fresh bread or buns, carrots, nuts, cur
rants. bananas, canned fruit or vege-
tables, canned meat or fish, pastry,
hashes, stews and fried or reheated
foods.
The next move in the campaign
against spooks and bogeys is the bath
lust before bedtime. Even grown-ups
appreciate the soothing, sleep-indueing
effects of a warm bath followed by
firm yet gentle rundown. Test the babys
bathwater with your elbow-it is the
oldest and most natural of thermome-
ters. If he rebels at the immersion, try
"camouhage" to make the process ap-
pear interesting. The use Of soap babies
instead of the regular bar, permission
TO let dolly bathe at the same time, any
thing to make the youngster believe that
bathing is a privilege will make 1t
pleasure TO him. Wrap him in huge
bath towel, pat him thoroughly dry, and
then rub with the palms of the hands
until his skin glows A dash Of taleum
is the final touch.
In cold weather you will find it ad-
visable TO choose all-in-one sleeping
garments for the child. Much discom-
fort and loss Of sleep is caused by
'nighties' that insist on riding up and
jackets that won't stay closed. So the
very best sort of "nightie' is the one
piece pajama with arms and legs sewed
in. There is no possibility Of drsughts
with a costume like this.
And then there is the bedtime story to
consider. That is most important of all.
On its choice depends whether or not
the sleep will be free from horrors, or
What is infinitely worse, whether there
be any sleep at all 1t is really unfor-
giveable to excite the Imagination the
last thing at night by reading stories OF
witches and cruel giants and adventure
some knights Rather choose sleepy
tales, typical bedtime stories that induce
drowsincss and pleasant dreams.
Last of all, have the bedroom in COM