Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-21
HABITS AND TRAINING.
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Crying-A child may be taught to
cry when he is only few avs old.
He likes to be held and rocked. When
he is PVT down he cries and so he is
taken up and carried. He soon learns
that if he Will only cry hard enough
some one will come and get him.
y child needs short period of
crying every day to develop his lungs,
but the habit of crying to be rocked
or whenever denied anything should
be corrected promptly. y baby c5n be
broken successfully of this habit by
letting him cry it out. Once or twice
will suffice.
Learning to Walk.-The average
child begins to want to stand at about
the tenth month and to walk from
the twelfth to the fourteenth. Earlier
efforts at standing and walking
should not be encouraged. child
never should he urged to stand and
walk. especially if he is heavy. He
will want to stand and walk of his
own accord so soon as the little legs
are strong enough to bear his weight.
Learning to Talk.-A child learns to
talk by hearing older people and
other children speaking. At first.
speech to him is but d tumble of
US. Later, he begins to learn that GER
tain sounds mean certain people or
things or movements.
1t is very necessary that he should
hear these words and sounds correct
~ spoken and that when he begins
to talk he should hear correct Eng
lish Do not use the so-called baby
talk" in speaking to a child. Other
wise. he will learn it and other i'm
proper methods of speech, only to
have to unlearn them later with much
effort
'Toys.-since baby wants to put
everything in his mounth. his toys
must he those that can be used safely
in this way They should be washable
and should have no sharp points or
corners to hurt the eyes. Painted ar
ticles. or hairy and woody toys. also
toys having loose parts. such as balls
or objects small enough to be sWal-
lowed are unsafe and should never be
given small child.
A baby should never have too many
toys at one time. a handful of clothes
pins or a silver teaspoon or tin cup will
please just as much as an expensive doll
or other toy. 1t is good plan to have
box or basket in which to keep empty
spools and other household objects with
which the baby may play.
Moral Training.-A little child does
not know right rom wrong until he is
taught by older persons. He follows~his
own fancy and let's his little hands and
feet do mischief, not knowing that he is
doing anything which will cause others
or himself to come to grief For this
reason older persons must be ready to
guide the baby and teach him the right
method of behavior.
But that does not mean that he should
be forbidden continually to do this or
that or the other. child should have.
from his very early infancy, the oppor-
tunity of choosing to do things himself.
IL he is not allowed to do this he Will
not know how to reason ana choose
for himself when he grows older and
is obliged to do it.
On the other hand, it is necessary for
child to learn obedience, and wise
mother will train her child to obey: not.
! however, to obey command because |
told you to do it," but to obey because
il is a pleasure to do SO.
Harsh treatment or punishment has
no place in the proper upbringing of
the baby. If d baby,s inclinations
lead him in the wrong direction, some
one must be at hand to guide MN INTO
another and better one ana to turn
his eager interest and ms energy To-
ward, something that will amuse but
NOT harm him This is the golden rule
for the training of babies and one
which applies to the training of chill
dren of all ages.
Usually there IS some reason Tor
the nauS VI pt'oicf'' IL go.
who are fussy. restless and fretful
are usually either uncomfortable in
some wav. because they have not been
fed properly and taken care of. are
sick or ailing or have been INDUCED
too much On the, other hand. babies
who are fed properly. who are kept
clean and have plenty of sleep and
fresh air and who have been trained
in regular habits of life have no
cause for being bad" and therefore
are good
Questions relating to baby care and
sto problems of maternal ana chlld
fbeaith will be answered by experts of
the United States public health serv-
ice Address Baby Health Editor,
United States Public Health Service.
W shington. D. c. Please mention
this newspaper.