YOUR CHILD'S NERVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20508, 8 March 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

YOUR CHILD'S NERVES.

(By a Woman Doctor)s A nervous child is a great source of anxiety to his parents, particularly when he is ill. Scientific investigation shows that a child's bodily health is made or marred in his early years. You must realise that character is evolved during the period when the emotions of love and fear begin to develop.. Clever, highly-strung children have many fears. Most of them are creations of the children's minds. , Still, theso fears grip some children so intensely that they prove injurious to health. Children show signs of nervous or mental fatigue when they grow capricious and irritable. These symptoms are frequontly preceded by sleeplessness. Then, the child loses his appetite. He is discontented, and coiiiV-'ins of ill-treatment at school. If these complaints continue, you must discover the cause of the irritation. Iho general state of your child's health, his success at school, and his relations with other children are important factors. You must find out whether he plays games, takes sufficient exorcise, or has too much homo work. You should reduce your chijd's work if he shows signs of mental fatigue. It may oven be necessary to take him away from school for a time. Some children owe their nervousness to heredity. Others acquire nervousness through disease, faulty feeding, and bad habits. Nervousness is also caused by defective training at home and at school. It is necessary to combine medical, educational and hygienic treatment in order to check and to cure this complaint. Your children's emotions are serious. You should neither laugh at them nor encourage them. People used to compel children to do what they were told. This old-fashioned method is most unsatisfactory. Children must bo led and not driven to do the right thing. It is easier, to scold a nervous child than to understand his fears. Still, you must attempt to banish them. Your child's future often depends upon your ability to understand him. All children have an inborn love of justice. You must sift the evidence carefully before you express an opinion for or against a child. Many children spend sleepless nights after being wongfully accused. You should not make promises to children which you do not intend to fulfilA well-regulated diet serves to prevent over-fatigue. Your child must have nourishing, but also attractive and tasty food. Fresh air, bathing and exercises play an important part in the hygienic management of the nervous child.