open window should circulate freely, while draughts may be kept from
striking on the child by a screen. All the sensations of the nervous
child are abnormally acute. Thus, for example, an itching eruption, or
tight clothing, will produce an altogether disproportionate reaction,
and may result in a frenzy of opposition. Especially such a child is
sensitive to a stuffy atmosphere or to an excess of bedclothes. Cool
rooms and warm but light and porous clothing are essential. An
electric torch, which can be flashed on the child for an instant, will
assist the mother or nurse to make sure that the child has not thrown
off all the bedclothing.

Sometimes want of sleep is accounted for by a real want of physical
exercise. Town children especially are apt to suffer from their
limited opportunities of running freely in the open. It is often
considered enough that the child seated in his perambulator should
take the air for three or four hours daily, while much of his time
indoors as well is devoted to sitting. It is necessary for his proper
development that he should have opportunities of daily exercise in the
open. If for any reason this is not always practicable, a large room,
as free as possible from furniture, should be chosen, with windows
thrown wide open, in which the child may romp until he is tired.

It is rare for children of two or of three years of age, whose case
we are now considering, to be troubled by bad dreams, nightmares, or
night-terrors. If these should occur, obstructed breathing due to
adenoid vegetations is sometimes at work as a contributory cause.

Finally, we should always remember that refusal of sleep is, for the
most part, caused and kept up by harmful suggestions derived from
mother and nurse, who allow the child to perceive their distress and