The nervous disposition of the child must be taken into consideration and treated if necessary. If bad habits exist they must be stopped. Poor blood and poor nutrition must receive the treatment suggested under these headings.
NIGHTMARE. NIGHT TERRORS
In a nightmare a child wakes suddenly in a state of fright and will inform you that it has had a bad dream. His mind seems clear and he recognizes those about him. He is not easily calmed and may cry for some time; finally he goes to sleep again. The next day he will remember the dream and most of the incidents of the night before. Such cases are quite frequent. They are to be treated in the same way as cases of disturbed sleep, as they really have the same cause. They are mostly due to digestive disturbances and errors of diet.
Night-Terrors.—Cases under this heading form a distinct group by themselves. They are not frequent, but the condition is much more serious. The cause seems to be wholly nervous and may indicate an important nervous derangement. It seems to have some indefinite relation to such conditions as migraine, hysteria, epilepsy, and even insanity. The child wakes suddenly during the night and sits up, evidently in terror; he does not apparently regain his full consciousness. He talks of being scared, calls for his mother, trembles and shakes, cannot answer questions intelligently, and after a time goes to sleep. Next day he remembers nothing of the attack and does not seem to suffer in any way as a result of it.
I am disposed to believe that all of these attacks are not due to a nervous condition. A number of them of exactly this type have been cured by absolutely withdrawing milk from the diet.
It is a good plan to restrict the possibility of excessive play in these children. They are of the type whose play is work, and too much of it is too exhausting. Some person should sleep in the same room with these patients or in an adjoining room with the door open.
If the condition occurs frequently the child should be subjected to a thorough physical examination, because it may be one evidence of a serious ailment.
Sometimes these little patients have to be taken out of school and sent to the country, where they should remain for many months. It is far better to regard the condition as indicating an abnormality,—even though it may not have any deeper significance than that the digestive apparatus of the child is not quite right,—and make every effort to cure it, than to permit the child to go on under what really are unjust and unfavorable conditions.
HEADACHE
Headaches are not common in little children. The most frequent ones are caused by: