Many mothers ask me about badly shaped hands, and stubby fingers. Even these can be improved or remedied by patient care soon after the baby is born. Press them firmly, steadily, into shape, a few minutes at a time, every time the baby wakens. Of course, if bones are misshapen they cannot be changed, but the stubby finger can be improved by pressure—_if taken in time_. But it does no good to rub the fingers one day and let them go three. It must be done patiently, regularly, and gently, every day while the flesh, bones, and nails are soft. Biting the nails is a habit which may develop in a very young child. Many times this is a symptom of nervousness, but in the young child this is more apt to be simply a habit without a reason. If the child is old enough to be argued with it is much better to offer him some little reward if he does not bite his nails and they grow out well-shaped and beautiful. Try to make him see that they are something to be proud of. He will soon learn to master the impulse. In a child too young to be reasoned with it is better to remove the hands from the mouth firmly; if this is not effective, rub the nails with a little powdered alum. Picking at the nose may be the result of worms or of irritation of the nostrils. If either of these two ailments is present the cause must be removed. If it is purely a habit then it is a question of firm discipline which even a baby can be made to understand. Bed wetting, which is a habit that makes extra work for the mother and causes discomfort for the child, may be a symptom of some chronic ailment, or it may be lack of discipline and training. It sometimes comes from incorrect diet, constipation, ringworm, irritation about the genitals, enlarged tonsils, or adenoids. The doctor will decide whether one or more of these defects is present. If not, then it becomes a matter of discipline, which, however, is not achieved by punishment. Only careful training will overcome this habit. I have spoken in another chapter about setting the child on a little chamber every hour throughout the day from the time he is eight or nine months old. By following this practice the baby soon realizes that to be wet is to be uncomfortable and wretched, and he will cry out against it. Moreover, he will soon exercise his will to retain the urine until time to sit on the chamber. As this cannot be done in the night, up to the time he is eighteen months of age he is very apt to wet the bed once or twice during the night; but when the ten o’clock feeding is stopped and he has nothing to drink from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M., he gradually stops wetting the bed; and at two years of age he is completely broken of the habit.