ective means of conveying
autosuggestions to the child-mind. It should be made a regular habit
which nothing is allowed to interrupt. If for any reason the mother is
unable to perform it, her place may be taken by the father, the nurse,
or some relative. But for obvious reasons the duty belongs by right to
the mother, and, when a few weeks' practice has revealed its beneficent
power, few mothers will be willing to delegate it to a less suitable
agent.

This practice, as stated above, may well begin before the child has
actually learned to speak, for its Unconscious will already be forming
a scheme more or less distinct of the significance of the sounds that
reach it, and will not fail to gather the general tenor of the words
spoken. The date at which it should be discontinued is less easy to
specify. Growth, to be healthy, must carry with it a gradual increase
in independence and self-sufficiency. There seems to be some slight
danger that the practice of nightly suggestions, if continued too long,
might prolong unduly the state of dependence upon parental support.
Reliable indications on this point are furnished, however, by the child
itself. As soon as it is able to face its daily problems for itself,
when it no longer runs to the parent for help and advice in every
little difficulty, the time will have arrived for the parental
suggestions to cease.

As soon as a child is able to speak it should be taught to repeat the
general formula night and morning in the same way as an adult. Thus
when the time comes to discontinue the parent's suggestions their
effect will be carried on by those the child formulates itself. There
is one thing more to add: in the case of boys it would seem better at
the age of seven or eight for the father to replace the mother in the
role of suggester, while the mother, of course, performs the office
throughout for her girls. Should any signs appear that the period of
puberty is bringing with it undue difficulties or perils, the nightly
practice might be resumed in the form of particular suggestions bearing
on the specific difficulties. It must be remembered, however, that the
child's sexual problem is essentially different from that of the adult,
and the suggestions must therefore be in the most general terms. Here
as elsewhere the end alone should be suggested, the Unconscious being
left free to choose its own means.

As soon as the child has learnt to speak it should not be allo