ABSTRACT
It is meaningful, to view preparation for bed as a recurrent ceremonial rite in which each participant has his own role; from the child's standpoint, in particular, bedtime has the characteristics of a dramatic sequence, played impromptu and with certain permissible variations and developments, but rehearsed each night, and night after night, in the same traditional form. The game of going to bed comes to be played out according to certain fixed rules which parents know and follow meticulously, but which are in fact dictated to them by the children themselves. Since the comfort habits which have been discussed are especially associated with bedtime, this chapter explores whether any relationship could be found between the type of bedtime usual for the child and the incidence of such habits. The chapter also estimates the general incidence of bedtime rituals by adopting the rule that such an occurrence would be counted if the child clearly insisted on some definite mode of behaviour.
