(As given to Kisori Dasi. Reference-Memories of a Modern Day Saint Vol. 5 by Siddhanta das)

Srila Prabhupada told me so many things about how to treat children. Vedic ways, Vaisnava ways to treat children, which is totally opposite of our culture. A child should never be left to cry. Immediately pick him up.

Never to say “No” to a child. Then he will feel very confident later.

After bathing a baby, wrap him firmly and fully in cloth up to the neck, including the arms. Then he will sleep very well. For babies, plenty of sleep is needed as much as food and drink so that they can grow properly.

If a child has something in his hand that you don’t want him to have and you want to take it away, the way that he will not cry and not act contrarily, is that in the other hand you show him something and you give him. So then you will easily take that thing. He will drop it by himself and forget about it.

Academics should never be given to a child before seven years old. Otherwise he will be damaged and later his brain will not be properly fit.

He should play a lot.

If a boy is very intelligent, he can be very naughty. It’s also a sign of
intelligence.

Children should have toys, should have cars. Then he was telling about the story of his guns. He said, “If he has toys to play with, then later he will not have so much desire for big cars, and all this.”

About boys, Srila Prabhupada said, “A mother should feed as long as she can.” He gave the example that Krsna was being fed by His mother up to seven years old.

He said, “If a boy takes milk from the breast of his mother for a long time,
then later he will not be so attracted to the breasts of women.”

After birth, for one month only see very close family. Only the father can take the baby. Even other family members cannot. And never go out before minimum one month, so that they don’t get bacteria and all that from outside. No one should touch the baby.

Never give newborns yogurt, because it is very cold.

If you are cooking, even for the Deities, and the child is coming in the kitchen, and he wants to grab something — he is hungry — you have to give him immediately, even if it’s not offered.

Very important feeding the child. And, “Never, never beat him.”

If girls cry in the house, Laksmi will leave.

Girls should never be married to a man to whom she is not at all attracted. This is a big crime.