Dear Dr. Schlessinger,

I was very interested in your last caller on December 1, hour 1, whose second child was constantly fussy.

That reminded me of the 2 large fish tanks (50 and 150 gallons) I had in my medical office to amuse the children. I had an octopus, a real baby leopard shark, banded shrimp, anemones with their clown fish, and countless highly colored fish in those tanks. They were so effective in keeping the children quiet I put a 50 gallon tank in the nurses' station on the pediatrics ward of the adjacent hospital.

The nurses at the hospital told me if they could not calm a fussy child, they would put them in a seat next to the fish, and the child would immediately stop crying, and would watch the fish very intently for quite a long time.

You might recommend fish for unhappy children. They don't shed, make noise, mark territory, or stink. One can also leave them for a few days without feeding them if one is on a short vacation.

I've been a listener since syndication, and several years before Deryk was a guest on your show when he was 7.

Dr. Dave