CONSTIPATION
The stools of natural, healthy children should be bright yellow and perfectly smooth. If grainy and soft, food should be made richer. If in curds, it evidences too rapid coagulation; therefore an alkali should be added. If the stools are white and oily, it indicates an excess of cream. If hard and dry, it indicates an insufficient amount of cream. If green, reduce the quantity of milk, or omit it altogether, and increase the quantity of barley-water.
The majority of bottle-fed children suffer greatly from constipation, caused largely by the milk, or the failure to modify the milk properly, or to make it contain the constituent elements of breast-milk. This condition can be relieved by giving the child sweet orange juice every night and morning, or the juice from soaked prunes, if preferred. This should be administered in quantities ranging from a dozen drops to two or three teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the child and the severity of the condition. Intestinal congestion can often be relieved, however, by giving the abdomen gentle massage, preferably with a rotary or kneading motion.
In cases of diarrhea, infants from three to eight months old should be given first an enema, and then a diet entirely of boiled milk mixed with rice or barley-water.