Advice to a wife and mother in two parts

by Pye Henry Chavasse

Bathe the eye frequently with warm milk and water, and apply, every night at bedtime, a warm white-bread poultice.

No medicine is required; but if the child be gross, keep him for a few days from meat, and let him live on bread and milk and farinaceous puddings.

243. If a child have large bowels, what would you recommend as likely to reduce their size?

It ought to be borne in mind that the bowels of a child are larger in proportion than those of an adult. But, if they be actually larger than they ought to be, let them be well rubbed for a quarter of an hour at a time night and morning, with soap liniment, and then apply a broad flannel belt. “A broad flannel belt worn night and day, firm but not tight, is very serviceable.”[^[244]] The child ought to be prevented from drinking as much as he has been in the habit of doing; let him be encouraged to exercise himself well in the open air; and let strict regard be paid to his diet.

244. What are the best aperients for a child?

If it be actually necessary to give him opening medicine, one or two teaspoonfuls of syrup of senna, repeated if necessary, in four hours, will generally answer the purpose; or, for a change, one or two teaspoonfuls of castor oil may be substituted. Lenitive electuary (compound confection of senna) is another excellent aperient for the young, it being mild in its operation, and pleasant to take; a child fancying it is nothing more than jam, and which it much resembles both in appearance and in taste. The dose is half or one teaspoonful early in the morning occasionally. Senna is an admirable aperient for a child, and is a safe one, which is more than can be said of many others. It is worthy of note that “the taste of senna may be concealed by sweetening the infusion,[^[245]] adding milk, and drinking as ordinary tea, which, when thus prepared, it much resembles.”[^[246]] Honey, too, is a nice aperient for a child—a teaspoonful ought to be given either by itself, or spread on a slice of bread.

Some mothers are in the habit of giving their children jalap gingerbread. I do not approve of it, as jalap is a drastic griping purgative; besides, jalap is very nasty to take—nothing will make it palatable.

Fluid magnesia—solution of the bicarbonate of magnesia—is a good aperient for a child; and, as it has very little taste, is readily given, more especially if made palatable by the addition either of a little syrup or of brown sugar. The advantages which it has over the old solid form are, that it is colorless and nearly tasteless, and never forms concretions in the bowels, as the solid magnesia, if persevered in for any length of time, sometimes does. A child two or three years old may take one or two tablespoonfuls of the fluid, either by itself or in his food, repeating it every four hours until the bowels be opened. When the child is old enough to drink the draught off immediately, the addition of one or two teaspoonfuls of lemon-juice, to each dose of the fluid magnesia, makes a pleasant effervescing draught, and increases its efficacy as an aperient.

Bran-bread[^[247]] and treacle will frequently open the bowels; and as treacle is wholesome, it may be substituted for butter when the bowels are inclined to be costive. A roasted apple, eaten with raw sugar, is another excellent mild aperient for a child. Milk gruel—that is to say, milk thickened with oatmeal—forms an excellent food for him, and often keeps his bowels regular, and thus (which is a very important consideration) supersedes the necessity of giving him an aperient. An orange (taking care he does not eat the peel or the pulp), or a fig after dinner, or a few Muscatel raisins, will frequently regulate the bowels.

Stewed prunes is another admirable remedy for the costiveness of a child. The manner of stewing them is as follows: Put a pound of prunes in a brown jar, add two tablespoonfuls of raw sugar, then cover the prunes and the sugar with cold water; place them in the oven, and let them stew for four hours. A child should every morning eat half a dozen or a dozen of them, until the bowels be relieved, taking care that he does not swallow the stones.