With breast-fed babies, prevention is often accomplished by the mother’s nursing her baby more slowly, lengthening the intervals between nursings and by improving her own hygiene, particularly by relieving constipation and increasing her recreation and out-of-door exercise. Nursing mothers who lead sedentary lives and eat rich food very often have colicky babies as do those who are nervous, irritable and inclined to worry. If the baby is bottle-fed he may be taking his food too fast because of an over-large hole in the nipple; he may not pause often enough during his meal or he may take in air as he nurses because the bottle is not properly held, as shown in Fig. 48. In any event do not stop until you get at the cause of the trouble for though the colic itself may not necessarily be serious, a continuation of the cause may result in a run down condition or even in malnutrition. Don’t forget the importance of holding the baby upright over your shoulder after each feeding, to help him bring up gas, and of placing him immediately in his crib to be left quiet and undisturbed. And ask your doctor about drinking water. Very often the tendency toward colic is lessened by increasing the amount of cool boiled water given between meals. =Constipation= is very common among babies and may be manifest by the stools being too small, too dry or too infrequent. It is more difficult to cope with than colic, though it, too, may have its origin solely in unsuitable food. In some cases, however, the constipation is due to absence of habit in emptying the bowels regularly; to weakness of the intestinal muscles; to long-continued undernourishment or to some such disease as rickets. It becomes apparent that the prevention of this troublesome condition is accomplished largely by giving suitable food; constant fresh air; regularity in the daily routine and training the baby to empty his bowels at the same time every day. When constipation is due to insufficient fat in the food, cod-liver oil is sometimes given, 15 to 30 drops three or four times a day; or a teaspoonful of olive oil two or three times a day. Maltose, malt soup, malted milk, milk of magnesia, mineral oil, oatmeal water and orange juice are all found among the remedies for constipation; while soap sticks, suppositories and enemas of oil or soapsuds sometimes have to be resorted to. In giving an =enema= to relieve constipation, the baby should be protected from chilling, laid on a pillow and the bed-pan so placed that he will be comfortable and not inclined to move, and from half a cup to a cup of soapsuds, at 105° F., given with a small hard-rubber nozzle, as in Fig. 64. When warm olive oil is given at night (2 to 4 tablespoonfuls slowly through a small rubber tube introduced about six inches), it is very often retained until morning when the baby empties his bowels freely with little or no assistance.