=Abdominal massage= will often relieve constipation by strengthening the intestinal muscles, this in turn tending to make the bowels move. The abdomen should be rubbed with a firm but not hard, circular stroke, beginning in the right groin and working up to the margin of the ribs, across to the left side and down to the groin. This massage is often given for about ten minutes every day, preferably at night, but never just after feeding. [Illustration: FIG. 64.—Giving the baby an enema. He is well protected, to prevent chilling, and lies comfortably on a pillow which reaches to the bed-pan, the latter being covered with a diaper where he rests upon it. ] Constipation is sometimes entirely cured by nothing more than a suitable dietary; an abundance of drinking water; an out-of-door life; massage, and above all, the unceasing effort to establish a regular habit. These are all things which you, yourself, may do for the baby. The longer constipation persists, the harder it is to cure, so do all in your power to prevent it and if it develops, try to end it at once. =Convulsions= are a symptom of several disorders of infancy and they may occur unexpectedly. Although at the moment, they are more distressing than serious, you should notify your doctor at once. If he cannot come promptly you may end the seizure by employing measures that will quiet and relax the struggling baby. The room should be darkened, kept absolutely quiet and the baby handled with the utmost gentleness. As a rule the most satisfactory course is to immerse the baby in water at 100° F. and keep him there for five or ten minutes, supporting his head above the level of the water as shown in Fig. 60. (See p. 209.) Have some member of the household place cloths, wrung from cold or iced water, on the baby’s head and change them frequently. When removed from the bath, the baby should be wrapped in a blanket, kept very quiet and the cold applications to his head continued. If the baby often has convulsions the doctor may instruct you to give him either a mustard bath or pack whenever he has an attack. For a bath, one ounce, or six level tablespoonfuls of dry mustard is added to one gallon of water at 105° F. and the baby kept in it for about ten minutes, or until the skin is well reddened. He is then wrapped in a warm blanket and surrounded by hot water bottles, with cold compresses applied to his head. The mustard pack is given in the manner shown in Figs. 61 and 62, with a sheet wrung from mustard water which is possibly a little warmer and stronger than that for the bath, care being taken that the sheet is not cooled before it is wrapped about the baby. He is usually left in the pack for about ten minutes or until his skin is reddened, and then wrapped in warm blankets, with cold compresses to his head. THE PREMATURE BABY