Castor Oil Made Palatable

Boil castor oil with twice its quantity of milk, and sweeten it with sugar. Let it cool. Children will not refuse it.

Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott

Children’s Sore Mouth

Get the pulverized borax, and to about one-third of a teaspoonful of borax, mix about one and a half teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar. Mothers should wash their babies’ mouths out every other morning with a solution of borax and water, they should keep a bottle of it dissolved all the time, pour a little into a cup, and with a cloth wrapt around the finger and dipped into the solution, wipe the child’s mouth out well with it; this will prevent children ever having sore mouths.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Simple Cure for Worms

One spoonful of syrup of peach-blossoms, taken in a glass of the water from the steeped leaves, is a most safe and certain remedy for worms in children.

Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott

For Worms for Little Children

Stew pumpkin seeds, make a strong liquid, and give a tablespoonful once a day. Paroxysms of coughing may be prevented or cured by swallowing a little dry salt.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

Whooping Cough

Two level tablespoonfuls of powdered alum, two-thirds of a cupful of brown sugar, dissolved in two quarts of water; bottle and put in a dark closet where it is cool.

For a child one year old, a teaspoonful three times a day on an empty stomach. For a child two years old, two teaspoonfuls for a dose. For a child five years old, a tablespoonful. The state of the bowels must be attended to, and the doses repeated accordingly. No other medicine to be taken, except an emetic, at first, if desirable. Except in the case of an infant, a milk diet is to be avoided.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Calendula Salve for Caked Breast

Two teaspoons of calendula, two tablespoons of lard and a piece of beeswax the size of a hickory-nut. Melt beeswax and lard together, remove from the fire and put in the calendula while hot. Keep it covered tight. Spread on a cloth large enough to cover the breast, with a flannel over it, cutting a place in it just large enough for the nipple to go through. Keep on two hours or more, then let the child nurse before removing the cloth, and the swelling will go down.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

To Prevent Worms

A teaspoonful of salt dissolved in a teacupful of water is a good remedy to prevent worms in children, taken at night before retiring.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Flour Ball for Teething Children

One cupful of flour tied in a stout muslin bag, and dropped into cold water, then set over the fire ; boil three hours steadily ; turn out the flour ball, and dry in the hot sun all day, or, if you need it at once, dry in a moderate oven without shutting the door.

To cook it, grate one tablespoonful of the flour for a cupful of boiling milk and water; wet the flour with a little cold water, stir in, and boil five minutes; add a pinch of salt.

Source: The Unrivalled Cook-Book and Housekeeper’s Guide, Mrs Washington

Diarrhoea

A moderately strong tea of blackberry-root. Make it palatable with sugar and cream, and let the child use it as ordinary drink. Or, let the child eat all pure loaf sugar as it will.

Source: The Kansas Home Cook-Book

Powders for Children

A very excellent carminative powder for flatulent infants may be kept in the house, and employed with advantage whenever the child is in pain or griped, dropping five grains of oil of anise-seed and two of peppermint on half an ounce of lump sugar, and rubbing it in a mortar, with a drachm of magnesia, into a fine powder. A small quantity of this may be given in a little water at any time, and always with benefit.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette