If a baby is constipated, parents must find a way out of this situation. Feeling discomfort, the baby becomes whiny and irritable.
How to recognize constipation
You should pay attention to how many times a day a baby has a stool, what color, consistency it is, whether the child's bowels are easy to empty and whether the emptying process causes unpleasant sensations that may bother the baby.
The daily amount of bowel movements in children under one year old gradually decreases every month. If an infant has a bowel movement 4-10 times per day, by the year of a year of bowel movement, once a day is considered normal. But even if the baby does not have stool every day, this does not always indicate that the child is constipated. Treatment in this case is not always required.
The feces in children are soft, in infants of the first month - mushy, and in older infants in the shape of a sausage. Stool color depends a lot on the food your child is eating. In newborns, feces are yellow, and when complementary foods are introduced, the color changes from light brown to dark brown.
It is very important to pay attention to how your baby bowels. This process should be easy, without much straining, without causing disturbance to the child.
The main cause for anxiety is stool less than once during the day, which is accompanied by anxiety, poor sleep, refusal to eat, crying, bloating, and possibly even vomiting. With all this, defecation is difficult. In this case, you can understand that your child is constipated, so action should be taken.
Treatment of constipation in an infant
Before starting treatment, you need to understand well why the baby has constipation. Perhaps it may be due to the nature of the diet, and if you change it, the constipation will go away on its own.
If constipation occurs as a result of antibiotic therapy, it is likely that the intestinal flora should be restored. In this case, "Lactobacterin" or "Bifidobacterin" can correct the situation. Also very effective during constipation in infants "Acipol".
If the parents have identified spastic constipation in the stool, you can give the child a belly massage. Massage is done by lightly stroking the palm clockwise. After the massage, you need to put a warm diaper on the baby. In addition, you need to press the baby to your body, because the mother's warmth soothes the baby and relaxes his intestines.
If atonic constipation occurs, you can give the baby a stimulating massage, followed by laying the baby on the stomach.
A light exercise like touching your baby's feet to the belly works very well for the intestines.
If a baby is constipated while breastfeeding, do not immediately give him medicinal laxatives. They should be used as a fallback if other methods fail. All laxatives that are irritating are contraindicated for children in the first year of life. Enemas are possible only in rare cases.
Drugs that contain lactose are harmless to babies. A good remedy is Duphalac syrup. It is absolutely harmless to the child, it can even be taken by the mother herself if necessary. The syrup has a mild effect and is not addictive to the intestines.
Glycerin suppositories are also safe for constipation.
Some parents insert a piece of soap into the baby's rectum, but the soap contains alkali, and it is known to irritate the mucous membrane and cause burns. This is a tried and tested method, but very risky.
If you are going to do something to relieve constipation in an infant, you should think carefully so as not to harm the baby.
