The child's digestion "learns" to work up to three years, and sometimes even longer. A baby's intestines go a long way from being completely sterile at birth to digesting adult food. There are difficulties along the way. Constipation is a very common problem in babies. Let's see what safe ways for a child's health can be used to fight constipation.
For newborns fed exclusively on breast milk, constipation is not typical. It is normal for a newborn to have a bowel movement every few days. Like stools up to 12 times a day, these are all normal options. If, nevertheless, your maternal instinct tells you that the baby is suffering from constipation, the first thing you can do is start introducing water into the baby's food. Fluid enhances bowel movements, helps pass gas and loosens stool. Try spooning water to your baby, a little at first. Also, a clockwise tummy massage will help with constipation in a very young child. This massage is also used to relieve colic pain in babies.
If the baby is bottle-fed, then drinking water is mandatory for him. Formula is much more difficult to digest than breast milk. And water helps the baby's digestion and reduces the burden on his kidneys.
Now we are talking about children who have in their diet not only breast milk or formula. As in the case of babies, for grown-up babies, drinking plenty of water is the surest way to prevent constipation.
You can also regulate the child's stool with the help of products in his menu. In case of constipation, the following are good: mashed prunes, apricots, pears, plum juice. It can also be helpful to monitor how your baby's gut reacts to each new complementary food product. It happens that some foods give an uncharacteristic reaction in your child. For example, beets are traditionally considered a laxative food. But in my child, beets are always very constipated.
Be careful when giving your baby fruit that weakens: first, make sure that these foods are not allergic; secondly, the baby's metabolism is very fast; do not panic and give him a can of prunes if the baby once pooped a little thicker than usual. By doing this, you can easily relax your baby's intestines too much. Before taking measures to eliminate constipation, make sure that it is really constipation, which the baby's intestines cannot cope with on their own.
If you notice your child's tendency to constipation, exclude or reduce to a minimum in his diet such foods as: rice, sugar, white bread, potatoes. Be sure to feed your baby with vegetables - they are high in fiber, which helps the baby's digestion. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the vegetables. This is useful and also enhances intestinal motility.
In the case when it is not possible to correct the child's stool with the help of food, you can resort to medical methods. But this should be done only in extreme cases, when you urgently need to help the baby! The drug "Duphalac" is safe for children from birth. It helps soften the stool. The action of this drug may be somewhat delayed in time.
It is also possible to use glycerin candles. If you can't buy baby ones, just cut the candle lengthwise into 4 parts. The introduction of suppositories is painful and unpleasant for the baby. In addition, both Duphalac and glycerin suppositories do not debug the baby's digestion. After using them, you still need to adjust the baby's nutrition in order to increase intestinal motility and make the baby's stool softer. Any laxatives should be used by you only in cases where you need to urgently help the baby.
