Constipation in Babies

The first bowel movement a baby experiences is within 24 hours after his arrival into the world. Many babies suffer from constipation once they are breastfed or switched to baby formula foods. Even when you start feeding the baby solid food, it may cause constipation in newborn babies. Constipation in babies is very common and can be treated easily.

Constipation is the compactness of the stools and the difficulty of passing them. Newborns pass soft stools that have consistency of a seedy mustard, when breastfed. Once the baby is fed baby foods, they have fewer, firm and dark stools. A baby who has been introduced to solid food diet, may pass stools once every three days or everyday.

Signs of Constipation in Babies
You can understand if your baby is suffering from constipation by checking for the following signs of constipation in babies.

• Constipation in newborn babies can be seen when the baby passes firm stools less than once a day. Also, if the baby strains and has difficulty when passing them it means he is suffering from constipation.
• If you notice dry hard stools in the diaper.
• If your baby draws the legs up on the abdomen, gets red-faced and grunts while passing stools.
• If you observe blood streaks in the stool.
• Infrequent stools that is seen with abdominal discomfort.

Causes of Constipation in Babies
There are several causes of constipation in babies. Constipation in new-born babies is lesser as breast milk is easily digested. They may face constipation if the mother has consumed foods that cause constipation in her and this gets transferred to the baby due to breastfeeding. Also, if the mother is producing less milk, the baby will be fed less milk, resulting in less bowel movement, that may be thought as constipation.

Infants who are fed formula milk may have constipation. Formula milk take long time to be digested and certain ingredients in the food may cause constipation. When a breastfed baby is introduced to solid food he maybe prone to constipation. The stomachs become used to easily digested breast milk and take time to process the solid food. This slow digestion process leads to constipation in babies.

Another cause of constipation in babies is dehydration. If the baby is not getting enough fluids then the body absorbs fluids from the food eaten or the waste in the bowels as well. This causes hard, dry stools that are difficult to pass.

Food allergies, botulism or even hypothyroidism may be a cause of constipation in babies. You should visit the doctor and find out if there are underlying medical conditions that are causing constipation in your baby.

Constipation in Babies Home Remedies
You can ease the bowel movements of your babies and toddlers by following some infant constipation home remedies. You should start feeding less amounts of milk and increase the number of baby feeding times. This will help the child to digest milk easily. You should increase the amount of water intake if the baby is fed formula milk. This increase in water intake will help in better absorption in the intestines.

During a warm bath, give a stomach massage to the baby that stimulates the intestines, assisting him to pass stools. You can also pick up your baby during a bowel movement and allow gravity to help pass the stool with ease. If the baby is straining during a bowel movement, lay the baby on the back and push the knees towards the chest. This will help put some pressure on the stomach and aid in easy bowel movement.

You can even try using glycerin suppository available at local drug stores and instill it in the rectal vault. This will help in the bowel movement.

Constipation in Babies Treatment
If your baby is suffering from constant constipation, you should visit your pediatrician for treating your child medically. The pediatrician may recommend laxatives to treat constipation in babies. He may also recommend flax oil to be added as a natural remedies for constipation in newborn babies.

You may introduce strained foods containing high fiber such as apricots, prunes, peaches, plums, pears, peas, spinach in the diet of babies of 4 months to 12 months to help relieve constipation in babies.

In babies younger than 4 months, feed them one to two ounces of diluted fruit juice like grape, prune or apple prune. You can consider other options as a cure for constipation in babies with recommendation and consultation of your pediatrician. Babies resume normal bowel movement in a few weeks as soon as their bodies are adjusted to the change in feeding habits.