Infants often walk for a long time between bowel movements. In most cases, it is normal for babies to spend a few days or even more than a week without defecation. However, sometimes you may get constipated and need a little help.
If your baby is constipated, a pediatrician may recommend using home remedies as a first-line treatment for infant constipation.
Home remedies for infant constipation include:
1. exercise
Like adults, exercise and exercise tend to stimulate the baby’s intestines.
However, since babies may not have walked or even crawled, parents or caregivers may want to help them exercise to relieve constipation.
Parents or caregivers can gently move their legs while lying on their backs to mimic the movement of cycling. Doing so may help in bowel function and relieve constipation.
2. Warm bathtub
Give babies a warm bath to relax their abdominal muscles and help them stop tension. It can also relieve some of the discomforts associated with constipation.
3. Dietary changes
Certain dietary changes may help with constipation, but these changes vary depending on the baby’s age and diet.
While breastfeeding the baby, women can eliminate certain foods from their diet, such as dairy products. Determining the dietary changes that help may require some trial and error, and dietary changes are likely to have no effect on infant constipation.
For infants with formula milk, parents or caregivers may want to try another formula. It is best not to switch to a mild or dairy-free formula without first consulting a pediatrician. If one change has not changed, it is unlikely that continuing to try different formulas will help.
If the baby is eating solid food, parents or caregivers should seek foods from which to introduce the fiber source.
Many fruits and vegetables help stimulate the intestines due to their high fiber content. Food options for babies with constipation include:
- Skinless apple
- broccoli
- Whole grains, such as oatmeal or whole wheat bread or pasta
- peach
- pear
- Plum
4. Hydration
Young babies usually don’t need to replenish liquids because they get hydration from breast milk or formula milk.
However, babies with constipation may benefit from a small amount of extra fluid.
Pediatricians sometimes recommend adding a small amount of water to the baby’s diet or occasionally adding juice to the juice when the baby is over 2-4 months old and has constipation.
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5. massage
There are several ways to massage the baby’s stomach to relieve constipation. These include:
- Use your fingertips to perform circular motions on the stomach in a clockwise pattern.
- Walk your fingers on the navy in a clockwise pattern.
- Hold the baby’s knees and feet together and gently push the feet towards the abdomen.
- Use the edge of your finger to stroke the ribs from the rib cage.
6. juice
Share a small amount of pure apple juice on Pinteresta can help soften your stool.
After the baby reaches 2-4 months of age, they can have a small amount of juice, such as 100% abstract or apple juice. This juice may help treat constipation.
Experts may recommend starting with about 2-4 ounces of juice. The sugar in the juice is difficult to digest. As a result, more fluid enters the intestines, which helps soften and destroy the feces.
However, parents or caregivers should not give juice to babies for the first time without consulting a pediatrician.
7. Take rectal temperature
When babies are constipated, taking the baby’s rectal temperature with a clean, lubricating thermometer may help them through the stool.
It is important not to use this method often, as it can make constipation worse. Babies may not want to pass through bowel movement without help, or they may begin to associate bowel movement with discomfort, causing them to fuss or cry in the process.
Anyone who feels that they often need to use this method to help their baby defecate should talk to the baby’s doctor.
Since babies may not defecate for a long time, it is difficult to tell whether they are constipated. Signs indicating constipation in babies include:
- Infrequent stools, consistency is not soft
- Clay-like stool consistency
- st
- Trying to make the long-term nervous or crying of defecation
- Red blood stripes on the stool
- Lack of appetite
- A tough belly
Signs of constipation in babies vary by age and diet. Normal intestinal movement should be very soft before the baby starts eating solid foods, almost like peanut butter even looser consistency.
Hard baby stool before solid food is the most obvious sign of constipation in babies.
At first, breastfed babies may often pass through stools because breast milk is easy to digest. But once babies are between 3 and 6 weeks, they can only pass soft stool once a week, sometimes even less.
Formula babies tend to pass through the stool more frequently than breastfeeding babies. Most formula babies have defecation at least once a day at least once a day. However, babies with certain formulas may take longer without being constipated.
Once parents introduce solid food into their baby’s diet, babies may be more likely to experience constipation. If parents or caregivers introduce milk (except formula) into their diet, they may become more likely to become constipated.
If the baby does not pass the stool after a day or two, it is recommended to call the pediatrician and there are other signs such as:
- Blood on the stool
- The baby seems to be very irritable
- The baby seems to have abdominal pain
- Constipation in babies does not improve after measures to treat
Treatment usually starts with home remedies. If home remedies don’t work, doctors can check the baby, and in rare cases, prescribed medications, such as:
- laxative
- Enema
- Suppository
People should never give these medications to babies unless their doctors prescribe.
Constipation can cause discomfort and irritability in the baby. There are several ways people can try at home to help relieve constipation.
If symptoms do not improve, it is best to talk to the baby’s pediatrician for additional strategies.
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