How to early recognize constipation in babies

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Tran Mai Phuong - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Constipation is one of the frequent manifestations in infants and young children, causing discomfort for children in eating, sleeping, and playing. Therefore, parents need to recognize constipation in children early so that they can take timely measures to help them stay healthy.

1. Causes of constipation in babies

Constipation in infants is delayed bowel movements. For formula-fed babies, bowel movements usually take place once a day. With breastfed babies, bowel movements can happen 2-3 times/day. However, there are children who go once every 3-7 days but the stools are soft and spongy, and the children pass easily, it is not called constipation. If the child has to go every 1 to 2 days, but the stool is sticky, hard, if the child has to push hard, it is constipation.
There are many causes of constipation in babies, but there are a few main causes that cause babies to experience this condition as follows:
Babies don't drink enough, causing their bodies to become dehydrated: With babies from 1 year old Until 6 months of age, breast milk is both a source of food and a source of water for the body. Insufficient breastfeeding will cause the body to lose water, causing constipation. Babies who drink formula milk are prone to constipation: Babies who are exclusively breastfed are rarely constipated because babies have the ability to digest food almost completely. Because breast milk has the perfect balance of protein and fat, even if your baby hasn't had a bowel movement for a few days, he'll still have soft stools. However, for babies from 1 month to 6 months who are constipated by using formula milk, the cause may be due to a certain ingredient in the milk that causes the baby to become constipated. Due to the mother's diet: Most babies are still a few months old, so breast milk is the most essential food source for babies. Therefore, the mother's diet greatly affects the nutrition as well as causing constipation in the newborn. The fact that the mother eats a lot of hot spicy foods, indigestion, low fiber, lack of nutrition, unreasonable sleeping diet that causes nutrients to be loaded into the baby's body is the cause of newborn constipation. Newborn constipation due to medical conditions: Constipation in a baby may be due to a medical condition that originates in the baby's own body. Due to physical damage to the digestive tract or birth defects such as: Enlarged colon (Hipschsprung disease), hypothyroidism (Myxoedeme disease) causes early constipation in children.

2. How to recognize constipation in babies early

Newborns can't talk yet, so they can't tell their parents when they're constipated. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to the unusual signs of their children to detect them in time and take early remedial measures.
Frequency of defecation less than usual: Newborns under 6 months of age usually have a bowel movement 2-3 times/day. Exclusively breastfed babies are less likely to be constipated than formula-fed babies. If you find that your child has fewer bowel movements than usual, about once every 1-2 days, especially a baby born under 1 month, you can think of a child with constipation. Hard, lumpy stools: Newborns with constipation often have small, round, black or gray features, and dry, moisture-free stools. Especially if the mother sees blood in the baby's stool, it shows that the baby's anus is damaged by constipation. Children who are fussy, lazy to eat or stop eating: Children who suddenly cry for no reason, anorexia, and have grimaces and discomfort are one of the signs to recognize neonatal constipation. Since the food in the body is not digested, it leads to anorexia or abstaining from eating. Children with bloating, indigestion: Babies with constipation in the abdomen are always bloated and feel hard to the touch. This proves that your baby is having indigestion, bloating.

3. Constipation in babies and how to fix it

Constipation in infants / young children and how to overcome it is a concern of many mothers, because when children have long-term constipation, stools are not excreted, some toxins in stools can re-enter and harm the health of the child. If constipation is not treated thoroughly, constipation can cause intestinal obstruction, colon enlargement, hemorrhoids,... Therefore, it is important to detect constipation in children, and find ways to overcome it. serve the child.
Here is one of the remedies that mothers can apply to their babies:.
When dehydrated or dehydrated, the body will absorb liquid from anywhere so the texture of the baby's stool becomes dry and solid, making it difficult for the baby to have a bowel movement, so give the infant enough breast milk to avoid water shortage. Breastfeeding children with constipation, mothers should adjust their diet to improve breast milk quality: increase fiber from vegetables and fruits, drink lots of water, avoid hot spicy foods, alcohol,... For babies constipated due to formula feeding, mothers can switch to another type of formula that is more suitable for their baby. Talk to your doctor about this to find the best formula for your baby. Baby belly massage: Mother uses 3 middle fingers to pinch, place on the abdomen around the navel and then gently massage in a clockwise direction with sufficient pressure. This will make the undigested food in the stomach soften and move down the anus. Mother, do this movement every 3 minutes to stimulate the child to have a bowel movement. In case the child's symptoms of constipation persist for more than 2 weeks or the constipation is accompanied by fever, vomiting, bloody stools, enlarged abdomen, weight loss, anal fissures, the child should be taken to the doctor immediately.
In addition, to limit the child's constipation as well as the use of antibiotics, parents should pay attention to the nutrition that improves the child's resistance. At the same time, add supporting foods containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, B vitamins,... snacks and less digestive problems.
Parents can learn more:
Why do you need to supplement Lysine for your baby?
The role of zinc - Guidelines for reasonable zinc supplementation
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