How to help your child with constipation at home

The child did not go to the toilet for more than 2 days and complains of abdominal pain or bloating? Fecal masses floating in a pot or toilet resemble goat feces? Are they hard and dry, dark in color? Can you see bloody streaks in feces? The baby has symptoms of constipation, due to which the child becomes restless and capricious. Problems with bowel movement occur regularly? Need a pediatrician consultation. If constipation is rare, you can get rid of it yourself.

The diet of the infant and lactating women

The work of the children's intestines directly depends on the food that it has to digest. The diet of the baby consists of mother's milk, therefore, for constipation and flatulence in a baby, a nursing woman is recommended to refuse:

• from carbonated and alcoholic beverages;
• whole milk and legumes;
• do not eat white cabbage raw;
• remove spices from the diet;
• replace fried dishes with steamed or stewed.

Baby from 3-4 months give boiled water to normalize bowel function. First, a tablespoon per day or a little less. After the introduction of the first feeding, the amount of liquid is increased to 50–80 ml.

Babies who use mixtures instead of mother's milk are recommended to buy the same brand. If you constantly experiment with artificial nutrition and change the manufacturer every week, the work of the digestive tract will be disrupted. The intestines do not have time to adapt to the new composition, and constipation occurs.

Infants who were breastfed are transferred to artificial compounds gradually. First, combine mother's milk and synthetic drink, so that the child's digestive tract is used to a new supplement. And gradually replace the usual food mixture.

If it was not possible to smoothly switch to the “milk” from the packaging, the baby must be given boiled water.Mixtures are usually more nutritious and thicker than a natural product, so the intestines need extra fluid to digest them.

Menu for kids from 1-2 years

Constipation occurs with the introduction of complementary foods, when parents prefer protein or too fatty foods. The first “adult” food that a baby should try is steamed vegetables. Suitable zucchini or pumpkin, carrot or broccoli. Then the child is introduced to oatmeal, wheat or barley porridge. Rice with a tendency to constipation is prohibited, because it has fixing properties.

Gradually, meat, fruit, fish, cottage cheese and dairy products appear in the baby’s diet. Mom boils or stews vegetables, cooks kissels and compotes, prepares casseroles and soups. If you make the menu correctly, give the child enough liquid and not stuffed with sweets and smoked meats, he may not know about the existence of constipation.

Obstruction of the intestine, caused by stress, taking antibiotics or a cold, will eliminate:

• vegetable salad, dressed with olive oil;
• boiled or raw beets;
• several fresh plums;
• rosehip tea, which is recommended to add 20 g of honey;
• beetroot soup or vegetable broth soup;
• prunes and dried apricots;
• wholemeal bread from rye flour;
• peeled apples;
• boiled turkey, chicken or sea fish.

Babies with constipation should not be given:

• any sweets, except honey;
• fatty meats, such as duck or pork;
• puff pastry and white bread;
• cocoa and jelly;
• canned vegetables, fish or meat;
• smoked foods and spicy seasonings.

This diet is suitable for children of all ages who have switched from breastfeeding or artificial feeding to regular food. Work intestine violated after taking antibiotics? The child should be given kefir, ryazhenka or yogurt without sugar and flavors. Fermented milk products colonize the digestive tract with beneficial bacteria, so bowel motility improves, and constipation disappears.

Physical exercise

With a child who has flatulence and stagnation of feces, make simple exercises. Exercises are performed in the morning, 2 hours before a meal or 3-4 days after breakfast or lunch.In case of constipation, the child should not be overloaded, it is enough just to stir it up a little and start intestinal motility. Recommended:

• slopes in different directions and back and forth;
• squats and walking on all fours;
• exercise “bike”, which is done while lying on your back;
• jumping on the right or left foot for 10 seconds;
• swinging bent or straight lower limbs.

The child does not want to stretch and squat? He might like to ride a bike or jump rope, collect beads scattered on the floor, or toys. Any physical activity is welcome.

Constipation makes the baby sluggish and sleepy, but the more he lies or sits on the sofa, the slower the intestines work. In case of constipation, it is important to stir up the child and get interested in active games.

Infants who do not know how to walk, it is recommended to roll on a large rubber ball. Cover the inventory with a warm sheet or towel, put the baby belly down and swing left-right or back and forth. Thanks to this massage, gases escape, and the baby’s intestines are cleared of stagnant feces.

Peristalsis of the digestive organs improves and special exercises:

1. Lay the baby on a hard surface.
2. The child is turned belly up. Mom takes one leg and gently presses it to the navel.
3. Return the lower limb to its original position, repeat with the second.
4. Press both legs to the stomach, stay in this position for 5-10 seconds.
5. Make an exercise "bicycle": raise the lower limbs of the baby, imitate riding a two-wheeled vehicle.
6. Raise the right leg, bend it and try to reach the left elbow with the knee. Ensure that the child was comfortable and not painful. Repeat with the left knee and right elbow.

Before morning exercises, it is recommended that the baby be given a little non-carbonated water: a tablespoon for babies, 3–4 ml for children from 3–4 years. Physical exercise in combination with a liquid is one of the best ways to get rid of constipation.

Massage

If you have problems with defecation, it is helpful to massage the abdomen. First, stroke it clockwise, lightly pressing in the navel, then stretch the oblique abdominal muscles. The fingers move from the center of the abdomen to the sides, flexing and dispersing the blood.

You do not need to put too much pressure on the press and intestines, otherwise the child will experience discomfort. Stroking should be light and neat.During the massage, mothers are advised to talk to the baby and soothe him. You can quietly humming something or telling a fairy tale.

After stroking the tummy, lightly press the fingers to stimulate the excretion of feces from the child’s body. The procedure is repeated 3-4 times a day:

• after the child wakes up in the morning or afternoon;
• before lunch;
• 1-2 hours before going to bed.

The duration of the massage is 10–15 minutes. Baby before the procedure, give a little non-carbonated water. Wash your hands with soap and water before massaging your abdomen. Improve finger slip baby oil or fat cream.

Psychological constipation

Fecal masses cause disgust in some babies. The child does not like the color, smell or appearance of excrement, and he begins to slow down the process of bowel movement. When the baby feels that he wants to go to the toilet, he tries to restrain the natural urges. If this happens regularly, the digestive organs are disturbed, the sensitivity of the nerve endings located on the sphincter decreases, and the constipation becomes chronic.

Other children do not want to go to the toilet with strangers.They tolerate and refuse to sit on the pot if the grandmother or aunt can go to the bathroom at any time, or the parents put the pot in the middle of the hall where strangers are.

Some babies hold up a bowel movement because of the fear that it will hurt again. They remember the discomfort from the previous constipation, so they hold back until the last.

How to help a child in this situation? Speak and explain that:

1. Now it won't hurt, because the baby’s feces are of normal consistency, and the priest has already healed.
2. There is nothing bad in excrement, it is the body's natural excretions.
3. After the toilet, you can wash your hands so that they smell like soap, not feces.
4. To tolerate and not to go to the toilet is very harmful.

Shy kids need to create a comfortable environment:

1. Put the pot in the far room, where no one goes.
2. Show how the bathroom door closes and say that no one can disturb it.
3. Take home if the child does not go to the toilet at a party.

You can not scold the little one if he was patient or very shy for a long time, and therefore he poked his pants. Mom can show that she is upset or sad, or say that the big boys or girls are asking for a pot.But beating or screaming at a child is prohibited, otherwise it will hurt him even more.

Folk remedies

Infants up to 4–5 months with constipation are given only dill water or an infusion of fennel. The remaining drinks and products are contraindicated. Children older than 8–9 months are allowed decoction of dried apple slices or cherries.

The prune extract is useful: cut the blank into small pieces and pour hot water over it, after 15 minutes, separate the liquid from the sediment and feed the child. Give 15–20 ml of medicine at a time.

One-year-old and older are recommended natural juices:

• orange;
• cabbage;
• carrot;
• peach;
• grape;
• apricot.

The child before meals give mashed fresh cucumber to stimulate intestinal peristalsis. Vegetables can not be combined with yogurt, kefir, ryazhenka, cottage cheese, artificial mixtures and mother's milk.

Flaxseeds will help children with lazy bowel syndrome. The product, ground into powder, is added to cereals and vegetable purees. Prepare broths from flaxseed seeds: 20 g pour boiling water, insist in a thermos or a jar wrapped in a towel.Babies are given 25–35 ml each, and children from 11–12 years old are given 50–60 ml.

A child who loves salty food, give a pickle from sauerkraut. 4–5 teaspoons per day. Ground peas are also useful: eat 20 g of crushed product before breakfast with a glass of boiled water.

Enema and Constipation Medicine

The child suffers, but folk methods do not help? Glycerol suppositories that enter the rectum will relieve constipation. Babies need half of the suppositories, and children from 6–7 years old can be whole.

The work of the digestive tract will improve drugs containing lactulose:

• Dinolac;
• Prelaks;
• Lactusan;
• Duphalac.

Constipation caused by dysbiosis or changes in the diet, is removed by enema. In a rubber pear dial 50-150 ml of water, which add a spoonful of glycerin or chamomile broth. Lubricate the tip with petroleum jelly or fatty cream, inject into the baby’s rectum and slowly squeeze out the liquid. Lift the pelvis of the child and squeeze the buttocks so that the water does not flow out immediately, but after 5–10 minutes.

Too often to resort to an enema can not, otherwise the intestine will forget how to empty out without help, and begin serious problems with defecation.

The causes of constipation in children are different: from harmful products to diseases of the digestive organs.If fecal mass stagnates regularly, and the problem is accompanied by other suspicious symptoms, you should consult with a gastroenterologist and select a treatment.

Video: how to help your child poop without an enema and tubules