Treating Constipation in Infants
By: Paul FryattTotal Views: 169, Word Count: 560,
Constipation is very common in adults as well as children, but can also be present in infants. Treating constipation in infants has many ways. It is very important to find the solution of infant constipation, so as to avoid further complexity. Before knowing about the treatment, let us first focus on what constipation is.
Constipation in Infants
Constipation is defined as the compactness of the stools which lead to difficulty in passing them. It is also known as the minimized frequency of bowel movements. Normally, the consistency and number of stools varies which depend on the age and the nature of infants.
Newborns pass stools several times a day which are soft and seedy mustard, especially when breastfed. Formula-fed infants have fewer, firmer and darker stools. Once the solid food material enters the diet, the stools become more formed as well as less frequent.
So as to find out whether the baby in constipated or not, here are some important signs that can give you the information.
· If a baby passes firm stools less than once a day, including straining along with difficulty in passing them, the child is said to be constipated.
· Presence of dry, hard stools and pain while passing them
· Hard and pebble-like stools passed by infant who strains during a bowel movement, drawing his / her legs up on the abdomen.
· Infant is grunting and is getting red-faced while passing stools
· Streaks of blood in the stool
· Abdominal discomfort in infant
Causes of Infant Constipation
· Normally, it is known that when digested food travels down the intestines, water and nutrients get absorbed and the waste material turns into stools.
· For a soft stool to form in infants, enough water is needed to remain in the waste material. Along with this, it is very important that the lower intestinal and rectal muscles must contract and relax in a proper manner, so as to move the stool along and out. Improper functioning of these mussels and too little intake of water can cause constipation.
· Infant constipation can cause due to dietary choices, improper fluid intake, and illness and also due to medication.
· Stools accumulated in the intestine become difficult to pass, especially for infants.
· It is observed that breast-fed babies rarely experience constipation as compared to bottle-fed babies with formula. It is easy to break down protein of breast milk in large intestines of infants as compared to formula.
· Breast milk contains more motiline, a hormone which stimulates bowel movement. So there are major chances of constipation in infants who are fed bottle milk.
· It is known that after nearly six months, babies are introduced to semi-solid foods. Once this happens, bowel movements become regular.
· Normally, all infants take time for their intestines to adapt to the additional nutrients other than breastfeeding. Along with these, infants also experience a faster rate of dehydration, which can contribute to infant constipation.
In this way we can conclude that treating constipation in infants can take place by giving proper diet and consulting a pediatric to plan the semi solid food diet to give along with its proper timings. Giving plenty of water to drink is also a good treatment method in this case.
About the Author
Paul Fryatt, M.D. has been in this profession from last 24 years. He made great achievements in his profession. He made an initiative to open a Family Allergy Clinic in 1985 to help his patients who were not reacting to traditional allergy treatment programs. Moreover he has explored the treatment to overcome allergy symptoms to reclaim quality of life through his convenient, no-shots therapy.
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