Infant passing gas but not pooping
Your Baby's Not Pooping but Passing Gas? What You Should Know
Congratulations! You have a new little person in the house!
If you’re a newbie parent you might be feeling like you’re changing your baby’s diaper every hour. If you have other little ones, you already know that a diaper can tell a lot about a baby’s well-being, but that babies — like adults — can sometimes have common plumbing issues.
If your baby is not pooping but passing gas, don’t worry. Your baby is still getting the hang of this thing called digestion. This is a normal part of being a baby.
There are several reasons why your baby might not be pooping. This can be uncomfortable for them (and you) but in most cases it’s not a reason to worry. Here’s what to know and what to do about your baby’s gassiness and lack of poop.
In contrast to the early newborn days when it seems every diaper change is a poop, your baby will naturally poop less as they get to be a few weeks to several months old.
There is a range of healthy when it comes to how often a baby should poop. As long as your baby is feeding normally and gaining weight (1 to 2 pounds a month), don’t worry about the number of poops.
Some babies 2 months or older poop once a day or more often. Other babies poop once every few days or even once a week. Even if your baby is pooping less frequently, their poop should be soft and easy to pass when they do go.
Breastfeeding, formula, and solids
Pooping frequency depends in part on what your baby is eating.
If your baby is only being breastfed or chestfed they may not poop every day. This is because their body can use up almost all the components of breast milk for nutrition and there is very little left that needs to be eliminated. After the first 3 to 6 weeks or so, they can go even a whole week without a poop.
If your baby is formula-fed they should poop at least once every couple of days. But some babies poop every day, while some poop more often, up to several times a day.
This is all within the typical range.
Because the look of your baby’s poop can vary, it can sometimes be hard to tell when a baby has diarrhea. Signs that there could be a problem include pooping more than once per feeding, or poop that is getting more watery over time. If you notice any of these signs, talk with your baby’s pediatrician or doctor.
Once your baby starts eating solid food, it’s a whole new game! You’ll soon learn which foods might give your baby gassiness without pooping and which their digestive system seems to poop out almost too quickly.
Color and texture
Pooping the rainbow is pretty normal for a baby. Different textures and smells are also completely normal.
In fact, your baby’s poop may move between several shades of brown, yellow, and green, depending in part on what they’re eating.
Chalky, red, or black poop might mean that there is a health issue. If you notice these changes, talk with your baby’s pediatrician immediately.
You should tell your doctor or pediatrician if you notice blood in the poop, or if your baby looks sick.
Straining to poop
Don’t worry if your baby appears to be straining to poop. Straining while pooping is typical for young babies. This is because they are still learning how coordinate the muscles needed to poop.
Babies also spend a lot of time lying down, so gravity isn’t on their side to help pass poops!
But if your baby’s poops become hard or dry, talk with your pediatrician.
If your baby is formula-fed, poops less than once a day, and appears to be straining, this is another reason to talk with a doctor. It could be a sign of constipation.
A baby can sometimes get a little stopped up or constipated. In fact, up to 30% of children get constipated pretty regularly. This can make your baby pass gas (fart), even though they are not pooping. When they do go, the stool is hard.
On the other hand, your baby might get gassy in between poops, without constipation.
There are several common reasons why this might occasionally happen. Babies sometimes swallow air, which can lead to gas.
Some babies are just naturally gassy, just like they’re naturally cute. Sometimes a baby with stinky gas is just a baby with stinky gas. But if your baby seems to be having gas pains, bring it up with your pediatrician.
Breastfed babies
The good news is that babies who breastfeed or chestfeed are less likely to get constipated, because breast milk is generally easier to digest than formula.
If you’re nursing your baby, changes in your milk might have something to do with your baby’s poop frequency. Around 6 weeks after birth, your breast milk has little or no trace left of a yellowish substance called colostrum. Colostrum contains extra protein, antibodies, and other nutrients.
This liquid is one part of your breast milk that helps to give your newborn baby’s immune system a boost against germs. Colostrum may also work like a laxative, helping your baby poop in the first few weeks of life.
This may be one reason newborns poop several times a day. When there’s less colostrum — or none — your baby may have fewer poops.
Formula-fed babies
If your baby is feeding on formula, they might get gassy if they swallow air with feeding or if you change the kind of formula you use. A baby’s new digestive system can be finicky like that.
Some amount of gas is normal for all babies, and some babies just naturally pass more gas. If your baby is gassy, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is an issue or that you need to change anything to “fix” it.
If your baby is happily gassy and not showing symptoms of constipation or other issues, it’s fine to just let them be. But if your baby seems to be in pain due to gas, discuss it with your pediatrician.
Solids
When your baby starts trying solid foods, they might get gassy without pooping all over again. Introducing solid foods and new foods to your baby can cause little digestive hiccups.
It’s best to introduce new foods one at a time.
This can help you pinpoint sensitivities or foods that cause gassiness or pooping issues for your little one.
If your baby is gassy but not pooping, check for other signs and symptoms of constipation:
- excessive crying or irritability
- decreased appetite
- severe straining or turning red without pooping
- small hard poops (when they do poop)
- dry poop (when they do poop)
In most cases, your baby’s gassiness and constipation will resolve on its own as their digestive system figures things out. Sometimes, you might need to give it a little nudge.
Call the doctor
If your newborn baby (under the age of 6 weeks) is not pooping at all or very rarely pooping, see your doctor immediately. In rare cases, not pooping can be a sign of an underlying health issue. Check for other symptoms like:
- vomiting
- refusing feeds
- excess crying
- stomach bloating
- arching their back like they are in pain
- fever
- blood in the stool
Any time you notice blood in your baby’s stool, it’s important to talk with your doctor right away.
Babies who are older than 6 weeks will occasionally be constipated. Call your doctor if your baby has not had a poop for longer than a week or if they get constipated with hard stools more than once or twice.
Home treatments
Ask your doctor if you should try home remedies for your little one, like:
- liquids: If your baby is over 6 months old (age is important here!), you can give them a few ounces of water. For babies at least 1 month old, you can talk with your doctor about giving them a small amount apple or pear juice — 1 ounce for each month of age, up to 4 months. These juices have a natural sugar called sorbitol that is also a laxative. Drinking this might help soften your baby’s poop. Babies who are eating solid food can have prune juice.
- food: If your baby is eating solids, give them fiber-rich foods to help pass the poop. Try puréed prunes, sweet potatoes, or fruits. Fiber-rich foods might make your baby gassy, but they often help with the poop!
- exercise: Your baby might just need to get moving to help them poop! Moving your baby’s legs as in a bicycle motion may help rev their digestion engine.
You can also try holding your baby up so they are “walking” in your lap. - massage and a warm bath: Try massaging your baby’s stomach and body. This can help relax them and get their digestion moving. You can also try a warm bath to help them relax.
- medications: If none of the changes in feeding, diet, or exercise help with the constipation, your doctor might recommend trying an infant glycerin suppository. These have to be put into your baby’s rectum, but they may be relieved and sleep peacefully when they can have a good poop! But be sure to talk with your baby’s doctor first if you are considering this option.
If your baby is gassy but not pooping, don’t worry. These common symptoms are normal in babies as they learn how to feed and digest food. Your baby might be constipated.
Call your baby’s pediatrician immediately if your newborn baby (under 6 weeks old) is not pooping at all. Also call if your baby (of any age) has constipation for longer than 5 to 7 days or if they also have other symptoms.
Constipation in Breastfed Babies: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment
Breast milk is easy for babies to digest. In fact, it’s considered a natural laxative. So it’s rare for babies who are breastfed exclusively to have constipation.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
Every baby poops on a different schedule — even ones who only are fed breast milk. Read on to learn more about constipation in babies, including symptoms, causes, and how to treat it.
How can you tell if your baby’s constipated? It’s important to note that the frequency of bowel movements isn’t always an accurate indication of constipation. Neither is seeing your baby grunt or strain while having a movement.
Many babies look like they’re pushing when they’re having a bowel movement. That may be because babies use their abdominal muscles to help them pass stool. They also spend a lot of time on their backs, and without gravity to help them, they may have to work a little more to move their bowels.
Better indications of constipation in a breastfed baby are:
- firm, tight, distended belly
- hard, pebble-like stools
- crying while having a bowel movement
- not wanting to feed
- bloody stool that is hard (which may be caused by hard stool tearing some of the anal tissue as it passes)
For the most part, breastfed babies don’t experience constipation until solid foods are introduced, around the time they’re 6 months old. Some foods that may be constipating include:
- Rice cereal. Rice is binding, meaning it absorbs water in the gut, making stool hard to pass. Consider switching to oatmeal or barley cereal if your baby show signs of constipation.
- Cow’s milk. This is usually introduced at about a year.
- Bananas. This fruit is another common culprit of constipation in babies. You can try feeding it to your baby pureed with some water or 100-percent fruit juice mixed in.
- A low-fiber diet. White pastas and breads are low-fiber foods. Without enough fiber, it may be harder for your baby to pass stools.
Other things that might produce constipation include:
- Not giving your child enough liquids. Always try to breastfeed your baby before offering solids. Liquid will help your baby pass their stools more easily.
- Stress. Travel, heat, a move — these can all be stressful to a baby and cause constipation.
- Sickness. Stomach bugs can cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and constipation. Even something like a common cold can decrease your child’s appetite and, because of nasal congestion, make it uncomfortable for them to nurse. Less liquid means more chance for constipation.
- Medical condition. A medical issue, such as having an abnormality in the digestive tract, may cause constipation, although this is rare.
A normal amount for a baby to poop varies by age, and, yes, the baby’s diet. Here’s a sample poop timeline for breastfed babies from Seattle Children’s Hospital:
| Days 1–4 | Your baby will poop about once a day. The color will change slightly from dark green/black to dark green/brown and it’ll become looser as your milk comes in. |
| Days 5–30 | Your baby will poop about 3 to 8 or more times day. The color will change slightly from dark green/black to dark green/brown and it’ll become looser and then more yellow as your milk comes in. |
| Months 1–6 | By the time they’re about a month old, babies are pretty good at absorbing all the breast milk they drink. As such, they may pass a few soft stools each day or just one soft stool every few days. Some babies don’t poop for up to two weeks, and that’s still considered normal. |
| Month 6–onward | As you start introducing solid foods to your baby (at about 6 months) and cow’s milk (at about 12 months), your baby may poop more frequently. That’s because your baby’s digestive system is still immature and has to figure out how to digest all these new foods. On the flip side, your baby may now become constipated. Some foods are naturally constipating, and cow’s milk can be hard for even some mature digestive systems to handle. |
Here are some tips to prevent and treat constipation:
- Add more fiber to their diet if your baby’s started solid foods, Switch from rice cereal to barley, which has more fiber. When you start introducing fruits and vegetables, try high-fiber ones like pureed prunes and peas.
- Pump your baby’s legs back and forth as if they’re riding a bicycle. Also, put them on their tummies with some toys and encourage them to squirm and reach. Activity can encourage a bowel movement.
- Give your baby a tummy massage. With your hand just below the navel, gently massage your baby’s tummy in a circular motion for about a minute.
Can a nursing mother’s diet cause — or relieve — a baby’s constipation? The short answer is probably not.
According to a 2017 study of 145 women in the Korean Journal of Pediatrics, there are no foods a breastfeeding mom needs to avoid unless the baby has an obvious negative reaction to it.
Gas and fiber are not passed from mom to baby. Neither is the acid from acidic foods like citrus and tomatoes. A breastfeeding mom can have pretty much any food she wants in moderation.
According to La Leche League International, it’s not what or how much you eat or drink that stimulates your milk — it’s your baby’s ability to suck that gets the milk coming. Also, breast milk is made from what’s in your bloodstream, not your digestive tract.
Still, it’s important to eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet when you’re nursing, more for your own health and well-being than your baby’s.
Don’t hesitate to call a doctor if:
- these simple remedies for constipation don’t work
- your baby seems in distress
- your baby refuses to eat
- your baby has a fever
- your baby is vomiting
- your baby has a hard, swollen belly
Your doctor will examine your baby and may even order special tests, like an abdominal X-ray to check for intestinal blockages.
You can ask your doctor about using suppositories and which ones are safe, though these are not often recommended or needed.
Never give a baby a laxative or suppository without checking with a healthcare provider first.
Most breastfed babies don’t become constipated until they start solid foods. Even then, it’s not a sure thing. Simple diet and activity changes are often effective. But if the constipation continues, see your child’s doctor for medical advice.
Is your baby not pooping, but passing gases? Here's what you need to know
Congratulations! You have a new man in the house!
If you are a new parent, you may feel like you are changing your child's diaper every hour. If you have other toddlers, you already know that a diaper can tell a lot about a child's well-being, but babies, like adults, can sometimes have common plumbing issues.
If your baby is not pooping but passing gas, don't worry. Your child is still learning this thing called digestion.
This is a normal part of a child's life. nine0003
There are several reasons why your baby may not poop. This may be inconvenient for them (and for you), but in most cases this is not a cause for concern. Here's what you need to know and what to do if your baby has gas and no stools.
How often should my baby poop?
Unlike the early days of a newborn, when every diaper change seems to be poop, your baby will naturally poop less between weeks and months. nine0003
There are a number of healthy factors when it comes to how often a baby should poop. As long as your baby is eating normally and gaining weight (1 to 2 pounds a month), don't worry about the amount of poop.
Some children 2 months of age or older poop once a day or more. Other babies poop once every few days or even once a week. Even if your baby poops less often, he should still have large stools that are soft and easy to pass when he walks. nine0003
Breastfeeding, formula and solids
The frequency of stools depends in part on what your baby eats.
If your baby is exclusively breastfed, he may not poop every day. This is due to the fact that their body can use up almost all of the components of breast milk for nutrition, and there is very little left that needs to be eliminated. After the first 6 weeks or so, they can go a week or two without poop.
If your baby is formula-fed, he may have up to four stools a day, or once every few days. nine0003
Once your baby starts eating solid food, a whole new game begins! You'll soon find out which foods can cause your baby to gas without having a bowel movement, and which foods in his digestive system seem to be defecating too quickly.
Color and texture
It is normal for a child to poop rainbows. Various textures and odors are also perfectly normal.
In fact, your baby's stool can be several shades of brown, yellow and green, depending on what he eats. Depending on what your child has eaten, sometimes chalky, red, or black poop may appear, but this may indicate a health problem.
nine0003
Stress to poop
Don't worry if your baby tries to poop. Straining during a bowel movement is normal for babies. This is because they are still learning to coordinate the muscles needed to poop.
Babies also spend a lot of time lying down so gravity isn't on their side to help with bowel movements!
Causes of gas but not poop
Sometimes a child may have a little congestion or constipation. In fact, up to 30 percent of children are constipated fairly regularly. This may cause gas in the baby, but not poop. When they pass, the stool is hard. nine0003
On the other hand, your child may have gas between bowel movements without constipation. There are several common reasons why this can sometimes happen.
Some babies are just naturally gassy, as if they are naturally cute. Sometimes a baby with stink gas is just a baby with stink gas.
Breastfed babies
The good news is that breastfed babies are almost never constipated because breast milk is generally easier to digest than formula.
nine0003
If you are breastfeeding, changes in your milk may have something to do with your baby's stool frequency. About 6 weeks after giving birth, there is little to no trace of a protein called colostrum in breast milk.
This fluid is part of your breast milk that helps your newborn baby's immune system fight germs. Colostrum can also work as a laxative, helping your baby to poop in the first few weeks of life. nine0003
This may be one of the reasons newborns poop several times a day. When there is less or no colostrum, your baby may have fewer poop.
Formula-fed babies
If your baby is formula fed, he may get gas if he swallows air while feeding or if you change the type of formula you use. A new baby's digestive system can be so finicky.
Some amount of gas is normal for all children, and some children simply produce more gas naturally. If your child has gas, it does not necessarily mean that there is a problem or that you need to change something to "fix" it.
nine0003
If your child is happy with gas and is not showing symptoms of constipation or other problems, you can just leave them alone.
Solids
When your child starts to eat solid foods, he may start to gas up and stop pooping again. Introducing solid foods and new foods to your baby can cause some digestive hiccups.
Slowly introducing new foods as you start eating solid foods can help you identify sensitivities or foods that are causing gas or bowel problems in your baby. nine0003
Is it constipation?
If your child is gassy but does not poop, check for other signs and symptoms of constipation:
- crying or irritation
- decreased appetite
- severe straining or redness without stool
- small hard poop (when pooping)
- poop dry and dark in color (when pooping)
What to do if your baby has gas but doesn't poop
With most gas, your baby's gas and constipation will resolve on their own once their digestive system has dealt with it.
Sometimes you may need to push it a little. nine0003
Call a doctor
If your newborn baby (under 6 weeks old) does not poop at all or poops very rarely, call your doctor right away. In rare cases, missing stools can be a sign of a serious health problem. Check for other symptoms such as:
- vomiting
- refusal to feed
- excessive crying
- bloating
- arching the back as if in pain
- fever
Babies over 6 weeks sometimes have constipation. Call your doctor if your child has not had a bowel movement for more than a week or if he has more than one or two constipation with hard stools.
Home treatments
Ask your doctor if you should try home remedies for your baby, for example:
- Feeding. You can try feeding them more breast milk or formula if they will accept it.
- Fluids. nine0119 If your baby is over 6 months old (age is important here!), you can give him a few ounces of water.
Or talk to your doctor about giving them 2 to 4 ounces of apple, plum, or pear juice. These juices contain a natural sugar called sorbitol, which is also a laxative. This may help soften your baby's stool. - Food. If your child eats solid food, give him more fiber to help clear poop. Try pureed prunes, sweet potatoes, barley, or whole grain cereal. Fiber-rich foods can cause gas in a baby, but they often help with stool! nine0078
- Exercise. Maybe your baby just needs to move to help him poop! Moving your baby's legs, like riding a bicycle, can help increase the speed of his digestive engine. You can also try holding your baby so that he "walks" on your lap.
- Massage and warm bath. Try massaging the baby's belly and body. This can help relax them and open up tight abdominal muscles. You can also try a warm bath to help them relax. nine0078
- Medicines. If no changes in diet, diet, or exercise help manage constipation, your doctor may recommend trying baby glycerin suppositories.
They need to be inserted into your baby's rectum, but they may feel relieved and sleep soundly when they have a good stool!
Conclusion
If your baby has gas but doesn't poop, don't worry. These general symptoms are normal for babies as they learn to eat and digest food. Your child may be constipated. This can happen in babies older than 6 weeks who are not exclusively breastfed. nine0003
Call your baby's pediatrician right away if your newborn (under 6 weeks old) doesn't poop at all. Also call if your child (of any age) has been constipated for more than 5 to 7 days or if they also have other symptoms.
Constipation in children under one year old
Usually, parents of babies are worried about the exact opposite problem - too frequent stools. Therefore, not everyone immediately understands what to do if a baby under one year old has constipation.
Gastroenterologist, hepatologist at GMS Clinic Sergey Vyalov gave an interview to the Internet portal parents.
ru and spoke about constipation in children under one year old. nine0003
Introduction
Constipation, also known as diarrhea, stool retention, discolia, caprostasis, difficulty in emptying the bowel is not a universal condition with unambiguous characteristics. Each person, including a child, has his own indicators of the norm and deviations from it, associated with age, intestinal microflora, diet, state of mind and hormonal background, concomitant diseases. Yet there are a few common points of reference. nine0003
What is constipation?
Specialists diagnose constipation if the baby does "big" things:
- regularly and without problems, but passing dry and hard stools;
- with difficulty - the child has to push, the feces do not come out on the first try;
- less than 5 times per day.
In the first six months of life, constipation is a rather rare occurrence, rather, on the contrary, in the period from 0 to 6 months, 6-10 bowel movements per day are considered the norm.
Breastfed babies have more frequent bowel movements, while artificial babies have less. nine0003
Up to 6 months constipation - rare
Usually, parents of babies in the first months of life are alarmed by the condition opposite to constipation - too frequent bowel movements. But in a baby, regardless of whether he eats breast milk or formula, the intestines should work exactly like this - in a mode that is considered diarrhea for older children and adults.
There should be no other option, at least until the introduction of complementary foods at 4-6 months. After all, the baby receives mostly liquid food, the waste products of which have the same consistency and leave the intestines without encountering any obstacles on the way - the baby has not yet learned to control the sphincter that restrains the release of feces. nine0003
The baby's intestines have just begun to "get acquainted" with microorganisms that come from mother's milk, from her skin (the baby licks the nipple), from the environment.
Far from all new "partners" are accepted: there are rejected ones, those who have not taken root, and so on. Checking and rejection are accompanied by loose, unstable stools.
Too frequent bowel cleansing does not need correction and treatment if the child is gaining weight and developing properly. Normal appetite and sleep, gas, absence of fever and other signs of illness indicate that parents have nothing to worry about. If the mother of a baby, tired of changing diapers 10 times in one day, wants to change the situation and asks the doctor to prescribe fixing medicines for the baby, then, unwittingly, she will doom her baby to chronic constipation. nine0003
Not according to the rules
And yet, in the first 6 months, constipation in infants is not excluded. It can be called:
- microflora transmitted from mother;
- insufficient fluid volume;
- stress.
Let's say a woman has too many methane-producing bacteria in her stomach and intestines that cause constipation.
They grow rather slowly, ferment, releasing carbon dioxide, which contributes to flatulence and bloating. With this deviation, the woman lives, adapted and learned to solve the problem with the intestines in one way or another. Noticing the same thing in a child, she decides that the baby has inherited her features and "saves" him with the same means, making a mistake. Babies should not be given laxatives, especially those containing senna. The baby's body gets used to such drugs too quickly and without them it can no longer cleanse the intestines. nine0003
Constipation in a baby up to 6 months is also provoked by a lack of fluid and hormonal fluctuations. At 6 months, the baby should receive a lot of moisture - about 140 ml per kilogram of weight per day. A breastfed child gains this rate from mother's milk and does not need additional sources of liquid (but only if there is no predisposition to constipation). Little artificers are soldered from the moment they switch to a mixture.
If a woman is tense or nervous, then her level of the stress hormone cortisol rises. Through breast milk, saliva or sweat, the substance enters the baby's body and also provokes constipation. nine0003
Even if the mother does not breastfeed the baby, the constipating microorganisms sooner or later get to the gastrointestinal system of the crumbs and make negative changes in it.
Constipation after weaning
The kid is growing, improving his skills, and it's time to introduce him to new foods. These circumstances, on the one hand, help to establish peristalsis, and on the other hand, increase the risk of constipation.
nine0002 By six months, the baby is already trying to control defecation, because he realized that after it there are unpleasant sensations - itching, burning and other discomfort in the areas where the feces get. In order not to experience discomfort, the child tries to restrain the urge. At first, he does not succeed, because the rectum has already learned how to work - reflexively contract and push out waste.
And after a couple of months, everything works out, the baby wins and enters the path leading to chronic constipation. To get the baby out of this vicious circle, the mother must minimize the duration of the baby's skin contact with feces and expand the baby's diet by mastering complementary foods. nine0003 Proteins, fats and carbohydrates that are part of the products are absorbed in the small intestine, and do not reach the large intestine, where feces are formed. What can not be said about fiber. While the baby is drinking breast milk or formula, this component of the dishes is not familiar to him. Even if a nursing woman herself consumes a lot of plant foods, the baby does not get anything. Fiber, as already noted, is not absorbed in the intestines, does not enter the bloodstream, which means that it is not in breast milk. For the first time, a baby gets fiber with complementary foods by trying its first 25 grams of mashed potatoes from zucchini, carrots and other vegetables.
Plant fibers literally attract all waste to themselves, as a result, fecal masses are formed, which help the intestines to master the correct peristalsis. There are a lot of muscles in this section of the gastrointestinal tract, in the intestines, they must learn to consistently contract - tighten and relax in order to squeeze waste out. nine0003
The next new product should be introduced one month after the previous one. The novelty is likely to cause more frequent and loose stools at first. If it does not have a green color and does not foam, there is no need to run to the doctor and ask to prescribe fixatives. Be patient, after a while the innovation will be mastered and will bear fruit. Instead of liquid and shapeless yellow-white feces, you will see brown feces that have formed.
nine0010 Special constipation There are other causes of constipation in babies. Unfortunately, they are much more difficult to deal with, since these are developmental pathologies, diseases, and injuries.
Acute constipation. It develops for anatomical reasons, for example, due to obstruction of the large intestine, or during intussusception - the introduction of one part of the intestine into another, which causes blockage of the lumen. Against the background of complete well-being, the baby suddenly becomes restless, cries, refuses to eat. The attack ends as unexpectedly as it began, but after 3-5 minutes it repeats and intensifies: one or two times vomiting appears with an admixture of green bile. If the stool passes, then blood impurities are visible in it. After 5–6 hours, the stool stops, and bloody discharge comes out of the rectum. At the same time, the baby's stomach is soft. The temperature is usually normal. The child may even lose consciousness. With such symptoms, you need to call an ambulance. nine0003
Hirschsprung disease. It is based on a violation of the innervation of the large intestine - the central nervous system cannot control this section of the gastrointestinal tract.
As a result, processed food accumulates in the intestines. The picture of the disease is quite diverse. If only the short part of the intestine is affected, then constipation forms gradually, and it is possible to do without surgical intervention for quite a long time. When a longer segment is affected, the absence of stool is fraught with a serious condition and immediate surgical intervention is required. nine0003
infectious attack. If in the first months of life the baby suffered an intestinal infection, the nerve cells in the large intestine may die, which will lead to a delay in the act of defecation, accumulation of feces and the development of constipation. With dysentery, the so-called toxic megacolon (a sharp expansion of the colon) is possible. The child develops impaired consciousness and repeated vomiting. The abdomen increases sharply due to a greatly enlarged intestine. The complication requires emergency surgical care. nine0003
Problems with the CNS. Injuries during childbirth and the syndrome of infantile cerebral palsy also affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, as they are associated with various complications, such as impaired swallowing, regurgitation, and vomiting.
Vasculitis. Vascular inflammation extends to the nerve plexuses and sensitive cells located in the intestinal wall.
Disorders in the work of the endocrine system. With hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid function), the movement of contents through the intestines slows down. With dysfunction of the parathyroid glands, constipation occurs due to a violation of mineral metabolism, with diabetes mellitus it becomes the result of damage to the nerve plexuses of the intestine or dehydration of the child's body. nine0003
Medical constipation. Before giving your child any drug prescribed by a doctor, carefully read the instructions. For example, anemia remedies containing iron can cause constipation. Observance of the rules of intake will help to avoid it - directly during meals, reducing doses of iron when introducing foods with a high iron content into the diet - buckwheat, apples, greens. Particular attention should be paid to constipation resulting from treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, neuroleptics, sorbents and antibiotics, which cause intestinal dysbacteriosis.
