Natural ways to make a baby poop

Baby Constipation: Remedies That Can Offer Relief

Just as with adults, constipation can also affect children from time to time, and rarely, babies, too. Though it’s normal for babies to sometimes have fewer bowel movements than you may expect, many parents wonder whether their baby is in fact constipated when she poops less frequently. Discover some of the telltale signs of constipation and learn how to help your baby if she’s constipated.

What Is Constipation in Babies?

To understand baby constipation, it’s important to know what stools are like for infants. Although every baby is different, and there’s a broad range of what’s considered normal when it comes to pooping, many babies will poop after each feeding in the first weeks of life. Then, after about 3 to 6 weeks of age, some breastfed babies will poop less often, even as little as once a week. That's because breast milk creates almost no solid waste that has to be eliminated from the digestive system. Formula-fed babies tend to poop once a day or once every other day.

In terms of consistency, your baby’s stools should be soft, like peanut butter, when everything is normal and regular. Your baby may be constipated if she experiences hard, dry bowel movements, which can be difficult or even painful to pass. And, if your baby’s constipated, her bowel movements may be more infrequent than what’s typical or normal for your baby.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Infant Constipation?

The following signs may indicate your baby is constipated:

• Your baby has hard bowel movements that look like round, ball-shaped pellets

• Your baby may arch her back or cry when having difficulty passing a bowel movement. Keep in mind that it’s common for infants to strain when pooping—after all your baby will most likely be pooping while lying on her back, which isn’t that easy to do. If your baby passes a soft bowel movement after straining, she is probably not constipated

• Your baby's bowel movements are happening less frequently than normal.

How Can You Tell if Your Baby Is Constipated?

If you suspect your baby may be constipated, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is she more fussy than usual?

• Is she spitting up more often?

• Is she having significantly fewer bowel movements than at other times?

• Are her stools harder than usual, and/or are they bloody?

• Does she strain for longer than 10 minutes when she needs to poop but still not pass anything?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, your little one may be constipated.

What Can Cause Infant Constipation?

Constipation is rare in young babies, particularly in those who are not yet eating solid foods. It’s more likely to occur in your baby once you introduce solids. Your baby’s pattern of bowel movements will vary depending on his age and what he’s eaten recently. In very rare cases, your baby’s constipation may be caused by an underlying condition, such as Hirschsprung's disease, hypothyroidism, or cystic fibrosis. Contact his healthcare provider if you think your baby has constipation due to of any of these conditions, or if you have any questions about your baby's symptoms.

How Long Can Your Baby Go Without Pooping?

The frequency of your baby’s bowel movements can vary from day to day, and every baby is different. A baby who is consuming formula tends to poop at least once per day, but it’s possible for her not to poop for a day or two without necessarily being constipated. In the early weeks, breastfed babies may poop more often since breast milk is easily digested, but at around 3 to 6 weeks old breastfed babies may start having fewer bowel movements, with as little as one or two per week, but still not be constipated.

What Are Some Home Remedies for Baby Constipation?

If your baby becomes constipated once he’s started on solid foods, check in with your healthcare provider, who may recommend any of the following changes or additions to his diet to help relieve constipation:

• Water. If your baby is over 6 months old (the age from when it’s OK for him to drink water), offer him a little water in a sippy cup with his meals. This shouldn’t replace breast milk or formula, however.

• Fruit juice. A few ounces of 100 percent fruit juice such as apple, pear, or prune juice can also help your baby. These juices contain sorbitol, which works like a natural laxative.

• Certain fruits and vegetables. Once your baby is eating solid foods, give him pureed foods such as prunes, pears, peaches, and peas. These can help with constipation since they contain more fiber than other fruits and vegetables.

• Infant cereals. Try feeding him whole-wheat, barley, or multigrain infant cereal once he is eating solid foods. These three types contain more fiber than rice cereal and may help get things moving.

If the above dietary changes haven’t given your baby relief, contact his healthcare provider again for guidance.

What Can You Give Your Baby for Constipation?

If changes in your baby’s diet haven’t given him relief from constipation, your baby’s healthcare provider might recommend an infant glycerin suppository, which is placed in your baby’s rectum. These types of suppositories are meant to be used only occasionally, and shouldn’t be overused. Do not use mineral oil, enemas, constipation medicine, or any stimulating laxatives to treat your baby’s constipation. Always follow your healthcare provider’s advice.

When Should You Contact Your Baby’s Healthcare Provider?

You may be asking yourself “When should I worry about my baby’s constipation?” There are certain signs and symptoms to look out for that can indicate more urgent medical care may be required. If you notice the following, contact your baby’s healthcare provider right away so your little one can get checked out:

• Vomiting

• Fever

• Tiredness or weakness

• Loss of appetite

• A swollen belly

• Blood in your baby’s poop.

The Bottom Line

Constipation is more likely to happen after your baby starts eating solid foods for the first time at around 6 months of age). It takes time to adjust to new foods and this can lead to constipation from time to time. Otherwise, constipation in babies is fairly uncommon, so it could just be that your baby is going a few days without a bowel movement and isn’t actually constipated. Knowing what symptoms to look out for, such as pellet-like poop, can be of great help in determining what the situation is. Although constipation can be uncomfortable for your baby, especially when she’s straining to poop, a simple treatment may do the trick. Subtle changes in diet can help relieve constipation, like adding fiber-rich foods or offering a little water. If these dietary changes don’t help, contact your baby’s healthcare provider, who may recommend the use of suppositories or another form of treatment.

Baby constipation: Top 7 home remedies

Babies often go a long time between bowel movements. Most of the time, it is normal for a baby to go days or even more than a week without a bowel movement. However, a baby may sometimes be constipated and need a little help.

If a baby is constipated, a pediatrician may recommend using home remedies as a first-line treatment for baby constipation.

Home remedies for constipation in a baby include:

1. Exercise

Moving a baby’s legs can help relieve constipation.

As with adults, exercise and movement tend to stimulate a baby’s bowels.

However, as babies may not be walking or even crawling yet, a parent or caregiver may want to help them exercise to relieve constipation.

The parent or caregiver can gently move the baby’s legs while they are lying on their back to mimic the motion of riding a bicycle. Doing this may help the bowels function and relieve constipation.

2. A warm bath

Giving a baby a warm bath can relax their abdominal muscles and help them stop straining. It can also relieve some of the discomfort relating to constipation.

3. Dietary changes

Certain dietary changes may help constipation, but these will vary depending on the baby’s age and diet.

While breastfeeding a baby, a woman could eliminate certain foods, such as dairy, from her diet. It may take some trial and error to identify the dietary changes that help, and it is quite possible that changes in the diet will have no effect on the baby’s constipation.

For formula-fed babies, a parent or caregiver may want to try a different kind of formula. It is best not to switch to a gentle or dairy-free formula without consulting a pediatrician first. If one change does not make a difference, continuing to try different formulas is unlikely to help.

If an infant is eating solid foods, parents or caregivers should look to introduce foods that are good sources of fiber.

Many fruits and vegetables can help stimulate the bowels because of their higher fiber content. Good food choices for babies with constipation include:

• skinless apples
• broccoli
• whole grains, such as oatmeal or whole-grain bread or pasta
• peaches
• pears
• plums

4. Hydration

Young infants do not typically need supplemental liquids as they get their hydration from breast milk or formula.

However, babies that are constipated may benefit from a small amount of extra liquid.

Pediatricians sometimes recommend adding a small amount of water or, occasionally, fruit juice, to the baby’s diet when they are over 2–4 months old and are constipated.

5. Massage

There are several ways to massage a baby’s stomach to relieve constipation. These include:

• Using the fingertip to make circular motions on the stomach in a clockwise pattern.
• Walking the fingers around the naval in a clockwise pattern.
• Holding the baby’s knees and feet together and gently pushing the feet toward the belly.
• Stroking from the rib cage down past the belly button with the edge of a finger.

6. Fruit juice

A small amount of pure apple juice can help soften stool.

After a baby reaches 2–4 months of age, they can have a small amount of fruit juice, such as 100-percent prune or apple juice. This juice may help treat constipation.

Experts may recommend starting with about 2–4 ounces of fruit juice. The sugar in the juice is hard to digest. As a result, more liquid enters the intestines, which helps soften and break up the stool.

However, a parent or caregiver should not give fruit juice to a baby for the first time without consulting their pediatrician.

7. Taking a rectal temperature

When a baby is constipated, taking the baby’s rectal temperature with a clean, lubricated thermometer may help them pass stool.

It is important not to use this method very often, as it can make constipation worse. The baby may start not wanting to pass a bowel movement without help, or they may begin to associate having a bowel movement with discomfort, leading them to fuss or cry more during the process.

Anyone who feels as though they often need to use this method to help the baby have a bowel movement should talk to the baby’s doctor.

As infants may go for extended periods without a bowel movement, it can be hard to tell if they are constipated. Signs that indicate constipation in a baby include:

• infrequent stools that are not soft in consistency
• clay-like stool consistency
• hard pellets of stool
• long periods of straining or crying while trying to have a bowel movement
• streaks of red blood in the stool
• lack of appetite
• a hard belly

Signs of constipation in babies vary depending on their age and diet. A normal bowel movement before a baby begins eating solid food should be very soft, almost like the consistency of peanut butter or even looser.

Hard baby stool prior to solid food is the most obvious indication of constipation in babies.

At first, breastfed babies may pass stool often since breast milk is easy to digest. However, once a baby is between 3 and 6 weeks old, they may only pass a large, soft stool once a week and sometimes even less.

Formula-fed babies tend to pass stool more frequently than breastfed babies. Most formula-fed babies will have a bowel movement at least once a day or every other day. However, some formula-fed babies may go longer between bowel movements without being constipated.

Once a parent introduces solid food to a baby’s diet, a baby may be more likely to experience constipation. A baby may also be more likely to become constipated if a parent or caregiver introduces cow’s milk (other than formula) to their diet.

Share on PinterestA doctor should assess a baby with ongoing constipation.

It is advisable to call a pediatrician if a baby has not passed a stool after a day or two and there are other signs present, such as:

• blood in the stool
• the baby seems to be irritable
• the baby appears to have abdominal pain
• there is no improvement in the baby’s constipation after taking steps to treat it

Treatment typically starts with home remedies. If home remedies do not work, a doctor may examine the baby and, in rare cases, prescribe medications, such as:

• laxatives
• enemas
• suppositories

People should never give these medications to a baby unless a doctor prescribes them.

Constipation can lead to discomfort and irritability in a baby. People can try several at-home methods to help alleviate constipation.

If symptoms do not improve, it is best to speak to the infant’s pediatrician for additional strategies.

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rules and top 8 ways, recommendations

Young mothers often face a variety of soiling on children's clothes. Quite often, children do not have time to run to the toilet in time. As a result, persistent stains appear on things. In such a situation, the actual question arises of how to wash baby poop. To do this, you must use special powders or folk remedies. In any case, it is important to strictly follow the instructions.

Contents

• 1 Features of pollution
• 2 General washing rules
• 3 Basic methods for cleaning children's things
  9000 3. 1 Children's washing powder
  • 3.2 Commercial gross
  9000 3.3 Baby soap without dyes
• 9000 hand wash
• 6 How to remove old marks
  • 6.1 Peroxide cleaner
  • 6.2 Soda solution
  • 6.3 Ammonia and hydrogen peroxide
  • 6.4 Potassium permanganate
  • 6.5 Boiling
• 7 Rules for choosing a detergent
• 8 Tips and tricks

Features of pollution

In such a situation, fecal stains appear on things. These are fairly stable contaminants that get into the fibers of the fabric and are difficult to wash off. To remove such stains, you need to choose the right tool. nine0048