What can you give a 3 month old baby for constipation

Symptoms, Treatment and When to Call a Doctor

Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Constipation (con-sta-PA-shun) in infants can worry parents. Most of the time, your baby is not really constipated. They may not have developed a routine for pooping yet. Some babies do not develop a bowel movement (BM) pattern for a while.

An infant’s BM pattern can change if their diet changes, like switching from breastmilk to formula, starting solid foods, or drinking less formula than usual. If your baby’s stool (poop) is not soft or easily passed, then they may be constipated.

In rare cases, constipation may be caused by a lack of nerves going to the intestines or by a problem with the way the intestine formed at birth. Your baby can be tested for these conditions if your health care provider feels it is needed.

Signs of Constipation

less stools than their usual pattern
straining more than normal to have a bowel movement
a change in how the stool looks from soft and mushy to:
- small, hard pebbles, or like a large, round golf ball
- loose and watery
abdomen (belly) bloated or swollen with gas
painful cramps

Treatment

If your baby is not eating baby food yet, you may give 1 to 2 ounces of 100% fruit juice (pear, prune, cherry, or apple) once a day. Stop the juice if their stools become too loose.
If they are old enough to eat baby foods, feed them pureed pears, peaches, or prunes instead of giving them juice.
If your baby eats cereal, it may help to give oatmeal, wheat, or barley cereal. Rice cereal can cause constipation in some children.
Sometimes giving your baby a warm bath to relax them or exercising their legs, like riding a bicycle, will help stimulate the bowels to move (Picture 1).
If it has been a few days since your baby has pooped and the juice or pureed food has not worked, then you can try a glycerin suppository. Place your baby on their back. Gently push the suppository into their anus (bottom). Suppositories are meant for occasional use.
Contact your baby’s health care provider before giving them laxatives, baby mineral oil, or enemas to treat constipation.

Medical Therapy

Your child’s health care provider may order the following treatments:

Give your child medication.
Check your child’s temperature using a digital, rectal thermometer. Put a small amount of petroleum jelly (Vaseline®) on its tip before inserting into the rectum. Taking a rectal temperature may stimulate the baby to pass stool.

When to Call the Health Care Provider

Call the health care provider if any of the following occurs:

Your baby is irritable and seems to be having stomach pain. Infants will pull their legs up to their stomach and cry when they are in pain.
Your baby has constipation and develops vomiting, and their belly looks like it is bloated or filled with gas.
You see blood in their stool.
Their constipation does not get better with treatment.

If you have any questions or concerns, call your baby’s health care provider.

Constipation: Infant (PDF), Spanish (PDF), Somali (PDF), Arabic (PDF), Nepali (PDF)

How Can I Tell If My Baby is Constipated?

Ages & Stages

New parents often worry that their babies are not pooping enough. A baby eating formula usually has a bowel movement at least once most days, but may go 1 to 2 days between bowel movements. For breastfed infants it depends on age. During the first month of life, stooling less than once a day might mean your newborn isn’t eating enough. However, breastfed infants may go several days or even a week between bowel movements, using every drop they eat to make more baby, not poop.

Infants normally work really hard to have a bowel movement, so straining at the stool isn’t necessarily alarming, even when the infant cries or gets red in the face. For an infant to have a bowel movement can be a major effort, and it shows. Just imagine trying to poop lying on your back and you’ll get the picture.

If you're concerned your baby may be constipated, ask yourself the following questions:

Is my baby excessively fussy?
Is my baby spitting up more than usual?
Is my baby having dramatically more or fewer bowel movements than before?
Are my baby's stools unusually hard, or do they contain blood related to hard stools?
Does my baby strain for more than 10 minutes without success?

These signs can all suggest actual constipation.

Is there anything I can give my baby for constipation?

Once your baby is at least a month old, if you think they are constipated, you can try giving them a little apple or pear juice. The sugars in these fruit juices aren’t digested very well, so they draw fluid into the intestines and help loosen stool. Although fruit juice is not recommended for babies under a year of age, as a rule of thumb, you can give 1 ounce a day for every month of life up to about 4 months (a 3-month-old baby would get 3 ounces). Once your infant is taking solid foods you can try vegetables and fruits, especially that old standby, prunes. If these dietary changes don’t help, it’s time to call your child's pediatrician.

More information

Baby's First Days: Bowel Movements & Urination
Common Conditions in Newborns
Choosing a Formula
Constipation in Children

Last Updated: 5/12/2022

Source: Adapted from Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (Copyright © American Academy of Pediatrics 2012)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

90,000 constipation in children at 3 months: how to help a billed baby with a constipation of

Views: 52 527

Last update date: 27.12.2022

Content

Norm or pathology?
Types of constipation
Why constipation can occur
What to do in case of constipation in a child

As soon as a small child appears in the house, a small child usually captures the attention of all adult family members. However, even surrounded by the care of his father and mother, the baby is not immune from digestive problems. Colic, gas, regurgitation - this is not a complete list of what, most likely, any parents will encounter at least once. One of the most common pathologies associated with the gastrointestinal tract of children at the age of 3 months is constipation.

Constipation involves prolonged retention of stools, high stool density, painful defecation. But how to distinguish this condition from the usual stool retention, which does not require medical intervention?

Normal or abnormal?

Constipation is not always determined by the frequency of bowel movements. An important role here is played by the nature of the feces (with constipation, it is hard, fragmented, often has an unpleasant odor) and the presence or absence of painful sensations. This can be determined by the behavior of the child - unreasonable crying, straining during defecation, painful grimaces when touching the stomach, refusal to eat and restless sleep are characteristic. In addition, constipation manifests itself differently in babies who are breastfed and artificially fed.

Normally, an infant has up to 5–7 bowel movements per day, depending on the frequency of feeding. A single stool retention for 2-3 days is not a pathology and does not require medical intervention. However, if the absence of stool lasts longer or its frequency is 1-2 times a day or less on an ongoing basis, the baby should be shown to the doctor.
The "artificial" feces are thicker, the frequency of bowel movements can be 2-4 times a day in the norm. In infants fed formula milk, stool retention for a day or more is already considered a problem. It is worth remembering that artificial baby food in itself is one of the factors that provoke constipation.

Types of constipation

Acute. Acute constipation in children 3 months is the absence of bowel movements for several days. This condition can develop due to obstruction of the colon, various intestinal infections. Acute constipation may be accompanied by vomiting, high fever, bloody discharge. This pathology requires urgent medical attention.

Chronic. Chronic constipation develops over time and is a systematic retention of stool. Usually such a diagnosis is made by observing the child for a long time, at least several weeks.

Why constipation can occur

Constipation is not an independent disease - usually it is only a manifestation of some pathology or malnutrition. In children of 3 months, stool retention may be the result of anomalies in the development of the intestine, inflammatory processes, and medication. If the baby is bottle-fed, the problem may lie in the lack of the necessary substances in the mixture. Constipation in infants in most cases is associated with malnutrition of the mother - she should eat more fruits and other foods that have a laxative effect, reduce coffee, tea, sweets and starchy foods.

What to do in case of constipation in a child

First of all, in case of signs of constipation, it is necessary to contact the pediatrician observing the child. He will find out the causes and prescribe treatment. If constipation is not associated with a serious pathology, you can help the baby in the following ways:

give the child bottled water. It can be drunk from a sterile syringe without a needle or from a spoon. Even a small amount of water that has entered the intestines will soften the feces;
do a tummy massage. This procedure can be performed immediately after drinking, but before feeding. Massage is done in circular motions clockwise without pressure;
do gymnastics. Exercises effective for constipation are the usual alternating flexion and extension of the legs;
immerse the child in the bath. The baby can be immersed in warm water for a few minutes, then wrapped up and placed on the tummy for self-massage of the intestines.

One of the ways to relieve constipation in a child is micro enema MICROLAX ^® single local action. In the absence of contraindications, it can be used from the first day of a baby's life. The components included in the composition of microclysters contribute to the softening of feces, their soft and painless removal.

The information in this article is for reference only and does not replace professional medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, contact a qualified specialist.

Constipation in a child: what to do?

Constipation disrupts the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. The main manifestation of constipation is a rare stool, difficulty in emptying the intestinal tract. If emptying occurs every three days, but there is no swelling and discomfort, and the feces have a normal consistency, this is not considered constipation.

If your child is constipated, a specialist should be consulted. Initially, you should seek help from a gastroenterologist. The First Children's Medical Center employs the best pediatric gastroenterologists in Saratov: here you can get qualified medical care!

Symptoms of constipation

The main symptoms of constipation include:

infrequent bowel movements;
if the child pushes hard trying to go to the toilet;
if there is pain during bowel movements;
stools look like balls.

When the baby is breastfed, he can empty himself up to seven times a day, after each meal. During the first week, the frequency of emptying is three times a day.

When the baby is one month old, the stool will be daily. At two months of age and when complementary foods begin, stools can be once every two days. If the baby has a soft stool, he feels good, but at the same time he defecates once every few days, this is the norm.

Signs of constipation include: discomfort during bowel movements, moodiness, very hard stools. If this situation persists, you should contact your pediatrician.

It is important to adjust the feeding regimen. Do not overfeed the child, do not transfer to artificial feeding if the mother has little milk. The first step is to try to fix the situation. A nursing mother should drink more fluids, stop eating foods that cause flatulence, reduce intestinal motility. Only in extreme cases should be transferred to artificial mixtures.

If the baby is formula-fed, he should empty himself once a day. The main mistake in this case is that parents often change mixtures, try others. Mixtures should be adapted, sour-milk, which contain probiotics and prebiotics. It is also necessary to strictly follow the instructions, properly dilute the mixture, taking into account all proportions. The introduction of complementary foods should be on time. The diet should contain foods that contain a large amount of fiber.

After the introduction of complementary foods, the stool becomes formed, hard, less frequent. Until the age of three, bowel movements should be daily. After three years, the frequency of defecation should be at least three times a week.

Why constipation occurs

There are two types of constipation - organic and functional. The causes of organic constipation are:

Hirschsprung's disease;
anomalies in the development of the gastrointestinal tract;
pathology of the endocrine system;
violations of metabolic processes.

In a newborn child, this symptom may indicate a narrowing, lengthening or expansion of the intestinal tract.

The causes of functional constipation include:

psychological problems, such as being in an unfamiliar environment;
lactose deficiency;
lack of fluid in the body;
errors in the diet;
negative reaction of the body to taking antibacterial drugs, drugs for the treatment of anemia, anticonvulsants;
congestion of bile in the gallbladder and its ducts;
Intestinal worms.

In newborns, the nervous system is immature, it is just being formed. Therefore, children are unable to control the movements of their muscles during bowel movements. You can help them by gently bending the legs, pressing them to the tummy. With these movements, the pelvic muscles relax, the bowel is released much faster.

How the therapy works

The treatment of constipation requires a holistic approach. Treatment is prescribed in each case individually, depending on the cause of constipation.

To ensure the normal functioning of all organs, it is necessary to adjust the stool in children. You will need to adjust your diet and lifestyle, do not abuse laxatives, as they help only temporarily.

The main principles of therapy include:

Diet correction. Requires elimination of foods that can cause constipation. Among them are fermented milk products, rice, muffins, bakery products, pasta. The menu is recommended to include vegetable fiber, which is found in fresh fruits and vegetables. You should also abandon fast carbohydrates - flour products, sweets. You need to add to the menu more foods that contain potassium, for example, figs, dried apricots, prunes.
Observe the drinking regimen. It is important to drink clean drinking water. During the day, the child should drink at least 40 milliliters of water per kilogram of his weight.
According to the doctor's prescription, medicines, homeopathic remedies should be given to the baby. These include drugs for the outflow of bile, drugs that restore the intestinal microflora. You can use antihelminthics, laxatives, drugs with lactulose in the composition. Your doctor may also prescribe medications that contain polyethylene glycol. They retain moisture in the intestines, thin the stool.
In case of prolonged constipation, the child can be given a glycerine suppository, micro-enemas as a stimulant.
Undergo physiotherapeutic procedures prescribed by the doctor, massage, do therapeutic exercises.
Provide a calm environment, help the baby psychologically so that he is not afraid to empty his intestines. You can read fairy tales, play with your child.
Train the intestines, after eating, put the child on the potty for a few minutes.

First you need to get rid of constipation and only then potty training. If constipation is not treated in a timely manner, this will entail unpleasant consequences for the health of the child.