What to give my 3 month old 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)

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.

Read the article in Spanish.

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

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Last update date: .11.2022.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 the 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 is possible (a sharp expansion of the colon). The child develops impaired consciousness and repeated vomiting. The abdomen increases sharply due to a greatly enlarged intestine. The complication requires emergency surgical care.

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.