Many parents have to face the fact that constipation occurs in children 5 years old. In children, this situation can lead to a lot of trouble and extremely negatively affect their health. It may seem that this phenomenon is not so serious and it is not worth worrying. But you need to know that constipation can be evidence of problems with children's health. Therefore, you need to seek the help of doctors so as not to lose precious time.
Difficulties with the toilet
Starting from a year and a half, the chair in the crumbs acquires a more formalized appearance and now does not look mushy, like in newborns. But the frequency of the stool is much less common. On average, the baby should go to the toilet “in a big way” once a day. In three to five year old children, constipation can be considered the absence of such trips to the pot for two to three days.
Parents need to urgently contact a pediatrician if they observe such signs in their child:
- the stool consistency has become more dense (it looks like a sheep or a dense mass having a cylindrical shape);
- if the emptying is incomplete;
- stool frequency less than three times a week;
- after emptying, the child develops spotting;
- the baby’s tummy is swollen and often hurts;
- during defecation, the toddler begins to push hard, he has painful sensations.
Such signs can be found in a three-year-old baby. True, not in every situation, parents manage to determine for themselves what is stagnation of feces. But it also happens that during a bowel movement the baby does not have any discomfort, but his stool is dense and dry. This is just evidence of stagnation. If you do not start treating the problem immediately, complications may soon begin - hemorrhoidal inflammation, along with which cracks in the anus and blood discharge will appear.
Causes of Constipation: Fear of Pain
Let's talk about the reasons why this situation arises. It is normal for the baby to empty his intestines at least once a day. The bowel movement itself should not cause any difficulties for the peanut, and feces should not be dense.
It happens that babies do not go to the toilet for various reasons, endure for a long time, and subsequently it is difficult to do. Parents should remember about some features of the intestine: if the child did not go “big” on time, fluid from the feces is absorbed into the intestine, after which the consistency will be quite dense. Then, when the baby sits on the pot, he may experience discomfort. Because of the pain, the baby will be scared to go to the potty, he will continue to endure. Over time, a vicious circle will form: the baby suffers from constipation (it hurts him), and constipation is aggravated due to this patience.
Causes of Constipation: Dysbiosis
That's why there can be constipation in a child of 5 years. The reasons are really different and the foregoing is only one of them. Others, no less serious, will be discussed below.
So, the child has 5 years of constipation. What to do if the baby cannot go "big" after a course of antibiotics? Undoubtedly, a common cause of constipation in children is dysbiosis, which occurs as a result of treatment with antibacterial drugs.
If this happens, everything possible should be done to solve this problem, that is, to restore the intestinal microflora, you need to take drugs that have lactobacilli, or drink natural yoghurts.
Parental Mistakes
Why does constipation in children of 5 years happen? Parents often turn to pediatricians with this question. But the reason may not be due to some disease, but due to the fact that the baby has an irrational diet. The most common mistakes made by parents regarding children's diets include:
- dry food;
- in the diet of the baby there is more food in which there are a lot of carbohydrates, but practically no fiber;
- there are quite large breaks between meals;
- the child does not eat breakfast, but dines quite tightly.
If you eliminate these errors, the likelihood of constipation will be minimized.
Psychological factors
As if this did not seem strange, but an indirect reason that a child of 5 years experiences constant constipation, there may be psychological discomfort and stress. In this case, it makes no sense to immediately run to a child psychologist. It is necessary to analyze the events that have occurred in the family recently. Perhaps the child has a younger brother or sister, the family moved to another city, parents often scandal. This can be stressful.
But there are also situations that you can only guess about. For example, a child has a conflict with peers in a kindergarten, one of the children offends the baby, he feels psychological discomfort in the kindergarten.
The same can be said of adaptation to school, although this goes away at an older age. But even at this age, the psyche of the child remains vulnerable. Staying in a new team in tandem with the school curriculum can lead to constipation in the baby due to psychological stress.
Good nutrition to fight constipation
Sometimes even modern and expensive drugs in a situation where constipation occurs in children at 5 years of age are not able to exert the healing effect that a good nutrition will have. This will be a prerequisite for the normal growth and development of the baby, and not only for constipation.
The fundamental principles of baby food include the following.
- The child should have a regimen. When establishing a certain order in meals, stool is normalized.
- Of great importance is the drinking regime. The child needs to drink plenty of fluids. It is better not to give the baby strong black tea, because of its fixing effect. It is better to drink the peanut with clean water, in which there is no gas. Let it be filtered, but not boiled water.
- If constipation occurs in a child 1–5 years of age, the following foods should be immediately excluded from the baby’s diet (at least for a while): pastries, caffeinated drinks, rice, smoked sausage, whole milk.
- Every day, vegetables, fruits, cereals, in which there is a lot of fiber, should be present in the child’s diet.
- With constipation, it is useful for children to give vegetable oils and dairy products.
How to recover a bowel movement?
To establish regular bowel movement, you should adhere to a certain daily regimen. If all the necessary and habitual actions - sleep, eating or going to the toilet are performed at the same time, the baby will not experience stress and will be prepared for them both mentally and physically.
Go to the toilet for children aged two to six years, preferably in the morning. To ensure successful bowel movements in the morning, it is necessary, after the baby has woken up, to give him a glass of water and do exercises with it. If this does not help, try again after breakfast.
Dr. Komarovsky says that the child needs to move more during the day. Physical activity positively affects the digestion and removal of processed food from the body.
We go to the toilet correctly
So that constipation in children at the age of 5 is minimized, or even not observed at all, we must teach them to use the toilet properly. Parents should create the most comfortable conditions for this. If you have a problem, talk about the fact that the pain will pass soon and you can normally go to the toilet.
After the course of treatment, it is necessary that the child drank the drug "Acipol", which will restore the intestinal microflora. For prevention, this medicine is dosed as follows: 1 capsule per day for 2 weeks. The lactobacilli that are in it will help the intestines work as efficiently as possible.
Folk and pharmacy remedies against constipation in children
The safest and most effective remedy for constipation in babies are medicines made on the basis of lactulose. Despite the strange name, it is an absolutely natural substance, the use of which is allowed, starting from infancy. True, you need to consult a doctor about the dosage and method of use. In most cases, for constipation to stop tormenting the baby, he will need to take a course of such a drug.
Treatment of constipation in children at 5 years of age with folk remedies will be less effective. Some parents are sure that in home decoctions there is nothing to worry about for the baby. But they are wrong. Medicinal herbs can be called the strongest allergens, in addition, at home it is almost impossible to accurately withstand the recipe for the preparation of infusions or decoctions. There is no need to talk about the accuracy of the dosage. But herbs are more affordable, if you compare them with many pharmaceuticals, and you can buy them at any pharmacy. How appropriate and safe will a decoction be for a particular baby? Before using any herbal infusion, it is necessary to consult with your doctor, because folk and traditional methods of treatment can be combined. But parents themselves should not come up with any schemes.
A good, useful and safe alternative to tasteless herbal decoctions and pharmaceuticals can be a tasty method that has been tested over the years - decoctions in which prunes, raisins or dried apricots are present. Even kids enjoy drinking it like compote, relieving themselves of constipation.
Constipation in children at 5 years of age (however, at any other age) is a rather serious problem, from which babies often suffer. But for many parents this seems nonsense, and they do not seek to rush to the doctor with their offspring. Meanwhile, this seemingly non-fearful problem can initiate the development of unpleasant consequences.