In order to prevent the development of digestive tract problems in adulthood, which occur in every third person, parents need to monitor the work of the intestine and its emptying from the birth of the child. It is necessary to carefully monitor the baby's health in order to prevent the development of such serious consequences as poor appetite, indigestion, weight loss, allergies, decreased immunity, which directly depend on the functioning of the intestine.
Unfortunately, baby stool retention is common. Why does constipation occur in a child? What to do at home to help him empty? All parents should know how to deal with this problem, and what means need and can be used.
The concept of constipation
Constipation is a malfunction in the intestines, in which babies cannot go to the toilet. The most important symptom is a lack of stool for 2-3 days. Constipation is very dangerous for the child, as the body is poisoned, solid feces irritate the intestinal walls, damage the rectum, forming cracks, bleeding, hemorrhoids, bloating can occur.
Before starting treatment, you need to make sure that the child is really constipated. This can be determined by the number of bowel movements and the structure of feces:
- Newborns who are breastfed, defecate from 2 to 10 times a day, closer to 6 months the number decreases to 2-5 times a day, and from 6 months to a year - about 2 times. About 3 days, the absence of a chair indicates constipation.
- Artificial newborns are emptied even more often, since the mixtures are heavier and less absorbed. If the stool is less than 2 times a day in children-artists, it’s worth the alarm.
- In children under 5 years of age with normal bowel function, stool is usually 1-2 times a day, if it is absent for 2-3 days, then measures should be taken to clean the intestines.
- In adolescents, fecal excretion should occur once every 1-2 days. Its absence within 3-4 days is considered constipation.
You should pay attention to the consistency of feces. In infants up to 6 months of age, the feces are mushy, but from the moment of feeding, it begins to form in "sausages", and its density gradually increases. In older children, feces are already dense and formed. Signs of constipation are hard "sausages" or "sheep" balls.
In addition, parents should pay attention to how the child feels. Infants, if they can’t empty their intestines, cry a lot, push, squint, their face turns red from tension, they are very restless and refuse to eat. Older children are very capricious, do not want to sit on a pot or climb off it.
Types of constipation in children
Doctors diagnose these types of diseases:
- Anatomical constipation. They arise after surgery or with pathologies of a hereditary nature.
- Functional constipation. They develop under the influence of a number of reasons related to nutrition, psychological state or malfunction of internal organs.
Causes of occurrence
Scientists identify the following reasons that provoke constipation in a child:
- Translation of the baby from breastfeeding to artificial.
- Improper nutrition of mom.
- Not enough water to drink.
- Rickets in a child.
- Excess in the diet of the baby fatty and protein foods.
- Problems with the nervous system.
- Food allergy in a baby.
- Insufficient amount of hormones produced by the thyroid gland.
- The shyness of the child.
- Worms.
- Frequent use of laxatives, enemas.
- Long-term use of certain drugs (antibiotics, antispasmodics, diuretics, anticonvulsants).
- Dysbacteriosis
Symptoms
It is not difficult to identify constipation in a small child, since the frequency of bowel movement is under the control of the parents. Older children are often embarrassed to talk about the problem, they suffer and only with severe bloating and pain do parents notice that the child has a problem with emptying.
The main symptoms are:
- lack of stool for several days in a row;
- soreness when emptying;
- solid feces, sometimes with blood;
- after emptying, it seems to the child that he still wants to use the toilet;
- pain and bloating;
- in advanced cases - lack of appetite, headaches, sleep problems.
When the baby becomes independent (after about 3 years), you need to regularly ask him if there are any problems with the intestines. No need to brush aside complaints of abdominal pain, you should pay attention to unwillingness or fear of going to the toilet. In the evening, when changing underwear, check for drops of blood on the panties.
Features of treatment in infants
If the child has constipation at 2 months, what should I do? Infants are prone to constipation due to the immaturity of the digestive tract. In order to alleviate his suffering, the following rules must be observed:
- If he is breastfed, then mom should review her menu. Do not eat: pear, semolina, quince, pomegranate, pastries, rice, legumes, brown bread, strong tea and coffee, beans, cabbage. Eat fiber-rich foods daily and as much as possible: vegetable salads, fruits, beets, dried apricots, figs, baked potatoes, prunes and grapes.
- Artists pediatricians prescribe fermented milk mixtures, which include probiotics, lactulose, prebiotics. But you must follow the rules for the preparation and storage of mixtures.
- If a child is 5 months old constipated, what should I do? Well help from constipation in children massage and gymnastics. The massage scheme is as follows: a few hours after or half an hour before eating, you need to lay the child on his stomach, he actively moves and independently massage him. Then you need to turn it on its back and stroke the stomach in a clockwise direction. Massage should be repeated about 4 times a day.
It is best to do the following gymnastic exercises: bending and unbending legs, pulling them to the stomach, simulating a "bicycle". Before gymnastics, you need to give the child a tablespoon of water, and for children 3-4 years old, increase the volume of water to 100 ml.
Treatment of children from year to 3 years
What to do: the child has 1 year of constipation? Children at the age of one year are very active, it is necessary to carefully monitor that the baby fully eats and drinks as much as possible.
If children are prone to digestive problems and bowel movements, do not give them soups with grated vegetables, confectionery, sweets, semolina and rice, milk, cocoa and tea, soda, canned food, spicy dishes, and smoked meats. During snacks, you need to give him raw and boiled vegetables, salads dressed with olive or sunflower oil, dried fruits, fruits, soups, juices, wholemeal bread, peeled apples, rosehip tea, boiled chicken, turkey, sea fish.
If a child has constipation at 2 years old, what to do and how to alleviate his suffering? Eating bran will help ease bowel movements.
- You can give bran from 10 months of age, initially in the form of a decoction (1 teaspoon in half a glass of water, cook for 10 minutes). Cool, divide into 3 servings and add to the soups and cereals, which he should use during the day.
- From the year you can make a decoction with 1.5 tablespoons of bran, but they can no longer be boiled, and pour a small amount of boiling water, leave for about 30 minutes, drain the water, and add bran to soups and cereals.
- Children after 3 years of age can be given raw bran (1.5 teaspoons per day).
- Teens can consume about 3 teaspoons per day.
When treating a child with bran, he should be given as much water as possible.
What to do if a child has constipation only occasionally? You can try the proven methods:
- dried apricots, raisins, prunes;
- prune infusion or decoction;
- kefir before bedtime;
- carrot or beet juice, diluted 1: 1.
What to do: a child has 2 years of constipation? Improving intestinal motility in these children is possible with the help of simple exercises. For example, come up with a game in which he needs to collect small toys from the floor, just leaning forward.
Features of treatment in children older than 3 years
The child has 3 years of constipation, what to do and how to help him empty his intestines? During this period, very often develop psychological constipation, which are associated with a nervous situation in a kindergarten or school. Many children in this age group are simply shy about going to the toilet outside the home. In this case, psychological conversations are needed, as well as just teaching him to use the toilet early in the morning, before leaving home or in the evening before going to bed.
In addition, constipation of this age is associated with a violation of the drinking regime. The child should drink about 1-1.5 liters of water.
You cannot get carried away at this age with pizzas, hamburgers and sweets. Eat more soups, borscht, vegetables, fruits, dairy products.
In schoolchildren, low activity may be the cause of constipation. It is necessary to control how much time he spends on the TV, computer. He must do sports, walk, move, and in the morning - do exercises.
Flaxseed helps to work the intestines.
Medicines
The child has constipation. What is urgent to do in such situations? If the condition is critical, consult your pediatrician for advice. Typically, in the treatment of constipation in children up to a year, drugs that contain lactulose are prescribed: Lactusan, Dufalac, Prelax. Glycerin suppositories have a quick and gentle effect. If the problem is chronic, doctors prescribe prebiotics that improve the intestinal microflora.
Children from 3 years and older are prescribed Macrogol and Forlax, which soften feces and accelerate its discharge.
Vent tubes and enemas
If a child has severe constipation, what should be done in such a situation? If all means are tried and nothing helps, it is necessary to resort to radical methods. These include vent tubes and enemas.
Scheme of using a gas outlet pipe:
- Children under 6 months old are laid on their backs, and babies older than this age are placed on their left side, legs pressed against the chest and held throughout the procedure.
- Lubricate the anus and the end of the tube with liquid paraffin, gently inject it (for babies to a depth of 2 cm, for children older than 4 cm) and leave the tip in the rectum for about 10 minutes.
- When the gases and feces begin to flow away - remove the tube and for a minute again press the legs to the baby's chest.
- After emptying, be sure to wash it.
If a baby is constipated at 7 months, what should I do? You can put an enema, up to a year they are done using a syringe, putting the child on his back and pressing his legs to his chest. The depth at which the tip can be inserted is no more than 2 cm. For older children, the principle of setting an enema is the same, only they should lie on the left side. After completing the procedure, the child should lie down quietly for about 10 minutes.
How much fluid to inject? The volume of liquid depends on the age of the child (its temperature should be 28-30 degrees): for children up to a year, no more than 30 ml is administered; from 1 year to 3 years - up to 150 ml; from 3 to 5 years - up to 200 ml; from 6 to 10 years - up to 250 ml; adolescents no more than 400 ml.
Folk methods
Among the methods of folk therapy, the following drugs are most popular for combating constipation in children: chamomile infusion, dill water, a decoction of caraway seeds, a bath with a decoction of mint, anise, fennel.
What to do if a child has constipation? Despite the fact that this is a fairly common phenomenon among children, and there are a huge number of methods to deal with it, it can cope, sometimes it is very difficult. The most important thing is a comprehensive approach to solving the problem, and the normalization of the daily menu.
Food
In case of intestinal disorders, it is important to organize a healthy diet for the child. So, if a child has constipation, what to do and what to feed? A child older than a year should take food 5-6 times a day, you can not give them food in large portions, teach them to slowly chew every bite.
It is impossible for kids of this age to give foods that are even harmful to adults: salty, fatty, fried, canned, smoked, spicy.
On the child’s menu every day should be present such products that well help with constipation:
- boiled vegetables (broccoli, beets, pumpkin, cauliflower, carrots);
- porridge from oatmeal, eggs, buckwheat;
- figs, dried apricots, prunes;
- kefir, yogurt;
- juices from carrots and beets;
- Bakery products from rye flour with bran.
With a predisposition to constipation, children should not be fed semolina and rice porridge, baked goods from white flour, whole milk, cocoa, sweets. Cottage cheese can be given, but not often.
To normalize the digestive tract, you need to ensure that the child uses the necessary amount of water. Children need to be given water as much as he wants, but not less than 500 ml per day.
Instead of a conclusion
Constipation is one of the most common problems in childhood. This happens to both infants and teenagers. But most of all they occur, of course, in infants and children under the age of 1 year. Often parents do not know what to do if the child has constipation and how to help him. The most important thing is not to panic and not to use laxative drugs without prescribing a pediatrician. Also, you should not constantly put enemas, since this can only aggravate the situation, they disrupt the normal metabolism and lead to the habit of the intestines getting involved in external intervention, because of this it ceases to empty itself.
This condition must be treated and nutrition must be corrected, otherwise it can lead to chronic gastrointestinal diseases.
In addition, to normalize the intestines, it is necessary that the child is in the fresh air, children over 3 years old must be recorded in sports sections.