Babies often go a long fourth dimension between bowel movements. Most of the time, it is normal for a baby to go days or fifty-fifty more than than a week without a bowel motion. Even so, a baby may sometimes be constipated and need a picayune help.

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

Home remedies for constipation in a infant include:

1. Practise

Mother moving baby's legs
Moving a baby'south legs can help relieve constipation.

As with adults, exercise and movement tend to stimulate a baby'southward bowels.

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

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

ii. A warm bath

Giving a baby a warm bath tin relax their intestinal muscles and assistance them stop straining. Information technology tin can also relieve some of the discomfort relating to constipation.

3. Dietary changes

Sure dietary changes may assistance constipation, but these will vary depending on the baby's age and diet.

While breastfeeding a baby, a woman could eliminate sure foods, such as dairy, from her diet. It may take some trial and error to place the dietary changes that assist, and it is quite possible that changes in the diet will have no upshot on the infant's constipation.

For formula-fed babies, a parent or caregiver may want to endeavor a different kind of formula. It is best non to switch to a gentle or dairy-free formula without consulting a pediatrician first. If one change does not make a departure, standing 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 tin can aid stimulate the bowels considering 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

iv. Hydration

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

However, babies that are constipated may benefit from a pocket-size corporeality of extra liquid.

Pediatricians sometimes recommend adding a pocket-sized amount of water or, occasionally, fruit juice, to the babe'due south nutrition when they are over two–4 months old and are constipated.

5. Massage

There are several ways to massage a infant's stomach to relieve constipation. These include:

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

6. Fruit juice

Cloudy apple juice on wooden table with whole green apples in background
A small-scale amount of pure apple tree juice can help soften stool.

After a infant reaches 2–4 months of age, they can take a small corporeality of fruit juice, such every bit 100-percent prune or apple juice. This juice may help treat constipation.

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

Notwithstanding, a parent or caregiver should non give fruit juice to a babe for the first time without consulting their pediatrician.

7. Taking a rectal temperature

When a baby is constipated, taking the baby'due south rectal temperature with a make clean, lubricated thermometer may help them pass stool.

It is important not to use this method very oftentimes, as information technology can make constipation worse. The baby may start not wanting to pass a bowel movement without aid, or they may brainstorm 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 motion should talk to the baby's physician.

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

  • infrequent stools that are non 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 blood-red blood in the stool
  • lack of ambition
  • 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 fifty-fifty looser.

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

At first, breastfed babies may laissez passer stool oftentimes since chest milk is easy to digest. Nonetheless, one time a baby is between 3 and half dozen weeks onetime, they may only laissez passer a large, soft stool one time a calendar week and sometimes even less.

Formula-fed babies tend to pass stool more oftentimes than breastfed babies. Most formula-fed babies will have a bowel movement at to the lowest degree one time a mean solar day or every other day. Even so, some formula-fed babies may become longer between bowel movements without being constipated.

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

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A doctor should appraise a babe with ongoing constipation.

It is advisable to telephone call a pediatrician if a babe has not passed a stool afterwards a twenty-four hour period or two and there are other signs present, such as:

  • blood in the stool
  • the infant seems to be irritable
  • the baby appears to have intestinal hurting
  • there is no comeback in the baby's constipation afterwards taking steps to treat it

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

  • laxatives
  • enemas
  • suppositories

People should never give these medications to a infant unless a physician prescribes them.

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

If symptoms do not meliorate, it is best to speak to the baby's pediatrician for additional strategies.

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