Discover Some Infant Constipation Remedies

What is infant constipation and what are some infant constipation remedies

What is constipation? Constipation basically means infrequent or hard stools. What is does not mean is grunting and straining. Now your baby may do these things while having a bowel movement, it does not mean that they are constipated.

The function of the colon is to remove water from the stools. If it did not we would dehydrate and die. That is the reason that when someone has diarrhea, they can become dehydrated quickly and it is important to put the water back into their system. When you have diarrhea, the cannot properly reabsorb the stool water back into their bloodstream.

On the other hand if the fecal matter remains in the colon to long, to much water is removed from the stool and it will leave the stool hard and excessively dry. It is as simple as that.

Learning more about infant constipation remedies

Most of the time breast fed babies are never really constipated. The reason for this is because breast milk has such a low amount of residue. Most of the milk is absorbed by the baby and is used. When the baby has a bowel movement you will find mostly unabsorbed protein curds and bowel secretions, which is mostly mucus. Now you will get a lot of noisy gas. Now these infrequent bowel movements don’t indicate infant constipation. They are just infrequent stools.  So there is no need to worry about infant constipation remedies when babies are being breast fed, for the most part anyways.

Now as the months progress and the breast fed infants start to eat solids, they can become constipated. It is really when your baby becomes a toddler and is pretty much on solid foods and drinking cow milk that constipation can really occur. Breastfed infants tend to save up after the first few months and poop less often. And this can start to worry parents. They want their little infant to have a bowel movement at least twice a day.

When the baby does start to have regular bowel movements, there can be some grunting and straining. That is because the rectum is contracted. This has to be stretched over time and this happens when the infant starts to have a few bowel movements. Because the baby has weak, abdominal muscles, he or she must push against this tight anal sphincter. This is when you have the red-faced grunting infant.

Some cures for constipation in infants and infant constipation remedies

If the infant is having a hard time and is truly constipated then you need to take them to the doctor’s. The cure for this problem of the tight anus can be as simple as a simple rectal exam with a well lubricated pinky finger. This infant constipation remedy usually works.  This will ensure that there is no problems and also can cure the problem and the baby will start to have a bowel movement because the rectum has been stretched. Now if one treatment does not do the trick, you can bring the infant back in and the doctor can perform this same procedure again. Pretty soon the anal sphincter is stretched and there is no more straining and grunting.

Another cure for infant constipation and this can be for bottle fed babies and not breast fed. Karo syrup can help infant constipation and work fantastic and this is another infant constipation remedy. Now there has been debate about the use of Karo syrup, so you can read this for more information:

Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Volume 4,Number 3,September 2003: “Pediatric neurologic potpourri: cases to remember”

But to help with infant constipation you can start with 2 teaspoons of the corn syrup in each feeding. Now to much can cause diarrhea, so you need to adjust this as necessary. If the stools are to loose, reduce the amount of corn syrup. Make the necessary changes.

Infant constipation, orange juice, prune juice

Certain types of fruit juices can help with constipation of your infant. For example prunes, apple juice, apricots are very rich in sorbitol. This is a non digestible sugar that will pass through the body to the colon. It causes water to be retained or drawn into the stool. This method of fruits can be increased into the diet to help to loosen stools and relieve or even prevent constipation.

Some myths about infant constipation

What if you have iron in the formula will this cause infant constipation? The answer is no way. The tiny amount that is in formula’s does not cause any problems.

Another myth is to increase the amount of water the baby is drinking. This is not going to work, because it is not the body that needs the water it is the colon. To little water retention in the stool, not the body. You need to increase the amount of fiber or some chemical substance like sugar (Karo syrup) to retain the water in the stool. If you just increase the amount of water the baby is drinking it is going to end up in the diaper as urine.

So there are some examples of infant constipation remedies. I hope those help. Some of this information was used from: http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/C/constipation_infant.html . Check this reading out if you would like more information on this.

Other reading on infant constipation remedies are:

http://infantconstipationrelief.com/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infant-constipation/AN01089

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/karo-syrup-for-constipation/AN01826

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