What are the signs of baby's constipation?

New parents certainly don’t know that babies have the “skill” of holding their stomachs. Many parents think their babies are constipated and panic. Don’t worry, maybe it’s not that serious. The baby is just holding his stomachs. Let me tell you some signs of holding stomachs and how to deal with your baby’s mischief.

What are the signs of a baby's stomachache?

1. No bowel movement for several days

With the increase of breastfeeding rate, babies may not defecate for 2-3 days, 4-5 days, or even 15 days without any pain. When they defecate, the stool is still yellow and soft, without hard lumps, and the amount is not particularly large. This phenomenon is called abdominal retention. Therefore, the most obvious sign of abdominal retention in babies is that they only defecate once every few days, and it is not difficult to defecate. If it is difficult to defecate, it is a constipation problem.

2. No crying, good mental state

It is a normal physiological phenomenon for babies to have a full stomach. As long as the baby does not cry and is in good spirits, there is no problem even if he does not defecate for a few days. This situation is just a full stomach. However, if the baby usually eats well and now suddenly refuses to drink milk or is unable to suck, or refuses to eat or eats less, there may be an infection. For example, peptic ulcer, chronic enteritis, tuberculosis, low liver function, parasitic diseases, ascariasis, hookworm disease, etc. may cause loss of appetite; zinc deficiency, vitamin A or D poisoning may also cause loss of appetite; babies with mumps will have fever, headache, vomiting, poor appetite and other symptoms of general discomfort 1-2 days before the parotid glands swell, followed by pain under one or both ears, that is, the parotid glands swell; when the baby has a fever, the appetite will also decrease.

3. Good sleep

Normal babies usually fall asleep quickly, sleep peacefully, sleep naturally, breathe evenly, and have a relaxed expression. The same should be true for babies who have a full stomach. There is no problem with sleeping when the baby has a full stomach. It is just that you will find that the baby's belly is very obvious when sleeping, which will not affect sleep. If the baby has abnormal phenomena such as less sleep, easy awakening, and restless sleep, it indicates that the disease is quietly occurring. Various pains, such as toothache, headache, and neuralgia, will make the baby sleep poorly at night. Itching, gastrointestinal diseases, or respiratory diseases will also wake the baby from sleep at night. If the baby is restless before going to bed, kicks the quilt during sleep, and has a red face and shortness of breath after waking up, this may be a fever; if the baby likes to scratch the anus with his hands before going to bed, it may be pinworm disease; if the baby often cries in sleep, sweats profusely after waking up, and is easily irritated at ordinary times, it may be rickets; chewing and grinding teeth constantly before and after going to bed may be too excited before going to bed or have roundworm infection.

What to do if your baby has a stomachache

1. Regular bowel movement

Because the "stomach retention" phenomenon usually begins to appear around 2 months, it is time to train your child to have a regular bowel movement (such as defecating in the morning and evening every day) so that your child can form good bowel habits early.

2. Drink plenty of water

For fat babies who have "full stomach", you can feed them some boiled water or vegetable or fruit juice between two feedings a day. Adding complementary foods after they are 4 months old can completely solve this bowel movement problem.

3. Increase milk supply

If the child's bowel movements decrease and weight gain is not ideal due to insufficient breast milk, you can give the child some formula milk in time; if the baby is more than 3 months old, you can also add a little rice soup, which can better improve the bowel movement.

4. Take radish seed water

Radish seeds are actually radish seeds. Wash them. You don't need to prepare them yourself. Radish seeds are a traditional Chinese medicine. You can buy them at a pharmacy or hospital. Wash them and fry them over a slow fire. After frying, grind them. Use 5 to 10 grams each time and rinse them with sugar and boiling water. Children generally like to drink it. After frying, it tastes more fragrant. You can use this to promote children's daily bowel movements. There are no side effects. It is still relatively good.

5. Stimulate anus for defecation

① Use your palm to gently rub the baby's abdomen, with the navel as the center, rotating from left to right and massaging 10 times, rest for 5 minutes, and then massage 10 times again. Repeat 3 times to facilitate defecation.

② Put the baby on his back, hold the baby's legs and do flexion and extension exercises, that is, stretch and flex once, a total of 10 times, and then flex and extend one leg 10 times. This will help the baby's intestinal peristalsis and facilitate defecation.

③ Twice a day, about 20 to 30 minutes after the baby feeds, apply an oily topical medication (such as chloramphenicol ointment) to the baby's anus, pad it with soft paper, gently push and press the anus, do it slowly 10 times, and the baby will usually feel the urge to defecate or have a bowel movement soon.

④ Dip a sterilized cotton swab in vegetable oil and gently insert it into the baby's anus to induce rectal defecation.

⑤ Vegetable oil method. Specific steps: Heat the vegetable oil and sterilize it. After the oil cools down, dip a sterilized cotton swab in the oil and insert it about 1 cm into the anus. Gently rotate it for a circle to stimulate the baby's anus and help defecation.

⑥ It is not recommended to use enema as it is said to cause dependence. You can try the soft soap bar method under the guidance of a doctor. Cut a small strip of soap, soak it in warm water, and gently and slowly insert it into the baby's anus.

Reasons for baby's stomachache

The main reason why babies hold their stomachs is that their digestive systems are constantly improving. At two or three months old, the digestive system of babies gradually improves. At this time, the digestive enzymes in the baby's gastrointestinal tract increase, intestinal motility increases, and becomes regular. The gastrointestinal absorption function has also changed greatly compared to when the baby was just born, and the digestion and absorption function has improved. The above improvements have reduced food residues, reduced stools, and changed the stool pattern. After the baby starts eating complementary foods, as the variety of food increases, the baby's intake of dietary fiber and other ingredients will also increase, and the stool pattern will change again, from once every few days to 1~2 times a day. This pattern will continue until the baby is two or three years old.

Add complementary foods gradually

1. When starting to add complementary foods: add larger particle foods such as iron-containing rice noodles, vegetable juice (pure), fruit juice (pure), fish puree, shrimp puree, poultry puree, livestock puree, rice porridge, mashed noodles, chopped vegetables, etc. on time, and gradually shift to a diet based on solid foods.

2. Babies over 1 year old: You can add appropriate coarse grains, such as corn flour, millet, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and other foods rich in dietary fiber.

3. Children aged 1 to 3 years: In addition to ensuring the daily intake of milk (breast milk and formula milk), it is not recommended to feed them with ordinary fresh milk directly, so as not to put a greater burden on the kidneys and intestines of the children. Daily meals need to choose nutritious and easily digestible foods, and strive for food diversity.