Young mummies attentively look at the bowel movements of the long-awaited first-born child to make sure that their diet is correct and the baby’s health.
Diarrhea in infants causes a lot of trouble and causes well-founded concerns among parents. However, another reaction of the fragile organism of the baby is no less dangerous - constipation in newborns is quite a common problem, causing a bitter cry and anxiety of the baby.
Normal stool in the newborn
The first days of life the vast majority of newborns eat healthy and tasty mother's milk. Normally, the baby poops as many times a day as he gets his mouth-watering “lunch”. Indicators of normal stool include:
- consistency - mushy and homogeneous, resembling semolina porridge;
- color - most often yellow, can be with a brownish shade or a slight admixture of green;
- smell - sour-milk, without stench;
- the process of bowel movements - without tension, effort and crying.
In babies who are forced to be artificially fed from the first days of life, the chair is slightly different - it is thicker, the color is darker, and it has a characteristic feces odor.
Signs of newborn constipation
Reducing the number of bowel movements may depend on the mom's menu and should not cause concern. However, some signs may indicate a disruption in the normal functioning of the intestinal tract of a newborn:
1. the baby did not coca more than a day;
2. usually insatiable, the little man stubbornly refuses from his mother's breast;
3. The baby often cries, does not sleep well, is anxious and has little legs;
4. Fecal matter is hard, sometimes mixed with blood, and the process goes with crying and hard.
These signs indicate that the baby is constipated and needs help.
The most common causes of constipation in newborns
The factors affecting the functioning of the intestines of the baby are many, and caring mom should try to correctly determine the true cause of constipation:
- the transition from breastfeeding to artificial - this type of mixture or any supplements may not be suitable for the baby. A high iron content, for example, can cause stool retention;
- Wrong mother's diet - foods such as rice, bananas, nuts, flour products, cocoa are quite capable of causing constipation in the toddler;
- forced nursing mother's intake of drugs such as papaverine, no-spa, drotaverin, sorbents, antibacterial agents and some others. In case of need of use of medicines, the obligatory advice of the doctor regarding the choice of the most benign remedy is needed;
- insufficient amount of water during bottle-feeding.
Having found out the cause of the occurrence of an unpleasant illness, it is much easier to cope with it and save the little one from suffering. Some experts cite, among others, some psychogenic causes of constipation. One of them is a forced separation from mother, with whom the new little man spent in close contact for nine months. Therefore, the baby should be more likely to take on his hands, and not to give him time only during feeding. Young mummies, because of their inexperience, require much more time for homework. However, communication with the baby, his health and psychological state - what could be more important than this after the birth of a new family member?
What is the danger of constipation in a newborn
There are plenty of reasons for concern in establishing this diagnosis in a small patient - it is important not only to restore normal bowel movements, but also to cleanse the body, since toxic poisoning by decomposition products causes a lot of trouble. Hyperexcitability, restless sleep, anxiety are only external manifestations of intoxication. Sometimes the poisoning of the body is accompanied by vomiting, which, in turn, threatens with dehydration.
The inability to get rid of the accumulated fecal masses leads to their significant compaction, and an attempt to poop turns into a real test for the little ones. In addition to the pain experienced, there is a real risk of injury to the mucous membrane, the formation of cracks and the occurrence of hemorrhoids. Often constipation is accompanied by swelling of the tummy, which causes additional suffering to the newborn.
Feasible help mom with constipation in a newborn
If this problem occurs for the first time, you can try to help the little sufferer. Relieves the pain of a gentle massage of the abdomen in a clockwise direction. To make it better after eating, my mother's hand should be warm. With colic and gas formation can be given dill water. A good way to awaken the activity of the intestines is the exercise "bike", as well as a bath with warm water. Attention! In no case, on the advice of "experienced" grandmothers, you can not use soap as a laxative agent. It irritates the tender mucous of the child and can cause a strong inflammatory process, bleeding and the appearance of sores. If constipation does not cause discomfort to the baby, do not calm down and rely on chance - it is simply necessary to consult a doctor.
What else can mom do to avoid such situations and make life easier for her karapuziku? Experienced doctors advise:
- Immediately remove from your diet medications and products that can cause constipation. To replace undesirable dishes, you can include porridge, delicious salads from vegetables and fruits with olive oil, prunes, dried apricots, yoghurts and kefir in the menu, add dill and parsley whenever possible;
- drink more, the required volume of liquid - at least one and a half liters. If the baby is fed artificially, do not forget to give him some water;
- quite possibly, the problem has a psychogenic background. It is necessary to take the child into the hands more often, this will help ease his condition;
- it is extremely undesirable to abruptly abandon breastfeeding or change the mixture - it is better to do it gradually.
It is necessary to remember - medicines, if you can’t do without them, only a doctor should prescribe, and folk remedies for constipation in newborns can give a completely unpredictable result. Any laxatives do not solve the problem, treatment should be comprehensive and be prescribed by a pediatrician. Success depends on the timeliness of seeking help, so do not be tormented by doubts and postpone a visit to the pediatrician. After all, the crumb is so vulnerable and needs timely support!
What does Dr. Komarovsky say
According to Dr. Komarovsky, congenital anomalies are rarely enough to cause constipation in a newborn, however, if there are persistent problems with emptying the baby’s intestines, they should be excluded only after being examined by a specialist. Most often the presence of the two most common diseases:
- Hirschsprung disease - the absence of nerve receptors in the walls of the colon is the cause of a serious violation of peristalsis;
- dolichosigmoid - the sigmoid colon is significantly elongated and has an extra loop.
These defects are not always amenable to conservative treatment and sometimes it is necessary to apply the surgical method. But, fortunately, they are so rare that the correction of the diet in most cases will be the best prevention of constipation for your child.
