Constipation In Infants and Toddlers

• Less frequent bowel movements than usual
• Hard, dry stools that are difficult for the baby to pass
• Discomfort, irritability, or crying during bowel movements
• A hard belly

• nausea
• abdominal cramping
• bloating
• upset stomach
• gas
• dizziness
• increased sweating

• 1 tsp dried Cascara Sagrada bark
• 1 tsp dried Chamomile flowers
• 1 tsp dried Peppermint leaves
• 2 cups of water

1. Bring water to a rolling boil.
2. Add Cascara Sagrada, Chamomile, and Peppermint.
3. Let it steep for about 10 minutes.
4. Strain, pour into your cup, let cool, and add four drops or 1/16th of a teaspoon to a bottle or food. You want to go slowly to the child’s tolerance as Cascara Sagrada can cause cramping, and there is little to do other than wait if this happens.

• Hydration: Extra water can help soften stools for infants not exclusively breastfed. Breastfeeding more often may increase hydration.
• Redmond’s Real Salt: Just a pinch in their food or bottle
• TummyGize is diluted and tubbed on the belly clockwise around the belly button.
• Warm Baths with Epsom Salts can relax your baby’s abdominal muscles, helping them pass stools more easily. Please make sure you purchase non-fragrance high-grade Epsom salts for your child. Dissolve the salt thoroughly before letting your child in the bath. Use no more than 2 cups of Epsom salt per bath, no more than 2-3 times a week.

• Pears, Prunes, and Peaches: These fruits can help to soften the stool. Offer them pureed or mashed, depending on your baby’s stage with solids.
• Vegetables: Pureed peas and carrots add necessary fiber and are easy for babies to digest.

Food that can add to constipation:

• Never Give Bananas: This one may surprise you, but bananas are very constipating to the gut and contain over 1/2 the sugar a child needs daily. Replace with avocado.
• Wheat and packaged foods: In some cases, wheat can cause the colon to shut down, creating hard balls that are difficult to pass. Packaged foods often contain additives that are too much for a growing infant.

• Leg Bicycling: Lay your baby on their back and gently move their legs in a bicycling motion. This exercise can help relieve gas and stimulate the intestines.
• Tummy Time: While tummy time is primarily used to strengthen the baby’s neck and shoulder muscles, it also gently presses the baby’s stomach, which can help promote bowel movement.
• Belly Massage: Gentle clockwise motions around the navel can stimulate bowel movements.

Chiropractic care improves overall health and benefits people of all ages, including infants. Regarding infants, chiropractic care is tailored to be extremely gentle and non-invasive. Here’s how chiropractic care can potentially help babies, especially in relieving certain discomforts and promoting wellness:

• Colic Relief: One of the most common reasons parents seek chiropractic care for their infants is colic. Colic is characterized by prolonged periods of intense, unexplained fussing and crying in a healthy baby. Chiropractic adjustments may help reduce colic symptoms by improving gut function and calming the nervous system, which could help the baby relax.
• Improved Sleeping Patterns: Misalignments or subluxations in the spine can cause discomfort and may disrupt the baby’s sleep. Gentle adjustments can help realign the baby’s spine, leading to more comfortable sleep patterns. Parents often report that their babies sleep better after a chiropractic session.
• Support Digestive Health: Chiropractic adjustments might also help alleviate issues like constipation and reflux. The theory here is that correcting spinal alignment makes the nervous system function more effectively, which is crucial for the gastrointestinal system’s performance. Gentle adjustments to the spine and pelvis often allow the infant to eliminate quickly, usually right in the office following the adjustment, and reduce acid reflux.
• Enhanced Development: Regular chiropractic care can support an infant’s overall mobility and health as they grow. Proper alignment can aid in achieving developmental milestones like rolling over, crawling, and walking. It’s also thought that maintaining good spinal health helps ensure the nerves can transmit messages clearly and without interference, potentially supporting optimal development.
• Ease Breastfeeding Challenges: Some infants have difficulty latching due to tension or discomfort in the neck and spine. A chiropractor can gently relieve this tension and help improve neck mobility, making breastfeeding smoother for both the mother and baby.

Complications To Be Aware Of: Megacolon is characterized by an abnormally large, dilated, and sometimes less responsive colon. This enlargement of the colon can lead to severe constipation and other complications.

Two primary forms of this condition can affect young children:

• Congenital Megacolon (Hirschsprung’s Disease): Hirschsprung’s disease is a congenital condition, meaning it is present at birth. Children who have this are often diagnosed quickly. It occurs when specific nerve cells, known as ganglion cells, are absent in a segment of the bowel. These cells are crucial because they help control the muscle contractions that move food through the intestines. Without these cells, colon sections cannot contract properly, leading to a buildup of stool and dilation of the colon.
• Symptoms of Hirschsprung’s disease usually appear shortly after birth and can include:
  • Failure to pass meconium shortly after birth
  • Chronic constipation
  • Swollen belly
  • Vomiting
  • Poor feeding and slow growth
• Acquired Megacolon: Most common in toddlers, acquired megacolon can occur due to chronic constipation, where prolonged stool retention creates enlargement and dysfunction of the colon. Over time, the muscles of the colon wall can become overstretched and weakened, making it challenging to push stool through the colon effectively. This condition might also be associated with an underlying illness or a side effect of certain medications. Using foods and the suggestions above is fantastic for relieving this. The trick is to keep the stool soft and easy to eliminate – if it hurts, especially newly potty-trained babies, they don’t want that, so they will hold it, creating the megacolon. Be prepared for more accidents, and that’s ok! We want their stool to be soft and easy to eliminate.

When to Consult a Doctor: While constipation is usually not severe, it’s essential to consult your health provider if:

• Your baby seems excessively uncomfortable or in pain
• There are changes in the baby’s eating habits or a decrease in appetite
• The constipation lasts for more than a week or recurs frequently
• There is blood in your baby’s stool