Constipation in Newborn Babies: Reasons and Solutions

Why Do Newborn Babies Have Constipation?

There are many causes seen when a baby is constipated. In short, there are two categories in which it is divided. The first one is functional constipation, which can be easily cured with the help of conditioning, and the second one is constipation due to congenital intestinal malformations. The second type cannot be treated by general exercise, and surgery is required. Usually, in infants, the majority is functional constipation. 

Neonatal Functional Constipation

Feeding artificially: There is more calcium in milk that babies can easily consume, but the artificially one can cause dry stool and constipation. 

Inappropriate milk supply: If the mother is consuming supplements or vomiting frequently, it can lead to constipation in babies. As the neonatal muscular layer of their digestive tract is not maintained, it leads to constipation and can cause vomiting. These are normal if the weight of the baby remains the same. 

Diet of mother: Whatever the mother will eat will indeed impact the baby to some extent, and eating food full of spice can lead to indigestion. 

Other factors: Some factors include habits to survive, changes in the surroundings or mental stimulation in babies can often lead to mild constipation.

Newborns Suffering From Intestinal Malformations And Constipation

Surgical illness: Some malformations are:

• Tumor compression of the cauda equina nerve
• Sacrococcygeal spine Bifida meningocele,
• Intestinal stenosis,
• Intestinal malrotation,
• Intestinal atresia,
• Hirschsprung’s disease,
• Congenital anus, and many more.

There is also severe vomiting and abdominal distention, which needs to be treated as soon as possible. 

Also, many babies are secretive just after they are born, and this can be due to genetics. There are diseases like anal stenosis or congenital muscle weakness.

Symptoms Seen In Newborn Suffering From Constipation

There is a bowel movement observed in infants and young babies for about 1 to 2 times in a day, and the stool passed is also soft comparatively. Babies often suffer from general constipation which can be indicated by difficulty in passing stool for few days. Moreover, if the baby is facing abdominal distention, pain, or vomiting, so you must take the baby to get examined from the hospital.

1. Meconium

If it is not present after the birth of the baby, it is diagnosed that a baby is suffering from congenital malformation of the digestive tract which leads to fecal obstruction, and it might need to get treated as soon as possible.

If the time duration exceeds to 36 hours, then it has been observed that there is no meconium present which is an alarming condition. You need to see if the baby is suffering from congenital gastrointestinal malformations or some related disorder.

2. Normal stool

A Baby is Constipated if the bowel movements exceed to 48 hours. Often babies have poor bowel movement just after the birth. They have it every 2 to 3 days, and they feel discomfort in passing the stool, and this lead to mood swings in the baby. As the stool is hard and dry, they feel it hard to defecate which can also leads to defecation to pass stool and that can cause a vicious circle.

Usually, babies come across functional constipation that the parents overlook and this often leads to worsen the situation. The symptoms seen in babies suffering from constipation are:

• Loss of appetite
• Bloating
• Abdominal pain
• Sleep disturbance.

The frequency of defecation varies from baby to baby. There are babies who defecate many times in a day while some only once in a day. If the stool is normal, the baby is responding to everything properly, and the weight of the baby is normal too then there is nothing to worry about. Keep a check on your babies stool, especially when they are on breastfeed milk. There is no need to use the interval of the two bowel movements. The length, hence, is helpful in diagnosing severe conditions for constipation.

How to Take Control Over Baby Constipation?

1. Breastfeed the baby multiple times: Because breastfeed prevents the baby from having constipation. If baby faces constipation; give him some sugary food such as Soft chocolate, toffee, honey, etc

2. Massage the abdomen carefully: Start the massage from the lowest side of the abdomen, and when you touch the chord, massage from upside to lowest side to eject the stool smoothly.

3. Massage the anus of the baby with the proper method: Take warm water and make the anus relax. Else, use your fingers to massage the anus carefully, which can relax the muscles and help babies bowel parts. Adhere to passive exercises: mothers should insist on passive gymnastics for the baby to increase the abdominal muscles’ strength and facilitate defecation.

4. Make your baby do flexing exercises: The majority of parents leave their baby lie on the bed for 24 hours per day and not turning them frequently. Many parents let their babies lie flat on the bed 24 hours a day and dare not turn them. Hence, the baby is always in a supine place that is not accurate for the initial intestines, and the babies who remain the same way are the main targets of constant constipation. For such babies’ parents are requested to change the baby’s position at least thrice a day. They are mainly making the child move their heads slowly and massage the tummy with warm oil.

5. Treating with Chinese formula: Chinese traditional medicine is used to take off all the inner body heat from the baby body. Hence it moist and removes all toxic acids from the inner intestines. Therefore it should be used under the supervision of Doctors. 

6. Make your baby drink enough water: You should mainly focus on making your baby drink plenty of water as it removes all the dryness from the stomach and inner tubes. Hence it promotes digestion. 

7. Artificial laxative: Use paraffin oil, corkscrew, small soap bars, etc. to lax, and train bowel habits at the same time (but this artificial laxative method cannot be used frequently to prevent the baby from becoming dependent. Only when the baby is severely constipated use).

8. Laxative Methods: Give your baby a massage

Laxative massage:

• Make your four fingers of your right hands in the same posture.
• Make a circle softly umbilical cord.
• Massage with gentle pressure.

This will help in digestion plus will stop constipation as well.

Soap bar laxative method: Cut your soap in a pencil’s size, but soap bar length should be at least 3cm. Use soap to cut into a pencil thickness, moist its water, and inject into baby’s anus. This will also relax the baby’s constipation too, as it nurtures the intestinal wall.

Salted radish strips laxative method: Sharp the radish strip into the size of a pencil strip. Make it soaked with the salted warm water.

Kaisailu laxative method: Insert Kaisailu into the rear-end of babies, through which the fluid can completely overcome intestinal peristalsis and mellow stools to accomplish the best laxative impact. Be that as it may, Hence this technique should be implemented vice versa.

Glycerin suppository laxative method:

1. Wash your hands.
2. Open the wrapper of the cone-shaped glycerin suppository.
3. Slowly insert it into the baby’s anus.
4. Gently press the anus.
5. Wait as long as possible to make the glycerin suppository melt fully before defecation.

Effects of Constipation in Newborns

Intractable constipation: Like breastfeeding the babies who eat little and have a dry and small amount of stool ejection comparing with normal baby, well if the diet is insufficient, this may lead to very severe constipation, and the stool can’t give relief to the baby but a swelling

The Unbearable circle: After constipation occurs, the stool will be dry and hard, and the hard and dry stool will stimulate the anus to produce pain and discomfort. The baby is afraid of defecation and does not dare to defecate hard for a long time. This makes the stool in the intestines drier and more severe constipation symptoms.

Health problems: Constipation caused by malformation may affect the baby’s life and lead to death.

What Should be the Diet for Newborns?

Hence when the baby is having constipation, firstly it should be appropriately consulted and authentically because When a newborn baby is constipated, the cause of constipation must first be found out because different constipations types have different categories of symptoms; like for example, the baby doesn’t feel willing to eat, vomiting when you give something to eat. However, the solutions make him eat soft things.

Hence the improper sugar can lead to very painful constipation. Secondly, as mentioned above, mothers are supposed to increase breastfeeding and make the baby take more warm water, stimulating the stomach and intestines.

How to Stop constipation in Babies?

1. Remaking the diet chart: Breastfeeding is mainly guided in the diet. Mothers who are breastfeeding should primarily focus on the average and stomach-friendly diet. It is not advised to have the high protein such as eggs, chicken and meat, etc. mothers should gain vitamins as much as possible, such as fruits, veggies, and stuff.

2. Fed with artificial products (packed foods): babies are prone to constipation. You should carefully decrease the amount of milk; hence water intake should be fair enough.

3. Children with malnutrition should strengthen nutrition, strengthen physical strength, thicken the abdominal wall and intestinal wall, and increase the tension, thereby improving constipation symptoms.

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