Signs Of Constipation In Babies
- Stools that are either large, hard and compact, or small and pellet-like.
- Bowel movements that are painful and associated with excessive straining, grunting and pain.
- Blood on the outside of the stools, often associated with a small tear on the outside of the rectum. This tear can cause pain and withholding, which worsens the constipation.
- Soiling between bowel movements.
Constipation among older babies is rarely a cause for serious medical concern. You should call your pediatrician, however, if your baby has gone more than three days without a bowel movement, is experiencing severe pain, or has experienced steady pain for more than two hours.
Foods That Can Cause Constipation
Alina Petre, MS, RD Atli Arnarson BSc, PhD
Constipation is a common problem thats generally defined as having less than three bowel movements per week .
In fact, as many as 27% of adults experience it and its accompanying symptoms, such as bloating and gas. The older or more physically inactive you get, the more likely you are to experience it .
Some foods can help relieve or reduce the risk of constipation, while others can make it worse.
This article examines 7 foods that can cause constipation.
Baby Constipation Its Heartbreaking When Baby Is Constipated
Your baby hasnt had a bowel movement for 3 or more days is this normal or is this constipation? Your babys infrequent bowel movements are hard and dry is this normal or is this constipation? Find answers to these questions and learn all about constipation and babies.
There are many causes of infant constipation. One of the most common causes of constipation in babies is the introduction of solid foods.
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More Fiber Equals Less Constipation
Eating a diet high in fiber is one way to limit your risk for constipation, according to MedlinePlus. Insoluble fiber, found in whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, is particularly beneficial for this purpose. This type of fiber adds bulk to your stool and traps water to make your stool softer. Because soft and bulky stools tend to move more easily through your digestive tract, eating oatmeal can help keep you regular so you don’t become constipated.
How Fiber In Oatmeal Affects Constipation
Oatmeal, like other grains, has a lot of soluble fiber.
Other good sources of soluble fiber include legumes , apples, carrots, and barley.
Like the name implies, soluble fiber dissolves into water in your body and cant be easily digested. In other words, it absorbs the water and bulks up, which typically improves pooping habits by having a pseudo laxative effect.
However, if youre blocked up, adding extra bulk can make you feel worse.
While oatmeal doesnt cause gas or constipation for most people, it is possible in some cases due to the high amount of soluble fiber.
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Research About Oats Soluble Fiber And Health
Current research supports that oats are generally quite good for your health :
Whole-grain foods such as oats may protect against colorectal cancer and have benefits on inflammatory bowel disease and coeliac disease.
In addition, soluble fiber has many benefits, including:
- Helping to control body weight
- Balancing cholesterol levels
Wonderful Benefits Of Oatmeal For Your Baby
When it comes to starting your baby on solid foods, you cant go wrong with oatmeal. It is a very nutritious food that is gentle on your babys digestive system and packed full of nutrients. Here are five wonderful benefits of oatmeal you should consider when you start feeding your child solid foods.
1. High in Fiber and Nutrients
Oatmeal contains high amounts of fiber, magnesium, iron and zinc. As your baby grows, they will need to eat foods that contain more nutrients and vitamins than those just found in breast milk, formula and cows milk alone. Oatmeal is a great way to introduce textures because the oats are soft, but still retain their structure. Oatmeal’s strong nutritional profile will aid in baby’s growth and development.
2. Gentle on Digestion
It is recommended for babies to start solid foods when they reach six months of age. Oats are a single grain food that are easy on your babys digestive system. They help promote fullness and a healthy appetite while preventing gas.
3. Prevents Constipation
Many babies tend to experience constipation when they start new foods. Oatmeal is a fiber-rich food that acts as a natural laxative to help prevent constipation. The fiber in oatmeal adds bulk to their stools to make the bowel movement process easier and gentler.
4. Blends Well With Other Foods
5. Promotes Health
Rice Cereal versus Oatmeal:
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Hint: It’s Sooner Than You Think
Feeding a baby is a tricky business. And while breast milk or formula should still be the main source of nutrients for babies aged 6 to 12 months, you can start to introduce your baby to solid foods around the 4-to-6-month mark.
But before you reach for the baby food, try introducing your little one to baby oatmeal cereal. Its one of the best places to start when weaning an infant off breast milk or formula since its easy to swallow, not too harsh on the tummy and full of iron and antioxidants.
Possible Side Effects Of Feeding A Baby Infant Oatmeal
18 December, 2018
Starting solid foods is an exciting milestone in a baby’s first year, but it involves many important decisions. You must decide when to begin giving your baby solids, how often to feed her and which foods to offer. Awareness of the possible side effects of infant oatmeal can help you decide whether to feed this food to your baby.
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Up Your Game And Your Digestion
Exercising about half an hour each day and drinking plenty of water at least eight glasses per day can also help keep you regular, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Don’t try to hold in your bowel movements go to the bathroom whenever you feel the urge. Otherwise, you may stop feeling this urge. Sometimes it helps to use the bathroom about 15 minutes to 45 minutes after you eat breakfast. Check with your doctor to see if any medications you are taking may be causing your constipation.
How To Know If Your Baby Is Constipated
Because every baby has a different poop schedule, only you can really make the judgment as to whether your baby is constipated or not. What you need to do is judge based on what is normal for YOUR baby. Does your baby usually poop 3 to 5 times a day, but now he or she is only pooping 1 to 2 times a day? On the other hand, maybe your baby usually poops once a day but it has been a few days. In both cases, your baby might be constipated.
The other way to tell is by looking at the poop! Take a look at it and see if it is unusually hard or dry, and also keep an eye on your baby’s behavior before he or she poops – do they look strained or in pain? If so, your baby might be constipated.
Paradoxically, there also might be cases when a constipated baby produces very watery poop, because the hard poop is clogging the passage in the lower intestine and the only thing that can get by is the watery stuff.
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Foods That Cause Constipation In Babies
When babies are introduced to solid food, their bodies undergo several changes. Although they are given solid food only after they are 6 months old, the digestive system takes time to get accustomed to it. If you observe that your babys bowels are hard, dry, and they experience pain while pooping, it may be a sign of constipation.
To prevent constipation, give your baby foods high-fiber foods like pears, plums, peaches, brown rice, oatmeal, and berries. Unlike low-fiber foods, they are not hard on your babys tummy. But, moderation is the key, as feeding your baby any food in excess can lead to problems with digestion.
Here are 6 foods that can lead to constipation in babies.
Constipation Woes How To Make Oatmeal The Right Way
Image: Shutterstock
It is important that you prepare oatmeal the right way to preserve its nutrition and ease constipation. Listed below are a few handy tips:
- Quantity Is The Key To make oatmeal enjoyable and easy to digest, use the right amount of water or milk. For steel-cut oats, use a cup of water to cook 1/4 cup of oats. For instant oats, using 1 cup of water for half cup oats should be fine.
- Experiment With The Base At times, you might want to explore different options to make the oatmeal tastier, especially when giving it to kids. You can use non-dairy beverages, such as coconut milk, to add variety and a unique flavor profile. Some people also pour in apple cider vinegar.
- Avoid The Milky Mess While making oatmeal with milk, some people end up creating a sticky mess. To avoid it, add some water to the pan. Heat it and add oats. After a while, pour some milk and add seasonings to it to make it smooth and creamy.
- Fruits And Nuts? Why Not! If your kids love nuts, you may add some chopped fresh nuts to the oatmeal to add to its taste and nutrient quotient. Get experimental and add frozen berries, dried fruits, sliced fruits, coconut flakes and toasted nuts. You can also use a small amount of applesauce. Your kids will surely not complain about the lack of flavor or taste. It is a good idea to roast or grind herbs like cinnamon and cardamom and sprinkle them on top of oats before serving.
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Is My Baby Constipated
For starters, parents need to determine if their baby is actually backed up. Constipation in newborns is fairly uncommon. Babies are on an all-liquid diet, so their food is more easily absorbed and digested, says Jennifer Shu, M.D., an Atlanta-based pediatrician and coauthor of Food Fights: Winning The Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and A Bottle of Ketchup.
On average, babies poop three to four times per day until they reach 4 months of age. That said, some infants will poop after every feeding, while others can go several days before releasing their bowels. So even though a prolonged absence of poop indicates constipation, it can be hard to determine this pattern in infants.
Another important thing to watch for is a soft stool consistency. Hard stool indicates that it’s staying in there longer than desired, Dr. Shu says. Other signs of constipation in babies include slight bleeding , making strained faces, a hard belly, and refusal to eat.
Signs Of Baby Constipation
So how can you know for sure if your babys constipated? After all, how many times your baby poops in a day changes as she grows. Its normal for older babies to go a few days without pooping, so how often your baby poops isnt always a great way to tell if shes constipated or not.
Or you may notice that your babys grunting and getting red-faced as he tries to poop. Does that mean constipation? Not necessarily. Your babys poop is becoming a little more compact now that hes eating solids, and that grunting and straining can simply be a sign that hes adjusting.
Here are some better indicators that constipation might be a problem:
- Hard, compact, infrequent stools. If your babys pooping only a few times a week, and the poop itself is hard and dry , then your little one may be suffering from constipation.
- Pain during pooping. Again, some grunting and straining can be normal, but if your babies cries in pain as she poops, that might mean shes constipated.
- Streaks of blood in or on the poop. Sometimes, the hard, dry poop your baby passes can actually cause small tears on his anus. If you notice any blood in his diapers, it may be because hes constipated.
- General fussiness and refusal to eat. This isnt the best indicator But if your baby seems cranky and unwilling to eat, AND she has any of the symptoms listed above, its likely shes suffering from constipation.
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This Is Especially Common When The Fiber Is Primarily Soluble Fiber Like That Found In Oatmeal Beans Apples Strawberries Or Blueberries
Does oatmeal cereal cause constipation in babies. Think fiber-rich cereals whole-wheat pasta and. Too much of any of these especially cereal could cause constipation in your baby. Too much of any of these especially cereal could.
May experience an increase in the frequency of their poops. Many babies tend to experience constipation when they start new foods. The fiber acts as a natural laxative and can help regulate healthy bowel movements.
Rice cereal is known to cause constipation. Many babies tend to experience constipation when they start new foods. Oatmeal is a fiber-rich food that acts as a natural laxative to help prevent constipation.
Baby cereal constipa. They help promote fullness and a healthy appetite while preventing gas. Babies can sometimes develop struggles when it comes to doing number two because of this while oatmeal is not known to cause any difficulties because it contains fiber.
Iron supplements are generally constipating even to adults. A person who suffers from constipation for a long time runs the risk of colliding with subsequent diseases not only of the stomach and intestines but also receiving huge harm to the whole body. The stools may also resemble digested food andor undergo a color change.
Oatmeal strengthens or weakens Constipation is a problem that often overtakes both an adult and a child. Do not give your baby enemas laxatives or suppositories unless you are told to do. Also Know how can I stop my babys diarrhea fast.
Pin On Food
Baby Throwing Up After Eating Oatmeal Cereal
Your baby may be experiencing vomiting after eating oatmeal cereal. Throwing up is not a good sign.
It may, as mentioned earlier, indicate an allergic reaction or FPIES. It may also be due to food intolerance, which is not the same as an allergy .
Regardless, you should probably stop feeding your baby oatmeal cereal until you can figure out the issue or altogether if they continue to throw up each time they eat oatmeal cereal.
Vomiting can lead to dehydration, which deadly for babies, and there exists the possibility that whatever the vomiting indicates may also be fatal for the baby.
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The Truth About Juice
Some sources suggest prune, pear, and apple juices help to increase the water content in poop and can ease constipation.
However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends steering clear of fruit juice for children younger than 1 year old. You can stick with these fruits as purées for similar effects.
What is it about prune juice? The high levels of sorbitol and phenolic substances in prune juice and dried plums act as a laxative and diuretic properties. So if your child is over 1 year old, you can use small amounts of prune juice to encourage their system to run.
If youre like most parents, youll be up for whatever you can try to help your baby get comfortable fast. Here are a few tricks that you can use to ease your babys constipation:
- Warm baths. These can relax those abdominal muscles and get them working.
- Exercise. Lay your baby on their back and push their legs alternately as if theyre cycling a bike. Alternatively, hold their knees and feet together and push their feet towards their belly.
- Massage. Use your fingertip to draw clockwise circles on your babys stomach.
If you see that despite your home remedies, your baby still is having hard stools or hasnt pooped after 2 or 3 days from their last hard stool, then contact your pediatrician. Especially if you consistently notice blood in their poop or your baby is extremely irritable and appears to be in pain.
Foods To Help Fight Constipation
OK, so a lack of bowel movements may not be your favorite topic, but pretty much everyone goes through it at one point or another. So let’s talk about it!
Constipation can occur for a variety of medical reasons, but more often than not, it is simply due to a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle. If youre regularly dehydrated, inactive or eat a high-processed food and low-fiber diet, you may experience a whole lot of constipation. If youre suffering from that crampy, bloated, stuck feeling, check out the foods below to help fill you up and go.
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Why Is My Baby Crying After Eating Oatmeal Cereal
Oatmeal is known as a healthy food, and oatmeal cereal has even been recommended as a food for babies who suffer from aid reflux. Oatmeal cereal also has the benefit of being gluten free, so that eliminates the possibility of stomach irritation or other health issues related to an undiscovered gluten allergy.
However, oatmeal cereal might not be good for all babies. If your baby is crying after eating oatmeal cereal, it might be due to a normal issue like needing a nap or it may be an indication of something more serious.
Your baby may be allergic to oats. An allergic reaction to oatmeal cereal can cause the baby stomach pain that causes him or her to begin crying.
Though oats are naturally gluten free, they can sometimes become contaminated by gluten during processing, triggering an allergic response to gluten. To mitigate this issue, makes sure to always purchase certified oats that are harvested and processed in wheat free facilities.
Your baby may also have developed gas or a tummy ache. Try burping the infant to expel the gases and encourage the bloating to subside.