Jul 9, 2018

Dr. Cindy Gellner: Today, I'm going to give you the poop on poop. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner, and that'south today on The Telescopic.

Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering "The Good for you Kids Zone" with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.

Dr. Cindy Gellner: I get asked about constipation a lot, similar, at least several times a day. There are a lot of parents that are actually worried about their children'southward bowel movements. Are they normal? Are they not normal? Are they besides hard? Are they too soft? How many days can you go between a bowel motion?

Newborn & Baby Constipation

The bottom line is it depends on your individual kid. A breastfed babe can poop anywhere from several times a day with every feeding to once a week with a huge blowout. Formula fed babies can poop every unmarried twenty-four hours to in one case every iii to four days. Some babies poop like toothpaste. Some babies poop like water. The bottom line is everyone's digestive system is a footling fleck different, simply information technology's ane affair that consistently comes up. Every unmarried twenty-four hour period somebody has concerns about poop, and especially they take concerns about constipation.

What Is Constipation in Kids?

Constipation means that a child is not pooping as oftentimes as they should or the stools are actually, really hard. Sometimes, you'll even see blood on the toilet paper or on the stools themselves. That's true constipation.

Going for a day or ii fifty-fifty without a bowel motility is non unusual. Unremarkably, kids who are constipated will strain really difficult. They'll be in a lot of pain.

Dyschezia

Let me tell you, babies have something called dyschezia, and that literally ways painful pooping. Babies cannot coordinate the muscles that demand to get the poop out, so they grunt, they plough red trying to go it out. That'southward not constipation.

Babies usually will practise that and and so yous'll have a normal bowel movement in their diaper. Babies can't create enough pressure to get the poop out unless they brand all those noises and everything. By the fourth dimension they become to be virtually a yr onetime they figure out how to practice it without all that racket.

That'due south ordinarily nil to worry well-nigh unless y'all find that the baby has difficult rocks in their diaper or there's claret. Either of those things you lot demand to talk to your pediatrician virtually.

Older kids, there are a lot of reasons why older kids may not poop similar you lot recollect. 1 of the biggest ones I hear is the kids don't want to poop at schoolhouse. It'southward kind of weird to poop in a strange toilet that'south not at your house.

A lot of kids will really hold it. Property your bowel movements is not a good thing. That actually creates more than constipation. The longer the stool sits in the large intestine, the more time information technology has for water to come out of it, the more hard your stool gets. The more difficult your stool gets, the harder it's going to be to get out.

Some kids actually get backed upward then much where there's so much hard stool in their colon that the soft, liquidy stool that hasn't made it yet to the large intestine volition actually seep effectually the difficult rock stool and come out every bit liquid. Your child may think they accept diarrhea. You may be thinking that they have sideslip marks or they're having accidents in their pants.

The bottom line is they're actually super constipated, and usually your pediatrician is going to be able to pick that up with merely feeling their belly. If demand be, they can do an 10-ray of their belly to see just how full they are. That volition assist determine how aggressive they need to get a clean out.

If yous have a child who is having hard stools, blood in their stools, their belly is hurting, they're not going for three or more days, what can y'all practice?

Constipation Treatment

The first matter you can do is brand their stool softer. For babies over the historic period of 2 months old we recommend juice. The best juices are pear and prune. The matter is you lot're going to desire to talk to your pediatrician about how much prune juice or pear juice to give. Usually, I will tell people that they can give about 1 or 2 ounces. I usually say yous don't need to dilute it. You should just do that as needed. You shouldn't be doing that on an everyday basis.

Older kids, 1 of the biggest things y'all can do is help them accept intendance of something called the gastrocolic reflex. Thirty minutes after you consume, the new nutrient is trying to make its manner on down, and your brain tells your large intestines okay, time to get the old stuff, time to poop. So, 30 minutes after you're washed eating accept your child go sit on the toilet. That'southward when your body is going to want to have a bowel movement.

Consume More Cobweb, Beverage More Water, & Juices That Begin With P

For older kids yous're besides going to want to increase the fiber in their diets and as well increase how much water they're drinking. You lot may want to cut down on how much milk they're drinking, as well. Milk and cheese and those kinds of products tend to accept a constipating effect. The fruits that begin with P--peaches, pears, plums, and prunes--will brand y'all poop. You'll never forget that once again--peaches, pears, plums, and prunes will brand you poop.

If you are continuing to accept problems with bowel movements, or if you're noticing that at that place's a lot of blood that'southward on the toilet paper and your child keeps saying that their butt hurts, accept a look. They might have something chosen an anal crevice. Those are very common in kids, and the primary symptom is blood on the toilet newspaper. That'south from constant irritation from hard stools.

That tin be treated with making certain that they have soft bowel movements. They are little tears right in the very sensitive anal tissue. If they continue on and on they can crusade problems later on, and then brand sure that you lot aggressively treat the constipation then that they're going on a regular basis.

Constipation Medicine

In that location are a lot of medications out there, as well. Miralax is the one that I use the most and information technology's also the 1 that GI uses the most. That ane, it kind of sounds really gross, simply the best manner to describe it is a chemical that yous mix in with some water or juice--don't mix information technology with soda, it'll make a volcano--and you drink it.

You can adjust how much you have. It pretty much coats the large intestines. The stool pretty much slides on out. Information technology doesn't have every bit much time to sit down in the large intestine and become all the h2o taken out of information technology.

It is normal for your kid to have some intestinal cramps if they're actually on medicine to try and go out the poop when they're constipated. That'due south their intestines trying to push that stool out. That's normal. Rub their abdomen. Let them sit down and relax on the toilet for a picayune while. That'south okay.

If you're continuing to take a lot of problems with constipation, talk to your physician almost it. We ordinarily don't recommend enemas or suppositories unless they are really needed. Be sure that you lot talk to your medico about means that you lot can take your kid's constipation managed.

Information technology's a very common trouble and I see it a lot. Normally, kids who are constipated from a young age are going to have constipation problems for the bulk of their life. They acquire how to get a handle on it early on information technology will assistance them out a lot.

Announcer: Take a question about a medical procedure? Want to acquire more about a wellness condition? With over two,000 interviews with our physicians and specialists, in that location's a pretty good chance you'll find what you lot want to know. Check it out at TheScopeRadio.com.


updated: July 9, 2018
originally published: January 8, 2014

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