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April 1, 2024
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How to deal with child constipation

Child constipation causes children to have difficulty with bowel movements, going to the bathroom infrequently or having hard, dry, painful stools when they leave. This problem, although very rarely a sign of any serious illness, requires parental attention as it has a strong impact on the quality of life of children.

There is great difficulty in identifying constipation in children, especially very young children, as many are unable to express symptoms or are ashamed to talk about it. Failure to identify constipation can aggravate the condition and require more drastic treatment.

In order to identify constipation, family members should be aware of both the frequency of fecal elimination and its appearance. Despite being an embarrassing situation for slightly older children, this attitude is critical to maintaining good health.

Causes Of Constipation In Children

Children usually develop constipation because they retain feces. Stool retention may seem like illogical behavior, but it is very common and its cause is perfectly explainable. Many children avoid going to the bathroom because:

They are having fun and do not want to interrupt play;
They are embarrassed to use the public toilet at a time when they are away from home;
They are stressed that they are learning to drop their diapers and use the bathroom;
They already have hard and dry stools, because they have an inadequate diet, and avoid evacuating for fear of pain during the action and that the stools cause injuries to the anus.

Symptoms of childhood intestinal constipation

Children with a trapped bowel have symptoms such as: evacuating infrequently or signaling pain during the process; have abdominal cramps; present postures that indicate they are holding stool? getting on your toes and then rolling back to your heels or tightening your buttock muscles; eliminate hard and dry stools; or soft-looking crap unexpectedly.

A common parental assessment mistake is for children who defecate with normal frequency but the stools are hard. Hard, dry stools should never be considered normal. Pediatric gastroenterologist Isaura Assumpção, from the Sabará Children's Hospital in São Paulo, explains: "If the child poops two or three times a day, but in a small volume, as if eliminating a bunch of hard balls, she has a bowel trapped."

Suddenly evacuating soft stools, contrary to what many parents may think, may also be a sign that the child is constipated, as the fact that the child postpones the evacuation can result in the formation of a large mass of hard stools in the rectum called fecaloma. may cause leaking of new moles that accumulate behind this mass.

Treatment for stuck bowel in children

Treatment for childhood constipation usually involves more changes in habits than medical intervention. Only in the most severe cases is there a need for suppositories or intestinal lavage.

Here are some changes that solve simple pictures of constipation in children:

Arrange meal times, minimum of six daily;
Never replace salty foods with milk, yogurt, juices and liquids in general;
Introduce healthy foods such as fruits, fruit salads, vitamins, natural juices into the child's diet;
Increase fiber intake through vegetables, for example;
Promote the intake of 8 to 10 glasses of water per day.

Having the help of a pediatrician is very important for your child's health and can help you make good dietary choices and practices for your child's routine and avoid simple but unpleasant problems such as child constipation.