Constipation in babies and How I deal with it.

Posted On March 18, 2017

The day when my baby turned 6 months old, I introduced her first solid food. Within few weeks she began to show discomfort such as straining, turning her face red, crying while passing the poop and having few bowl movements (once or twice in a week), then I realised she might have constipation. So, I consulted with my health visitor about her situation and they said it is common with babies during their first solid intake so there is nothing to worry about. But the situation did not seem to settle and got worse as day passed by. We visited GP, hospitals and even emergency 111 services due to her severe discomfort and less bowl movement.

She used to spit out most of her meal when we feed her and showed no interest to eat. It not only made her upset but also hungry at the night-time. I used to cluster feed her at night-time and feed her on demand at day time so I was always left tired.

Home Remedies?

I am a first time mother so I have little or basically no knowledge when it comes to anything to do with babies and their wellbeing at first. I used to take advice from my families and relatives most of the time which I am very blessed of. It helped me a lot dealing with lot of issues regarding her sickness, wellbeing and her overall health.

These are few helpful suggestions I received from my families:

While straining, hold her both legs to her chest and put her in the middle of your thighs and press her tummy with her legs for a few minute and release. Repeat this process for few more minutes until she is done. However, you have to make some sound when pressing her legs so that she understands what’s coming.
To apply vaseline in the rectum area every time when you change her nappy.
To give her lukewarm water for the drink.
To include Green Lentil soup in her diet.

These are few home remedies I can remember and also there is an Ayurvedic medicine called Triphala powder (combination of 3 fruits, Harro, barro and Amala) that works if the baby is older than 1 year. But I would recommend you to first consult with your doctors before giving it to your baby.

What Doctors recommended?

At first, doctors recommended to give her diluted orange juice, diluted prune juice, fibre rich veggies and fruits which are basically home remedies so I used to make her prune puree, diluted orange juice for drink and all sort of fibre rich fruits and veggies which actually worked few times.

Doctors even prescribed her Lactulose which is a medicine used in the treatment of constipation for all ages. The dosage recommended for her was 25ml twice a day everyday right after the meal. It seemed to work at first but again not long enough to cure. I stopped giving her completely when she began to threw up her meal every time after having the medicine. So, basically the medicine was not working for her.

One day, in an emergency visit, Doctors inject suppository called Relaxit in her bottom and taken out whole lot of poop that she was holding for a long time. It did comfort and ease her but only for few days.

So basically, even after all these efforts, nothing seemed to work well enough. Instead, she would hold back until it becomes harder for her to poop. We even tried putting her suppository few times to ease her a bit but it’s effect was not long-lasting.

So, What I did?

So, the big question is what did I do?

The answer was simple for me and that was to stop giving her any medications and any sort of suppository because it would not only discourage her to try but also make her dependent on the medication from very young age.

So with her I tried to stick to home remedies for a month or so to see if that would work. At that period of time I gave her diluted prune and orange juice, mixed prunes with breakfast cereals, mixed lentils with rice and fibre rich vegetables, gave her lukewarm water to drink, massaged her tummy every night after a bath, included enough exercises in her day-to-day activities and kept her hydrated all the time. Gradually, she started to show positive results day by day.

So, when I less bothered about it, the more positive results I got eventually. Hence, the point is, you just have to do what is best for your babies and trust your own instinct, that way it will be long gone on its own. Nowadays, she has a regular bowl movement and shows no strain or pain. However, sometimes she get constipated, which I think is totally fine because these thing happens and I take it as a learning process for her because at the end of the day she has to learn it on her own. As a mother’s duty, encourage her, feed her nutritious food and do whatever is right during those difficult period, and eventually everything will turn out well.

So, don’t worry too much moms, I have been there and know how difficult it is to see you little one suffer. I have done whatever I could because I was scared and worried too. However, I suggest you do what your instinct says, and try natural remedies first in hand, and see if it works, if it doesn’t, then seek help, visit GPs for advice then only put her on medication as a last resort. It worked with my baby and hope it works for yours too. Be positive and never lose hope.

♥ Much Love ♥