Constipation in the newborn
Newborns should evacuate several times a day, if more than a day goes by without doing so we must remedy their constipation.
That our baby suffers constipation in his first days of life, is something very common, this is due to the type of feeding , since they are only nourished with breast milk or formula milk adapted to newborns, being in these cases more frequent than in breast milk, which tend to have more liquid stools.
The first thing to keep in mind is that the number of times our newborn evacuates will be closely related to how active he is. The most active babies tend to deposit their waste more times than those who are calmer or sedentary. This is because body movement favors intestinal transit and therefore there will be a greater number of stools than in a baby that moves less, so it will suffer more from constipation.
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HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BABY IS CONSTIPATED?
Knowing when our baby is constipated, sometimes becomes complicated since he cannot tell us with words how he feels . The first symptom that warns us that our newborn is constipated is his condition. Normally he begins to show restless, nervous, uncomfortable. If the thing goes further, he will begin to move his legs constantly, and to make efforts, making gestures of pain and sometimes you will see it very red. This is due to gas and the pain in your stomach caused by not depositing your waste properly.
The normal frequency of bowel movements for a newborn is one to several times a day, which decreases as the newborn grows. During the first months of life, it is normal for our baby to have a bowel movement several times a day and this will have a yellowish appearance, being very common for them to do so after each feeding.
WHAT TO DO IF MY BABY IS CONSTIPATED?
In the case that we suspect that our baby is constipated because we find him quite restless and we also see that he has not made a bowel movement in his diaper for several days , it is best to go to the doctor so that he can tell us what we should do to resolve this situation.
Apart from the treatment that our pediatrician sees necessary so that our newborn child is relieved of constipation, we can resort to certain home remedies that will help our baby to feel much better in this situation, such as giving small and soft massages in the belly of the child, for this we will begin the massage in the navel continuing to make outward circles in a clockwise direction. We can also give you a bath with warm water, which will help you relax, while we perform the massage described above, since the state of relaxation helps to deposit waste.
On the other hand, another of the remedies that has many positive effects is to lie on his back and while we hold his legs move them in circles again quickly. This will help your intestine to accelerate its movement and therefore, it will accelerate the intestinal transit and will also help to exert pressure on your intestine that will help the stool fall.
Applying a little petroleum jelly or olive oil with a cotton swab or a sprig of parsley to the hole of the anus can also help stimulate it. If you want to use glycerin suppositories to soften your stool , it is best to consult your pediatrician before doing so.
Keep in mind that there are some home remedies, such as inserting a thermometer in the baby’s bottom can be very harmful since it can create infections and injuries to our little one. Listening to the pediatrician’s recommendations is always a benefit for our baby, since although resorting to these home remedies that our parents have always used for us and for our siblings, it does not mean that they are the best way to alleviate cases of constipation, since some diseases and some injuries could originate that would affect our baby very seriously.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.