constipation in infants karo syrup
Constipation in Children â Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Constipation refers to infrequent or hard stools, or difficulty passing stools. Constipation may involve pain during the passage of a bowel movement, inability to pass a bowel movement after straining or pushing for more than 10 minutes, or no bowel movements after more than 3 days. Infants who are still exclusively breastfed may go 7 days without a stool. Infants and children with constipation are treated differently than adults because patterns of bowel movements change from the time they are born until they reach the age of 3 or 4 years. The majority of children with constipation does not have a medical disease or disorder causing the constipation. Rarely, a disorder causes infants and children to have significant problems moving their bowels.
Causes
The direct cause of constipation is not enough water in the stool. This occurs because of the diet not having enough water-retaining elements (fiber) or because the stool is kept in the rectum too long, allowing the colon to reabsorb more water than usual.
Constipation may also begin when you change your baby from breast milk or baby formula to whole cow’s milk, and when your switch from baby food to solid food. Sometimes constipation happens after your child has been sick or has taken certain medicines. You should not be concerned if your child becomes constipated. Constipation is common in children and usually goes away on its own.
Constipation may occur if your child is not eating enough high-fiber foods, drinking enough fluids or getting enough exercise. In many children, no cause for the constipation can be found. Having a bowel movement may have been so painful that the child began resisting the urge to have a bowel movement. Not having a bowel movement when the urge occurs can lead to constipation. Your child could be scared of being alone in the bathroom or scared of the toilet. Some children just don’t want to stop playing to go to the bathroom.
Symptoms
Some medications can make children more likely to be constipated. Common contributors include over-the-counter cold medications and antacids. Antidepressants, anticonvulsants, chemotherapy medications, or narcotic pain medications (such as codeine) can also constipate.
Children with constipation usually either have very large hard stools or hard pellet like stools. Bowel movements are also infrequent and painful. In addition to having pain when they pass a bowel movement, children with constipation might have cramping abdominal pain.
Treatment
Younger infants and newborns with constipation should be carefully evaluated by their Pediatrician. Poor feeding can lead to dehydration and constipation, and so an evaluation of your infant’s feeding habits and to make sure that he is gaining weight normally is important.
It is important to remember that infants that are exclusively breastfed rarely become constipated. Infrequent bowel movements do not mean constipation if your infant’s stools are soft when he finally passes one. Initial treatments usually include giving extra water or fruit juice once or twice a day. A common treatment used by parents is adding Karo syrup or other light or dark corn syrups to their infant’s bottles of formula. While this is often discouraged because of the theoretical risk of botulism, the AAP reports that it is safe to do. If giving formula, changing to a soy formula can also be helpful.
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