Teething Constipation: How to Help Your Child

The appearance of the first teeth is a signal of the child's body that it is ready to accept new food. Very soon, the baby will start nibbling soft cookies and adding variety to his diet. The fact that indicates the stage of growing up of a child cannot but rejoice. Teething, however, is an unpleasant process.

When the gums swell, the baby feels pain, often cries, and deprives the parents of sleep. An additional moment for excitement is the experience, the desire for the child to be healthy.

The appearance of milk teeth in an infant is accompanied by unpleasant sensations. The first signs pass after a while, and the second ones need the attention of adults. Symptoms of teething in a baby (remember, adults):

• A slight increase in temperature is possible. If the thermometer has a mark of 38, it is worth helping the child and giving antipyretic medications.
• It is natural for babies to refuse to eat while their teeth are growing.

• The kid is lethargic, gets tired quickly. If he is worried about severe pain, he will not play with toys.
• The baby cries regularly. Perhaps there is some periodicity, since the pain from the teeth occurs in waves. There is an interruption of sleep during a painful attack.
• Diarrhea. During the eruption of milk teeth, the baby's digestive tract is more often affected. As a result, there is an upset stomach, bowel movements with liquid feces.
• Constipation. Against the background of changes in the body, the gastrointestinal tract is not able to cope with the arising load, periods of diarrhea are replaced by periods of constipation.

The child's body is individual. One baby during the described period feels normal and does not show signs of anxiety, the second is constantly crying, complications appear.

Causes of constipation

The reasons for the occurrence of constipation during teething in infants differ:

1. The production of enzymes in the digestive tract is increased, they are activated, and the incoming food is digested faster. Almost the entire food lump is assimilated and there is nothing left in the intestines to be taken out.
2. Improper nutrition. Constipation is more common in formula-fed babies. As a rule, their diet does not differ in variety, often suffers from a shortage of plant products.

1. Violation of the water balance. Teething process in most cases takes place with fever and diarrhea. As a result, a moisture deficit occurs in the body. If you do not provide the child with a sufficient amount of fluid, feces harden in the intestines.
2. The kid is inactive. Lack of motor activity not only in adults, but also in children leads to a decrease in the motility of the intestinal tract, which provokes stagnation and thickening of feces in the intestinal passage. As a result, there is no chair.
3. Violation of the diet by a nursing mother. During lactation, a woman is obliged to carefully monitor her own diet. After eating foods that have a strengthening effect, mom fed the baby with milk through milk, which affected bowel movements. At the time of feeding, it is advisable to remove rice, cheese, flour products from the menu. It is shown to drink water in an increased volume.

If the child's good appetite is noticeable, but there is no bowel movement, the parent should carefully monitor other changes in his well-being.

If the crying of the baby does not stop, the body temperature rises steadily, there is no bowel movement for more than 2 days - there is a reason to consult a doctor, perhaps for medical help. These symptoms signal a serious disturbance in the work of the gastrointestinal tract.

Each parent wants to help the child go through the period when milk teeth climb painlessly and with a smile. Most of the methods are available at home. Others require prior consultation with a doctor.

Help at home

What to do at home to improve your condition:

• First of all, you need to change the baby's diet. Artificial feeding in the period of 4-6 months is desirable to diversify with vegetable puree, natural juices. Milk mixture cooked in oatmeal will help in the fight against constipation. Juices contributing to the normalization of the content of beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms in the intestines of the child: beet, carrot, apple. The addition of fermented milk products to the menu is possible after consulting a medical specialist.
• Adjust the nursing mother's menu. During the period of breastfeeding for the baby, the mother's milk remains the source of nutrients and necessary elements. Proper nutrition of mommy will positively affect the health of the baby. It is worth limiting the consumption of cheese, nuts, rice.
• Increased baby's mobility. It is necessary to force the child to move, play with him, so that the intestines can restore motor skills and independently remove feces without using extraneous methods.

• Massage. Using simple exercises can help relieve constipation. They will help to establish the work of the digestive tract of movement: put the child on his back and perform movements with his legs, as if riding a bicycle. Doctors recommend putting the baby on his stomach for a short time before feeding. After eating, after 2 hours, massage the baby's tummy clockwise.
• Increase the amount of plain water in the infant's diet. It is worth doing this for a nursing mother. The liquid will perfectly help to remove feces outside.

Medicines

It is not always possible to wait for the natural release of feces. Then, after consulting a doctor, the parents decide to use medication. It should be remembered that the measure is temporary until the normal process of defecation is restored.

Rectal suppositories

It is recommended to choose suppositories with sea buckthorn or glycerin content. There is a wide variety of similar medicines in pharmacies. The effectiveness of candles has been proven by many mothers. To obtain the result, 15-30 minutes will be enough, and the intestines are cleansed.

The substances contained in the preparation contribute to the softening of feces with a simultaneous increase in the motor activity of the intestine itself. As a rule, for children, the entire rectal suppository is not used, a quarter of the suppository is enough.

Microlax

A drug used as an enema. The composition of the drug is completely harmless to adults and newborns. A small bottle of Mikrolax contains 5 ml of active ingredient. If the enema was stored in the refrigerator, before use, it is necessary to warm the substance to a comfortable room temperature.

Disconnect the pipette tip. Lubricate the pipette with the contents of the enema, injected into the anus. There is a depth indicator on the bottle. For babies, the icon is in the middle of the dropper. The medicine is injected in one motion. Then click on the bottle and get an enema. The action of the substance begins immediately after administration. The result comes in different ways. A quick action in 5 minutes, if the stagnation inside is more serious - we wait 20 minutes.

Prelax

A medicine in the form of a syrup that helps babies with teeth. Convenient to give to children. The preparation contains lactulose. Has a beneficial effect on the motor activity of the intestines of the child. Being in the digestive tract, Prelax helps to restore the balance between beneficial microorganisms and pathogenic bacteria that make up the local microflora. This allows you to keep the effect of the medicine for a long time.

The dosage of the medication is calculated based on the patient's weight. For the smallest, the dose is 5 ml, for older children, adolescents and adults, the dose is gradually increased to 30 ml. The effect of the application appears after 60 minutes. It is recommended to drink the drug before feeding. If the disturbances in the intestines are permanent, then the use of the medication is stretched for 2-3 days.

These remedies help to cope with bowel cleansing in a short time.

Doctor Komarovsky's advice

Dr. Komarovsky gives useful advice to young parents so that teething constipation in children does not cause much anxiety:

1. More water. Clean water can help the intestines cope with hardened stool on their own. Moreover, Dr. Komarovsky focuses on filtered water, it will be more beneficial than boiled water. The infant is given fluids to drink between feeding periods.
2. Pay attention to the child's menu. Increase the presence of vegetables, fruits, compotes. You can include apple juice, from beets, from carrots in the diet.

1. Make the baby move more. The first months after birth, the baby is placed on the stomach repeatedly to stimulate the desire to roll over, crawl. Massage the abdomen, exercise legs, press. This helps to improve the motility of the intestinal tract. To maintain the effect, classes are done daily.