Matt is turning 4 years old now and his little brother, Sean, will be turning 2. That is why this topic on baby constipation is a little late. Good thing (NOT) that my sons sometimes still suffer constipation which reminded me to browse the web and search for remedies for constipation.. specific for babies and toddlers

(image credit – everything-daddy.com toilet training)

Constipation in Toddlers

Constipation is when the stool gets super hard that it takes extreme amount of effort to get it out there. Or basically it refers to the passage of hard stools (poop, poo). We parents assume that our child is experiencing constipation when there is no bowel movement for 3 or 4 days.

Constipation is a common and frustrating problem in children. Before I search information about it, I thought that my sons could be in a very serious situation.

Causes of Constipation in Toddlers

Constipation is most commonly caused by a diet that is low in fiber. This is true for both adults and children. For toddlers, aside from eating food that is low in fiber, constipation can also be caused by drinking too much milk specially in my case where my 4 year old is still drinking plenty of milk while my 2 year old is still breastfeeding. Breastfeeding or breast milk (in excess) can also cause baby constipation. Another common and obvious cause is not drinking enough water or waiting too long to go to the bathroom.

Cure and Treatment for Constipation

How do treat constipation? What are the popular or effective remedies for it? Let us list some tips, cure and remedies for child constipation below. Since we are talking about toddlers, we will only write natural medicine or remedies that are safe for babies and toddlers.

Let’s list down some of the natural ways or safe ways we can do to help our child and prevent constipation

Foods Rich in Fiber

Since one of the causes of constipation is lack of fiber, or eating food that is low in fiber, one thing we can do is to regularly add a fiber rich foods in their diet.

Let us enumerate some foods, fruits and vegetables that are fiber rich and could cure, treat or even prevent constipation in children.

Here are some foods that are rich in fiber:

• Potato
• Raisins
• Pineapple
• Karo Juice
• Prune or Prune juice
• Beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Peas
• Raw tomatoes
• Corn (or even popcorn!)
• and others…

How much fiber is enough for a 2 or 4 year old? Or is there such a thing as fiber overdose?

Children require (age in years + 5) g of fiber per day up to a maximum of (age in years + 10) g per day.

So a 3 year old needs 8 g and should have no more than 13g of fiber per day.

There is about 2g of fiber in:

* A serving of bread or cereal
* A small fruit
* ½ cup of vegetables
* 1 medium potato

Ensuring your child has enough fiber in the diet will help toddler constipation.

source

Drink Lots of Water and Decrease constipating foods

Constipating foods include milk, yogurt, cheese, cooked carrots, and bananas. Drinking too much milk (your child may only be drinking 2-3 cups a day, but it may be too much for his system to handle) is heavily associated with being constipated. Switching to soy milk has been shown to soften stools. If your child is unable to drink milk, then offer a daily multivitamin or other sources of calcium.

Those are just a few things we can do to help relief them from the pains of constipation. Another thing we can to is to encourage the child to sit on the toilet after meals. Try to add this to their daily routine. Toddlers maybe often reluctant to sit on the toilet if they have already experienced the painful bowel movement, but still try to add it up to the routine.

My wife and I have discussed this and will try to do the suggested tips. I hope you do too if you are in the same situation as we are.

Do you have any other suggestions in relieving the kids from constipation? Share them here if you want. Thanks!

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1. Stool Softener for Kids and Adults?
2. Guidelines and Tips for Choosing the Perfect Baby Name
3. 3 Year Old Very Hard To Feed

I know I’m not alone in this dilemma that’s why I searched the web and found an ‘8 Tips for Feeding Toddlers” at http://www.creativehomemaking.com/cooking/toddler-meal-time.shtml

Here’s what I read:

If you have toddlers, you know how hard it is sometimes to get them to eat! Meal time is rarely a quiet, relaxing experience with toddlers in the house. With these tips, however, you may be able to coax your toddler into cooperating with you long enough to eat.

1 – Schedule regular meal times for your toddler. Toddlers function much better when they eat at regular times. They learn to expect when they are going to eat and will better transition into meal time.

2 – Sit down with your toddler to eat. If your toddler is having a meal at a different time from the rest of your family, still sit down with him or her to eat. My toddlers put much more energy into concentrating on what they are supposed to be doing if I’m sitting there with them. They enjoy my company and it makes meal time more pleasant for them to have me to talk to (they also fight with each other less).

3 – Don’t regularly feed your toddler foods you know he doesn’t like. It’s good to try to introduce new foods to your child, but do so slowly. If your child doesn’t like something, wait awhile to try to feed it to him again. Meal times are hard enough as it is without trying to force your toddler to eat something he doesn’t like.

4 – Don’t be afraid to let your toddler regularly eat the same foods. If you find something your toddler especially likes to eat, don’t be afraid to serve it often. My toddlers have several lunches that they enjoy, so I alternate those lunches so that they are eating the same foods, but not every day. Often toddlers get into a rut where they want to eat the same things all the time. This is fine, you can still slowly introduce other foods until they acquire a taste for them.

5 – To make sure your toddler is hungry at meal time, don’t let him have too much to drink or have a snack too close to meal time. It’s easy to lose track of time and not notice it’s almost time for dinner when they’re begging for a snack. If they’re hungry they’re much more likely to eat their dinner.

6 – If your toddler starts messing around at the table and playing with food or trying to get down from the table, tell him you will take his food away if he doesn’t settle down–and mean it! If he’s hungry he’ll settle down in a hurry.

7 – Having a hard time getting your toddler to drink milk? Limit how much chocolate milk he drinks so that he doesn’t have anything to compare the milk to. At this age chocolate milk isn’t really necessary and they won’t miss it if they don’t have it. I serve my toddlers milk for every meal, and they know they are supposed to drink milk when they sit down at the table. They get watered down juice for snacks and water in bed.

8 – No matter how messy it is, let your toddler feed himself. Of course I don’t feed my toddlers really messy foods, but it is a good idea to let your toddler feed himself as much as possible. It makes them be more interested in eating if they get to using their own spoon or fork. I’ve tried using toddler spoons and forks, and they worked for awhile, but my boys now want to use mommy’s spoon and fork. Give your toddler foods in a variety of shapes and textures to experiment with. You’ll be surprised at how fast they learn to feed themselves!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.

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