Best Home Remedies For Constipation in Infants
Constipation in infants is a common concern among many parents especially for the first timers. It is a condition that is normally addressed by pediatricians since parents do not exactly know what to do. Basically, constipation in infants refers more to the consistency of the stool rather than the frequency, as with adults and older children. Normally, newborn babies would move bowels after each feeding and this frequency will be reduced as the baby ages, between one to two months from birth. Constipation in infants is characterized by infrequent and hard stools with the child seemingly in pain as the stool is passed. Although there is a pediatrician who is supposed to take a look at your child in cases of unusual conditions such as constipation, it is still best for you to learn how to relieve constipation in infants.
One of the common ways on how to relieve constipation in infants is to feed them water with prune juice diluted in it. However, you must make sure that the baby is older than six weeks if you are looking to use this method. This requires you to fill a bottle with an ounce of water and an ounce of prune juice. The baby must be fed this solution twice a day until the constipation has been completely relieved. Remember that the prune juice and water combination must be given to the baby in addition to breast or formula feeding, not as a substitute. Do not add any sweetener thinking that the child will not like it.
If the prune juice is not feasible, another treatment of constipation in infants is the use of glycerin suppository that stimulates and softens the stools. However, you must first seriously talk to the pharmacist about the brand of suppository you will get for your baby.
If you are looking for ways on how to relieve constipation in infants, keep away from laxative as it is not advised to be used in babies. There are other home remedies for infant constipation and you can find them all over the Internet.