Infant bowel movements vary in color, texture and frequency, causing confusion on what is normal. True constipation is hard in texture and often small in size. A constipated baby strains to pass the stools and may have small amounts of blood along the outer surfaces of the stools. Identifying the cause of your baby's constipation helps relieve the uncomfortable problem.
Dietary Changes
Your baby's dietary habits affect his bowel movements, including problems such as constipation. Certain types of baby formula cause constipation in some babies. Switching from one brand of formula to another may cause digestive problems. Going back and forth between formula and breast milk may also affect his bowel movements. If your baby's constipation begins after you introduce solid foods, his dietary changes could be the root cause. Introduce solid foods slowly, one food at a time. This allows you to track the foods he eats so you are able to avoid those foods that make constipation worse.
Low Fluids
A lack of fluid in the body tends to harden stools, leading to constipation. The body draws moisture from anywhere possible, including anything she ingests and her stools. Because so much of the moisture is drawn out, the stools become hard. Offer your baby plenty of liquids to avoid dehydration. Plain water helps with hydration. For older babies, diluted prune juice is an option to hydrate and get the stools moving normally again.
Illness
Certain medical problems cause constipation in young children. Hypothyroidism, marked by low thyroid function, is one potential underlying cause. Hard stools are sometimes a sign of food allergies. In rare cases, a baby with constipation has Hirschsprung's disease, a birth defect that affects the bowel muscles. The baby has difficulty pushing the stools through the bowel. Call your child's doctor if he experiences constipation that doesn't clear up on its own to eliminate possible medical causes.
Compounding Problem
Once your baby or young child becomes constipated, the situation can perpetuate itself. The hard nature of stools during constipation often causes pain when the baby does have a bowel movement. To avoid the pain, some young children try to hold it in. This causes the stools to become even harder and more painful, making the child resist a bowel movement even more. This resistance complicates the constipation and makes it last even longer.
