Scientific diet and good habits can keep your baby away from constipation

Author: Xu Lijuan Children's Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University

Li Yangyan Children's Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University

Reviewer: Kong Lin, deputy director nutritionist, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University

As a nutritionist, I often hear new parents complaining, "Hey, my baby has only defecated every other day recently. I'm worried that he is constipated?" "My child is constipated. I dare not feed him solid rice. He mainly drinks porridge every day. Am I doing the right thing?" So what is constipation? And how to treat constipation? Now I will answer all the questions and doubts for parents.

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1. What is constipation?

Constipation refers to a decrease in the frequency of bowel movements, accompanied by difficulty in defecation and dry stools. Constipation is common in children, with an incidence rate of up to 30%, and most chronic constipation is functional constipation. According to the Rome IV consensus, functional constipation is defined as the presence of the following symptoms and the exclusion of other causes: low bowel movement frequency, hard and/or coarse stools; fecal incontinence; painful defecation; or intentional fecal retention.

Therefore, it does not mean that a child is constipated if he does not defecate for one day. As long as the child does not have difficulty defecating, is in a good mental state, and grows and develops normally, parents do not need to worry too much.

2. For children with functional constipation, how should we deal with it to relieve and treat their constipation?

First of all, what you eat is crucial!

Dietary structure is considered one of the causes of constipation in children. For infants and children under 2 years old, the reasonable goal of fiber intake is about 5 grams per day. For children older than 2 years old, with acute constipation or mild chronic constipation, the reasonable dietary fiber intake target is calculated by adding the child's age to 510 grams per day.

Therefore, children with constipation should choose foods rich in dietary fiber, and at the same time, appropriately increase the amount of fat such as vegetable oil and nuts, and increase water intake. The specific reference foods are as follows: ① Cereals and potatoes: such as millet, corn, buckwheat, oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, yam and cassava are rich in dietary fiber, which can promote intestinal peristalsis, increase defecation volume, prevent and improve constipation. ② Fresh fruits and vegetables such as cabbage, celery, shepherd's purse, spinach, carrots, leeks, peas, apples, lemons, citrus, etc. are good sources of dietary fiber (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, etc.), which can promote intestinal peristalsis and facilitate defecation. It should be emphasized here that unripe bananas contain more tannic acid and have a very strong astringent effect. They can form feces into dry and hard feces, thereby causing constipation, so don't feed our constipated babies unripe bananas every day. ③ Appropriately increase fat intake: Oils and fats can help lubricate the intestines, promote peristalsis, help defecation, and improve constipation. ④ Increase water intake: Increase daily water intake to enhance stimulation to the colon and reduce the occurrence of constipation.

Secondly, good bowel habits are also important!

For babies with constipation, good bowel habit training is equally important, even more important than diet. And toilet training is the key to ensuring good bowel habits. For children who are toilet trained, parents or caregivers should implement and supervise a regular toileting plan.

(1) Children should go to the toilet shortly after a meal, for 5 to 10 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day.

(2) Go to the toilet at the same time every day and use a timer or stopwatch to set the time.

(3) This routine should be followed daily, especially during times when the family’s normal schedule changes (such as holidays, vacations, or weekends).

(4) Positive reinforcement should be used to encourage children to persist in using the toilet, rather than negative reinforcement (criticism or punishment).

(5) For children whose feet cannot touch the ground when sitting on a regular toilet, a stool can be used to support their feet. If the foot support allows the knees to be higher than the hip level, it can help relax the pelvic floor, which is especially useful for children who often hold their stool.

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Finally, parents or caregivers should develop a reward system for their children that rewards them for effort (i.e., using the toilet on time) rather than success (i.e., having a bowel movement while using the toilet). Rewards for preschoolers might include giving stickers or small candies, reading to them or singing to them while they use the toilet, etc. Rewards for school-age children might include reading to them after they use the toilet, giving them healthy snacks, or coins that can be redeemed for small items at the grocery store.

By mastering the above skills, parents can calmly deal with constipation in their children and easily choose suitable foods to help their babies have healthy intestines.