{"id":2231,"date":"2020-01-05T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T19:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=2231"},"modified":"2024-04-25T03:02:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T10:02:08","slug":"infant-constipation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/infant-constipation\/","title":{"rendered":"Infant Constipation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Parents often worry that their baby is constipated. How do you know when to take it seriously and give us a call?<\/p>\n<p>In the first month of life, infrequent stools can mean a baby isn\u2019t getting enough breast milk or formula. At this age, we expect at least one stool a day in breastfed babies and one every 1 to 2 days in formula-fed newborns. Regular visits to your pediatrician will help you know your baby is growing well regardless of their stooling pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Babies make a big deal out of pooping! Grunting, crying out, and turning red in the face doesn\u2019t mean much. Really. The way to think about this is to understand a baby is trying to poop when lying flat. Gravity isn\u2019t helping them any; we all might have to grunt if we pooped while lying on our backs!<\/p>\n<p>Some babies poop only every few days. This usually isn\u2019t a problem. It just means they\u2019re efficiently converting all the milk they drink into energy to grow. If their poops are soft, and your baby is happy, well, and gaining weight, there isn\u2019t anything to worry about.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you notice any of the following signs of constipation, see your pediatrician:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stools that are hard or contain blood.<\/li>\n<li>A recent or sudden change to fewer stools.<\/li>\n<li>Poor appetite.<\/li>\n<li>Fussiness or increased spitting up.<\/li>\n<li>Straining for more than 10 minutes to have a stool.<\/li>\n<li>A distended (swollen) or tender abdomen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your pediatrician may suggest the following advice to help with constipation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Offer your baby a bit of juice, if they\u2019re over 2 months old. Give\u00a02 to 4 ounces of grape, pear, apple, prune, or cherry juice 2 times a day. If that doesn\u2019t help, it\u2019s time to call your doctor.<\/li>\n<li>Feed older babies who are already eating solid foods more fruits and veggies (prunes, peaches, apricots,\u00a0pears, plums, beans, spinach, and peaswork well). Constipation is easier to treat this way.<\/li>\n<li>Offer a sippy cup of water with each solid meal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As parents, we worry about many things! Usually though, babies don\u2019t become constipated enough to need any medicine or other treatment. Talk with your doctor if you\u2019re concerned.<\/p>\n<p>Find more resources for parents<\/p>\n<p>My Doctor Online:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/structured-content\/constipation-in-children-643261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constipation in Children<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/article\/laxative-miralax-treatment-for-children-1235070\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constipation in Children: Treatments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>American Academy of Pediatrics:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthychildren.org\/English\/ages-stages\/baby\/diapers-clothing\/Pages\/Infant-Constipation.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Infant Constipation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents often worry that their baby is constipated. How do you know when to take it seriously and give us a call?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,667],"tags":[388,390,389,510,668,425],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-issues","category-newborn-care","tag-constipation-in-babies","tag-constipation-symptoms-in-babies","tag-constipation-treatment","tag-feeding-infants","tag-infant","tag-infant-crying","ages-baby"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1699469614:8"],"_edit_last":["11"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["106"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["288"],"_thumbnail_id":["2236"],"wpfp_favorites":["47"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wp_old_date":["2019-05-16"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1714039328"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4335,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions\/4335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}