Natural Help For Your Child's Constipation

Constipation is a very common problem in infants, toddlers, and children. Children with constipation may poop or have bowel movements (BMs) that are hard, difficult to get out, or painful. Constipation can also mean that a child does not poop regularly, or frequently, enough.

Natural Help For Your Child’s Constipation

Constipation is a very common problem in infants, toddlers, and children. Children with constipation may poop or have bowel movements (BMs) that are hard, difficult to get out, or painful. Constipation can also mean that a child does not poop regularly, or frequently, enough. Luckily most children’s constipation is not caused by a serious medical problem. They have gone regularly in the past but now they are having problems pooping. With some simple help and guidance, this issue can be flushed down the toilet!
Many times children hold back their poop because thHere Are 3 Practical Tips for Helping Your Child’s Constipation:

Trade Out Foods

Children’s gut health has been found to play a role in regulating their bowel movements (or poops). Our digestive system breaks down what we eat into nutrients to provide energy and nourishment. Keeping our digestive system in good working order helps it do its job. Certain foods are better than others to keep our gut (intestines) fit and working well. Specifically, a diet with less regular sugar and less processed foods can help things move along better. A diet high in sugar and highly processed foods has the opposite effect and can slow things down. 

Three steps you can easily do for your child include:

• Trade out sugary snacks (like candy bars and cookies) for foods with less added sugar (like cheese and crackers or cut veggies with dip).
• Offer foods with natural fiber (fig-filled cookies or grapes) instead of those with little dietary fiber (chips or ice cream).
• Limit ultra-processed food and certain fast foods.

Change Posture

One easy thing to do right away is to adjust a child’s posture while pooping. Children sometimes have bad posture on the toilet: they slump at the waist or do not sit up straight. Their feet may not reach the floor yet, which doesn’t give them the support needed to push.

Ways to change posture include:

• Have children rest their feet on a “potty” stool. This kind of stool can help to relax the muscle area used to make passing poop much easier.
• Use the potty stool every time they need to poop—-even if they’re just trying.
• Use a child-size potty chair that is sized just for them.
• Don’t rush them; allow them to take the time needed on the toilet.

Make Water the Go-To

Making sure your child drinks water every day is important and ensures that bodily functions work well. When a child’s body does not get enough water, the whole system becomes dehydrated or dried out. Not drinking enough water slows down the entire gut and digestive system. Gut health is better by drinking regular water than by drinking sweetened beverages.

Ways to add hydration to your child’s diet are to:

• Offer water throughout each and every day.
• Fill water bottles with plain or flavored, unsweetened, water to take when out and about. Have water readily available when your ids get thirsty.
• Limit sugary (or artificially sweetened) beverages as much as possible.