Common Symptoms of Constipation in Infants

Bowel patterns vary in infants much like they do in adults. How often a baby poops is dependent on what he eats or drinks, as well as his or her body's natural ability to process and eliminate wastes. This often makes it difficult to tell if your baby is constipated. Some babies have a bowel movement after every feeding but have trouble passing the stool. Other infants may only poop every other day and not be constipated at all. Here are the common symptoms of constipation in infants and a few ways to help your baby poop.

What is constipation?

Constipation generally takes place when the muscles at the end of the large intestine tighten and prevent your baby's poop from passing. True constipation causes the infant considerable discomfort or difficulty, because the stool is hard.

Symptoms:
The best way to tell if your baby is constipated is to watch for the following symptoms:

There is an unusual infrequency of bowel movements. If more than four or five days passes between your infant's bowel movements, he or she may be constipated. Know your baby's regular poop cycles. If your baby normally poops twice a day and suddenly doesn't go for several days, constipation may be the culprit.

The baby has noticeable pain when trying to poop. A certain amount of grunting and straining happens when infants have a normal bowl movement. If your infant seems to be hurting while trying to go, often indicated by crying, he or she may be constipated.

The infant passes hard, dry stool. The baby's poop may be large or small and hard like pellets. If the stool is hard and dry, your infant is most likely constipated.

There is blood in or on the outside of the baby's poop. Finding blood in your baby's stool is always scary. This happened to my daughter when she was only two months old. Fortunately, a quick trip the doctor put my mind at ease and gave me a few tips for helping ease her pain. Usually the blood is caused when the baby tries to pass hard stool and irritates or makes a small tear in the rectum. But, for your baby's safety and for your own peace of mind, you should consult a doctor anytime you find blood in your infant's poop.

Your baby is unusually cranky. If your infant is constipated, it will make him sore and uncomfortable. Since babies can't talk, crying and fussing is their way of expressing discomfort.

The infant has a swollen belly or feels hard to the touch. The swelling happens because the baby cannot properly pass gas or stool.

Treatment:

What can you do to help your constipated baby poop? Here are two quick techniques I used that worked well to relieve pain and help my babies poop when they were constipated:

Gently massage the infant's stomach with your fingertips. Place your hand about 2 inches below your baby's belly button and press gently with your fingertips until you feel a hard spot. Keep gentle, but constant pressure on the mass for two to three minutes.

Use the bicycle exercise with your infant. Exercise helps get stool moving. Crawling and cruising helps constipation for older babies and toddlers who are mobile, but your infant can't do that, so he or she needs your help. Lay the baby on his or her back and lightly move baby's legs in a pedaling motion, like riding a bike. If your baby balks at this exercise, try singing softly to make it seem more like play. To help my kids relax and enjoy this exercise, I made up a short song to go with it. I used it with them when they were constipated as infants, toddlers and preschoolers. They still remember it!

Here are the words to the song:
Riding my bike, riding my bike.
I like riding my bike.
I can go anywhere I like,
When I'm riding my bike.

If your infant is constipated for more than a few days, the constipation is accompanied by a fever or vomiting, or blood is present in the stool, please make an appointment with your pediatrician.

Other articles by this author:
Boudreaux's Butt Paste Ends Diaper Rash and More
Establishing a Bedtime Routine for a Baby
6 Tips for Taking Beautiful Photos of Your Newborn

Resources:
"Your Baby's Bowels and Constipation," WebMD.
"Signs of Constipation in a Baby," Livestrong.
"Constipation in Children," FamilyDoctor.org.
"Constipation," Baby Center.