last evening a really good friend called up and asked what can be given to her 1 year old twins- a boy and a girl- who are severely constipated. she is here for two of her medical treatments which actually means she is herself unwell… her daughter is cranky because she cannot pass her stool and the son is oh well.. just too playful but still constipated. ‘… american citizens that they are , there are possibilities that the babies are having trouble digesting our local water and plus the dust, pollution, jet lag! there are so many possibilities i said. its possible they don’t even like the indian toilets. ‘
‘its just poop!! kunj, just poop!! they are not forcing it out of their bodies, stop talking nonsense’ she shouted at me.
‘ok, give me a few hours. will talk to this amazing group of wats app mums i know who all have toddlers and must have passed through such a phase. they might give some ideas, until then give them lots of water and fibrous fruits.’ i replied aware with the frustration a mom feels when the kid is unwell… here she had two!
i then asked my amazing mommy friends on what to do to cure constipation… severe or just normal! here are some really helpful and natural remedies that helped my friends’s twins and i think shall help you too, readers! babies or toddlers, its just best to cure it naturally. and of course if not curable there are always wonderful doctors to help us out round the clock. here i am listing a few of them to help you, screen shot it… save it.. you never know when it shall be handy. and do show some love to the wonderful contributors with yours comments.
HOW TO CURE COMMON CONSTIPATION IN BABIES / TODDLERS :
1. give them water… lots of it and however they like it. as it is in glasses or straw bottles they love. or even with glucose or a hint of lemon n honey… they more the fluids the easier the out-flow will be.
2. Priyanka (a friend from surat) told me how she made sure her toddler has food that helped create soft motion since the child starting with milk and papaya a while later and a fibrous juice or orange after an interval… no solids that suck up body water in between. this helped the kid pass soft motion by afternoon.
specially for a heavily constipated kid its very important to keep them hydrated. excess of water will only result in a few more bathroom visits a day but less water means the kid will have a hard time pushing it all out. and which kid has the patience to sit on the seat until its all out?? until and unless you sit in front reading their favorite book or something ! hahaha… that can be fun. anyone has tried it?
3. this is my personal nuskha or to say something i developed according to my kid’s tummy-type. give them something that never stays in their tummy. for my kid its nuts ! overtime he has had his favorite street lorry peanuts that has been roasted on low flame. we buy him just a few because he cannot digest them at all… every time he has had it he has done an excess amount of potty! bits of nuts all over the bathroom floor that he could not control. we know that will happen so we give him nuts only at a time when he is either constipated or he is going to stay at home for the next few hours. its his favorite and we cannot say ‘no’ to him all the time, i just prepare myself to clean up the bathroom floor without making faces. so if your kid has a day when he cannot flush out you can consider giving any food that you know will definitely help drain out the dirt. for a few kids its warm milk or even boiled maize kernels that don’t stay in the body and along with it flushes out the body solids that has refused to move out.
4. has it been that the kid says … mumma i feel the pressure but its not coming out !!! well, try rubbing some vicks baby balsam or sudocream to the butt. create a warm bum. sounds sick but that helps. its the best on the spot solution. the warm bum will help ooze out. vaseline will help too. the excreta is too dry and hence the problem. if this is an everyday thing then read point no. 5
5. HEARD ABOUT MAGIC FOODS ? well, for constipated kids there are two awesome magic foods the nature has given us. 1. raisins and 2. oranges.
Nite (a friend from daman ) tells me how raisins that have been soaked at night and had in the morning helped her kid. raisins are high in iron that helps a bad tummy recover. and priyanka says oranges are awesome and best food for constipated babies because of high content of vit.C. i agree… logically both are fibrous and has immense water content that can drive the poop out. not only these two fruits help build immunity but also help clear the intestine. the best part both orange and raisins are available almost all through out the year. i can say that because my son is an orange lover and we have always stocked them in a dozen every week for almost 9-10 months last year in 2016. they are available fresh or imported.
6. a magic food i have always been treated with by my mom is M for… Mango ! its already warm in nature and having an entire one of this fruit that has been kept in room temperature clears the intestine on time. normally only available during the summers in india but if it works this summer with your kid you can always stash a 5kg pulp in storage when the season is about to end like my mom does. every time my son goes to visit her ; no matter what time of the year he has been greeted with aam-ras / mango juice. my mom peels the skin and cuts the mango into small uneven pieces and puts them in a plastic container with lid in the freezer as a storage making sure no water content is in the pulp or container. if your freezer is small you can also use zip lock bags. its always handy.
7. one way to make sure constipation doesn’t make a u-turn is to feed the kid yogurt in some or the other way. either as it is with lunch or dinner or make some dalia/raita with fruit n veggie bits in it or you may even cook in yogurt (google recipes that can be made). the probiotic bacteria that is found in yogurt is the best bad boy that treats a bad tummy. it can be had in constipation as well as loosies. it cane had to avoid both of these. once the kid is treated with the necessary natural ways to cure tummy problems they must be put on a diet that includes fibre as well as yogurt in any form.
8. just in case nothing of the above help and its been about more than a week since the child last pooped you must visit the doc. most of the times they suggest muout. a medicine that cleans the intestine and pushes the dirt out. this is a tried and tested medicine suggested by many moms but to be on a safer side just talk to your kid’s doc first before taking any medicine from a drug shelf. the above mentioned solutions are all natural.
if these help you do pass on the blog link to your friends and family and mommies in various groups over social media. lets help all constipated babies and kids have a healthy tummy.
love,
kunj