Constipation can be a nasty condition to deal with, and if it a child that is afflicted with constipation it is ten times worse. When your child is constipated, especially Chronic Constipation in Children, you have to get him or her to the doctor as soon as possible. A child can be adversely affected by constipation so much quicker and easier than adults. And in many cases, you only find out about the constipation of your child when it is too late. It Hurts When I Poop! a Story for Children Who Are Scared to Use the Potty

The reason for this is that in many cases children do not know how to communicate their discomfort to adults. It is therefore advisable to learn more about the symptoms of chronic constipation in children.

It Hurts When I Poop! a Story for Children Who Are Scared to Use the Potty

The very first symptom to look out for is a possible expression of pain on your child’s face, followed by a visit to the toilet. A painful expression could mean that she does have abdominal pain because of intestinal cramps, and a visit to the toilet will be a confirmation that your child probably is constipated, or has diarrhea. Diarrhea can be ruled out if you do not hear sounds of a runny tummy coming from the toilet.

The next symptom would be if your child puts his hand over his tummy. That would be an indication exactly where the pain is. Abdominal pain can be a symptom of intestinal cramps, or it can mean that your child has an intestinal obstruction, is experiencing acute appendicitis or has urinary tract or bladder infection, so get him to the pediatrician right away when this happens. Especially if your child buckles over in pain.

Some children have a high pain threshold. In such a case, if your child does show slight indications of abdominal pain, it will probably be as a result of something more serious than constipation. Get your child to the pediatrician right away. In such a case, if your child does have a high pain threshold, you may only become aware of the fact that she is constipated when she is on the toilet and starts crying after straining.

If it so happens that you have missed all the early symptoms of chronic constipation in your child, you will probably notice that your child has slightly soiled his underwear. When you see this, start asking questions, and he will probably come out with the truth.

If you have missed all of that, your child may start complaining about anal pain when he is on the toilet. Investigate, and if you see signs of tears (fissures) around the anus, then you will know that he is constipated. Get him to the pediatrician for an examination stating your suspicion of chronic constipation in your child, and ask what you can do for chronic constipation in children. The pediatrician will examine your child, subscribing the correct medicines for chronic constipation in children if necessary.

In general, however, parents do tend to know when their child has chronic constipation, and in most cases, they will get effective medication from the chemist if necessary. But in most cases, chronic constipation can be treated effectively by natural means. If natural remedies do not work, then talk to your chemist and once again, get your child to the pediatrician of nothing seems to work.

Effective natural remedies for chronic constipation in children:

Some effective natural remedies for chronic constipation in children are as followings:

Once again, as with all cases of constipation, , lots of water should be available to your children at all times. Water is the No 1 nutrient of all nutrients available, and the best method to treat chronic constipation in children. Your children should drink lots of water. DO NOT let them convince you to give them fizzy soft drinks because fizzy soft drinks contain sugar, and sugar can cause constipation. If you do want to spoil them a bit, then let them have some prune juice, apple juice, carrot juice or orange juice. Note that juices SHOULD NOT be sweetened with sugar or anything else. Artificial sweeteners are extremely bad for your child’s health, and will definitely aggravate constipation.

Next to remember is that children need a proper diet that is gut-friendly in order to sort out chronic constipation in children. Let your children eat natural foods with lots of fiber and make sure they get some probiotic yogurt as well. Fiber is the single most effective ingredient in your children’s diet to treat their constipation.

For breakfast, they can have some breakfast cereals that contain enough fiber to have his gut functioning normally. Either yogurt or full cream milk (NOT low fat, because your child needs the cream to keep his stools soft) can be given to eat with his cereals, and if the breakfast contains a hot porridge made from high fiber corn, Marbella or oatmeal, then put a dash of real butter in it for taste, and also to soften their stools. A little natural brown sugar can be used to sweeten their porridge. Do not give them white refined sugar at all, as this will contribute to their constipation. For variety, you can give them each a ripe fruit and some freshly squeezed orange juice. Carrot juice is also a pleasant drink and very effective for chronic constipation in children.

His lunch should also be gut-friendly, good for chronic constipation in children, containing food with high percentages of fiber such as whole-grain bread or bran muffins. Raw veggies are ideal. The bread can be fixed into sandwiches containing some real beef, mutton or chicken combined with tomato and lettuce or something similar. Muffins can be served slightly warm with butter.

Peanut butter is also a good option for sandwiches, but nothing containing a lot of sugar. Sandwiches of muffins can be served with some coffee with full cream milk and either honey or blackstrap molasses. Coffee, honey and blackstrap molasses are all healthy options which are good for chronic constipation in children.

Supper can once again contain lots of fiber, and enough protein, vitamins and other nutrients to provide for his daily nutritional needs. Some brown rice, a variety of cooked and/or raw veggies, one or two fruits, and a natural unsweetened fruit juice should do the trick preventing or treating constipation in your child.

For snacks in between meals, you may give your child a variety of fruits, dried fruits or raw veggies. Dried papaya and dried figs are particularly good for chronic constipation in children.

References

• Constipation in children by Mayo Clinic Staff – Mayoclinic
• Treatment of Chronic Constipation in Children by Harvard Health Expert – Drugs
• When Children Becomes Constipated by Montreal Children’s Hospital – The children