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It can truly be heart wrenching when your  toddler suffers from a tummy ache. Whether the cause is constipation, hard poop or diarrhoea, there seems to be very little that can give instant relief. We help you understand the causes, prevent them and guide you in what to do. There is no end to how often, as parents, we hear the words “healthy and balanced diet”. We almost become deaf to the words. We know! But sometimes we slip, and sometimes impossible to try to keep our kids away from the junk food offered on a birthday party.When your child gets a dose of tummy ache, you mentally try to compile lists of what they have ingested the last few hours.

Constipation is hard stools that often are painful to pass, which usually results in that the stools also become infrequent. Constipation occurres when the muscles in the lower intestines tighten around a stool and impede it to pass, it hardens and become drier, and thereby making it harder to pass. The strain can also cause tear in the lining of the anal canal and stools could have streaks of blood. To confuse matters more, constipation can also be combined with watery stools that leak around the hardened stool, also called encopresis, and is often confused with diaohrrea.

The main reasons for constipation are nutrition, as in lack of fibre, low intake of fluids, emotional stress or anxieties, and medication or illness.

Constipation after weaning

With weaned infants and toddlers constipation can often be prevented through diet and exercise. Do not start relying on any kind of medication to solve your child’s constipation problems. Medication will not solve the problem long term and can cause imbalances in your child’s bowels.

Exercise relaxes body muscles and helps bowel movements. Combined with lots of fluids and fibre rich foods, it will keep your children’s bowels healthy. The key is fruit, fruit, more fruit and loads of vegetables. When you start weaning your child go slow. You are better off making up their first solid food to begin with, a boiled potato or carrot, or scrape whatever fruit with a teaspoon for feeding. If you need to buy food, stick to the fruit purees and not pre-fabricated jar foods.

When the weaning is well on its way, buy small handy containers for snacks and fill them with cut up fresh fruit and dried fruit. It is also a great way to keep your toddler entertained when you’re busy or when they are getting cranky. Offer fluids often and regularly.

If you’re constantly looking for their water bottle, buy a pack of small pre-packed water bottles. They are disposable, not the end of the world if they get lost and they can be refilled from your tap, no need to buy new ones until they are all misplaced.

Massage is also great at this age, but it might be a bit hard to keep them still if massage is not part of their routine. A warm bath or a bit of exercise might be an easier option. As with small babies, bicycle legs and squats lying down are a good way of getting things moving.

Home cures for toddlers

Yellow bananas can actually cause constipation in sensitive toddlers, whereas overripe (brown) bananas can help. Ripe mangoes, oranges, blueberries, plums, grapes, prunes and other dried fruit, such as apricots, have a laxative effect. Also try diluted prune juice.

Constipation, stress and potty training

Apart from the nutritional reasons for constipation there can also be emotional ones, related to stress and anxiety. Children carry their own worries, but also pick up whatever we might be feeling.

Potty training can be traumatic for both parent and child, filled with expectations, disappointments and frustration on both sides. Also larger changes in routine, like travel, school start, moving home, starting a new activity, and so forth, can be a source of worry for a child. When emotional reasons for constipation are in play it may simply be that a child withholds going to the toilet or might even lie about it, and this turns into a vicious circle when going to the toilet becomes painful due to a withheld and hardened stool.

Since potty training and going to school are part of any child’s development and unavoidable, it’s important as a parent to be prepared and look out for signs of constipation, especially if you have a child with sensitive bowels. Apart from talking to a child about their upcoming experiences, increase the fibre intake in their diet. A bit of intense exercise can also help with both stress and bowel movements.

When to watch out for constipation

When/if an infant changes from being breastfed to bottle fed.

When you start weaning

If your child is ill or on medication, mainly due to dehydration.

After a dose of diaohrrea

When you start potty training.

At any major changes in routine, for example travel or moves.

You can also try setting a side a specific toilet time to establish regular bowel movements and habits. Let them sit a while, with a book for example. Elevating their feet on a footstool or higher will help relax their bowels. Avoid putting them in front of the telly if they are on the potty, they might withhold the poo just to be able to keep watching their favourite programs.

Don’t rule out food allergies as the cause of constipation, most of us would believe diarrhoea is the main symptom. Milk intolerance in young children could also often be a cause. Always ask your GP or pharmacist if the medication your child is prescribed might cause constipation.

Refuses the veg?
Shred or liquidate them in the blender and add them to stews, even burgers.

For more information
www.constipationadvice.ie