Babies can become constipated and when they do life can get rough. A distended belly, crying, refusing to eat can all play a part. If your baby is constipated it is time for a doctors consult to find out why. If it is common constipation there are things that you can do at home for your baby.

Most babies that are breast fed never become consitpated. Mother's milk is in the perfect mix of fats and nutrients to prevent consitpaiton. But if your baby is on formula and constipaiton occurs, and especially if it occurs repeatedly it is time to look at changing the formula to something more agreeable to the baby. It is not a good choice to repeatedly use laxatives or suppositories. A baby should, just like an adult, have a bowel movement at least once every day. Many babies will have more than one bowel movement and this is perfectly normal. My favorite breast milk substitute is canned goats milk. If the baby does not like the taste try sweetening it with just 2 or 3 drops of stevia.

Hard stools, dry stools, pasty thick stools, and stools like little pebbles are not normal. This could be due to the formula or it could be due to the introduction of solid food before the baby is ready. Many baby foods do not have sufficient fiber, including rice cereal, which the vast number of babies are started on for solid food.

After a physicians consult to make sure that nothing more serious is going on there are things you can try at home to alleviate constipation. For immediate and urgent use a glycerin suppository designed for babies that can be purchased in pharmacies but you dont want to repeatedly rely on that. The first thing to try is adding baby lactobacillus acidolophus to the formula. The problem may be as simple as insufficient good bacteria in the babies tummy. This is more apt to occur when babies are not breast fed. Even before changing the formula adding lactobacillus may make all the difference.

You can also try giving some plain purified water a couple of times a day in case it is from simply not enough fluids. Avoid giving juices. You don't want to start a juice addiction and it is not healthy for the baby.

Please be a ware that frequent diarrhea can be a sign of constipation. Loose stools will sometimes pass around a constipated stool. Generally if this is happening the baby will be fussy and bloated due to this impaction. I always recommend a visit to the doctor to make sure that what you are dealing with is common constipation.

When it comes to actual alternative medicine for constipation for babies I would rely on homeoapthic remedies. Homeopathy is safe and nontoxic for babies and all children.

Probiotics for Babies

Homeopathic Preparation for Baby Constipation

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