Baby constipation sometimes develops regardless of the care given. It often starts when the baby starts to eat solid foods. This condition should always be avoided if possible, and it usually is. If present, it can be eased with small, plain water enemas that are between 98 and 100 degrees. For tin treatment, a baby rental syringe with a hard-rubber nozzle may be used, with care being taken not to exert too sudden or forcible pressure on the bulb, as the water should be injected gently.
Care in giving an injection is even more important with infants and children than with adults. Instead of the bulb syringe, an ordinary fountain syringe may be used for the baby, having the smallest hard-rubber tip or nozzle on the tubing. The bag should be only a few inches above the baby’s hips. Then it is advisable to control the force of the water flow by pinching upon the flexible tubing with thumb and Anger. In using a bulb or fountain syringe, the air in the apparatus should be allowed to escape by dressing on the bulb or opening the tube cut-off until the water apparatus.
Air injected into the rectum will cause the bowels to evacuate the water before it has a bad time preparing the feces for expulsion; besides, it is inclined to cause pain or discomfort. The baby requires only an ounce or two of water to produce satisfactory evacuation. This small (quantity permits repetition in cases where results are not obtained within a few minutes. White castile soap suppositories may be used occasionally. They may be whittled to the side of a lead pencil at the large end and made cone-shaped, about three centimeters of an inch long. The suppository should be inserted gently.
This may be done with the baby lying face down across the mother’s knee. Moistening the suppository with water will permit it to enter the rectum past the gate muscle or sphincter. Gluten suppositories or small-glycerin suppositories may be used in the same way. The former is the safest of suppositories, as they are least likely to irritate. Their action is somewhat slower than that of the other suppositories mentioned; hence, it is a good plan to insert one (when necessary) in the morning after the bath. In obstinate eases, a small amount of warm olive oil may be injected into the rectum using the small baby syringe.
Of course, the best way to correct baby constipation is the natural way—by diet. Emit juices are excellent for keeping the bowels active. A baby as young as two or three days old may be given teaspoonful doses of orange juice diluted with an ounce or two of water in a nursing bottle. Prune juice may also be used, but preferably not before the first month or two. Diet is particularly important in the case of chronic constipation. When the infant is breastfed, the mother must look after her diet closely, for she must have a well-balanced diet containing an abundance of laxative foods, and her bowel activity must be kept normal. If the baby is bottle-fed, a little cream added to the feeding will often overcome constipation in the early months.
But care must be taken not to disrupt the digestion. Making oatmeal gruel, a strained gruel made from bran, or some whole-grain cereal may help overcome constipation; but a child should have no starch until it is well over one year of age; hence, this method, except in the case of gruel made from bran, which is starch-free, is not to be commended for infants. Abdominal massage is helpful for constipation; it is to be given gently and clockwise. The movement is made in small circles, beginning in the lower right “corner” of the abdomen, ascending the right side, crossing to the left, and then down the left side to the lower left “corner.” To make sure of the direction, place a watch alongside the baby with “twelve” nearest the breast. Start the movement at “eight” and carry it around to “four.”
Give slightly increased pressure on the part of each small circle directed toward the bowel outlet. The hand does not slide over the skin but moves the abdomen until it is necessary to carry the hand forward along the abdomen. After a few circles in this manner, the movement may be Massage reversed a time or two, starting on the left side and completing the movement on the right side, ‘this massage may be given twice a day, even three times a day, but it should be given at specified times and regularly at these times daily. It must be remembered that the movement in such treatment is a gentle one. Therefore, baby constipation is a preventable condition.
