Patient's question:
Constipation, every time using glycerin suppositories to defecate. The baby is one month and one week old and has been constipated. Previous treatment history and effectiveness: Taken both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, still the same. What kind of assistance is desired: How to resolve the baby's constipation...Doctor's answer:
You are describing the typical symptoms of infant constipation. The causes and treatments are varied. The most common causes include insufficient intake of food, inadequate sugar content in the diet, which can lead to less residue after absorption and reduced stool volume. A high protein content in the diet can make the stool alkaline, dry, and more frequent. A high calcium content in food can also cause constipation, such as cow's milk containing more calcium than human milk, making bottle-fed infants more prone to constipation than breastfed infants. There may also be inflammation around the anus, causing pain during bowel movements, which can make children reluctant to defecate due to fear of pain, leading to constipation. This can result in slow gastrointestinal motility, poor digestion, and prolonged retention of food residue in the intestines, further causing constipation.Recommendation: Considering the baby is only a little over one year old, I do not recommend using internal medication. Instead, you can try massage stimulation methods, such as inserting a bar of soap into the anus. This method is simple and effective. Using an oil-coated enema tip inserted gently into the anus can also help induce bowel movements. Injecting one-third of a pediatric glycerin suppository into the anus can stimulate the rectal wall to promote defecation. This is an economical and innovative approach.
Wishing your baby good health.