Patient's question:
Doctor, hello:My child is now 1 year and 2 months old. He never eats properly, and whenever he eats, he spits it out with a "puff-puff" sound, spraying food everywhere. What is going on? Also, his recent bowel movements have been black, is it because he has a "fire"? His bowel movements are also poor, only once every three days. What should I feed him, or what medicine should I give him? My child won’t eat vegetables or fruits. He simply refuses to eat fruits—after taking just one bite, he spits it out and stops eating. It’s driving me crazy. Please, I really need your help. I will be extremely grateful to you. Thank you again.
Doctor's answer:
Hello: Black stools suggest a hospital check for a stool routine to rule out occult blood. Treatment for pediatric constipation should be as follows:(1) Training bowel habits to cultivate a habit of defecating at regular times. When a child is defecating, it is best to avoid external distractions, such as playing or reading stories to them, as this may divert their attention and hinder defecation.
(2) Correcting poor dietary habits, such as picky eating, and increasing the intake of high-fiber foods like chives and celery.
(3) Shaving soap into finger-sized pieces, about 3–4 cm long, wetting them with water, and inserting them into the anus to stimulate defecation.
(4) Using glycerin suppositories for enemas, with a dosage of 5–10 mL per time.
(5) Adding an equal amount of water to glycerin for enemas, with a glycerin dosage of 5–20 mL per time.
(6) Boiling 30 grams of white honey over low heat until it becomes viscous, then shaping it into pills. For children the size of a small finger, use one pill per time, inserting it into the anus.
(7) Using 1% soap water or physiological saline for enemas. For children under 3 years old, saline is more suitable. The dosage is 50 mL for those under 6 months, 100–200 mL for those aged 6 months to 3 years, 200–300 mL for those aged 3–7 years, and 300–500 mL for those over 7 years.
(8) Administering liquid paraffin before bed, with a dosage of 0.5 mL per kilogram of body weight.
(9) Taking 9 grams of Mahuan Runtong pills before bed each night.
(10) Taking 1–2 pills of Niuhuang Shangqing pills before bed each night.
(11) In some cases, a child’s stool may become hard and get stuck at the anal opening, requiring an adult to manually remove it to relieve the child’s discomfort.