Has your baby not had a bowel movement for a couple days, and you’re becoming worried? It may not be baby constipation. Babies can actually go two or three days without a bowel movement, especially when they are breast fed only. If you have concerns, here are a few signs to look for, and a few possible solutions.

A few of the signs of constipation can include:

1. Less than 3 bowel movements in one week.
2. If your baby is not wanting to eat.
3. Excessive crying and discomfort, accompanying the lack of bowel movements.
4. Your babies belly feels harder than normal.

Baby constipation is often not identified by the lack of bowel movements, but by the passage of hard, dry, pellet baby poop. This is an indication your baby is lacking in either dietary fiber, or may be slightly dehydrated.

If you are seeing the dry poo, then you may want to start by increasing fluids. Adding a few ounces of water to your babies daily diet can help alleviate dehydration. For older infants, adding prune, apple, or pear juice can help tremendously.

It is very rare for baby constipation to take place in babies who are only breast fed. A common time for babies to develop constipation is when they experience a change in their diets. Changing from breast feeding to formula, can trigger constipation. When you first start feeding a baby food, most commonly rice cereal, your baby may also develop constipation.

If the baby constipation is occurring after changes in the diet, you may need to consider changing formulas, or types of cereals. Rice cereal has very low amounts of fiber, which can lead to more opportunity for baby constipation. Switching to an oat or barley based cereal, with higher fiber, usually corrects the problem. Our babies react differently to different formula recipes. Consult your Doctor for advice on changing formulas if you have recurring bouts with constipation.

You may hear some people claim iron in the formula is the culprit leading to baby constipation. Iron is essential for your baby, and has been shown to cause no increase in cases of constipation. Do not choose a formula without iron, just because your baby is becoming constipated.

When moving your baby from strained baby foods, up to finger foods, and table foods, is another common time constipation may strike. These foods have less moisture, and you need to make sure to increase your babies intake of water, or juice to offset the change.

For stubborn episodes of baby constipation, you may need to encourage additional movement. Crawling is an excellent method to break loose the bowels. For smaller infants, you can help them exercise and stimulate their bowels, by moving their legs in a motion similar to crawling.

In more extreme cases, your Doctor may recommend or prescribe using a suppository. Do not consider a laxative or suppository without your Doctor’s advice, you could be asking for major problems.

When baby constipation strikes your household, the most important thing to keep in mind is hydration. Make sure your baby has plenty of fluids, and most times their bodies will correct themselves. If baby constipation persists, contact your Doctor’s office.