Diet for constipation in children

Problems with the tummy (gastrointestinal tract) in children are as common as colds. The not yet fully formed functionality of the digestive system often leads to constipation or diarrhea in a small person. Many of the problems can be solved by adjusting the diet. A diet for constipation in children is one of the ways to return the baby, and therefore the parents, to a good condition and a great mood.

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What is the diet for constipation in children?

In this article, we will try to answer the questions most frequently asked by adults who have encountered childhood constipation. How to organize a baby's diet, what is the diet for constipation in children? Before deciding on a diet, it is worth understanding what causes can lead to hardening of the stool in a child.

• This may be a hereditary pathology, which is difficult to correct with nutrition.
• Change of climate zones (vacation trip): the climate, water and food change.
• A certain combination of factors that led to dehydration of the child's body: vomiting, low fluid intake, large amounts of regurgitation.
• Low physical activity of the child.
• Damage to the mucous membrane of the anus. Due to the pain symptoms, the baby develops a fear of defecation.
• Introducing complementary foods to infants.
• In case parents try to potty train their children too quickly.
• Unbalanced nutrition. This is often the main problem and cause of childhood constipation.

Constant sweets, chips, crackers, cookies. All this dry food leads not only to constipation, but also to further complications that can develop into more severe pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. Even chocolate itself, which is part of many sweets, is a binding product. In such a situation, only adherence to a complete and balanced diet can move the situation for the better.

So what is the diet for constipation in children? After all, it is not recommended to use laxatives for babies.

The rules of a child's diet for constipation are similar to an adult diet, but have their own characteristics. Before putting your baby on a diet, it is worth undergoing an examination to be sure that the child does not have more serious pathological changes. To do this, you should contact your local pediatrician. He, having analyzed the results of the study, will be able to indicate the cause of constipation in the child, and if these are the consequences of improper nutrition, then you should start adjusting the child's diet. Otherwise, perhaps the baby needs more serious treatment. But even in this situation, proper nutrition should not be removed from the agenda.

So what is a diet? It is an exclusion from the diet, or a reduction in the quantitative component, of food products that slow down intestinal peristalsis, possessing enveloping characteristics. For example, such dishes can be classified as such: rice porridge, heavy rich broths, chocolate, semolina porridge, jelly.

The baby's diet should include a lot of fruits and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and microelements, so necessary for a growing organism. Fermented milk products are useful for the baby's stomach and its peristalsis.

Diet recipes for constipation in children

A diet with restrictions for some products should not be associated with suffering and discomfort associated with the need to eat tasteless, unloved dishes. It is especially difficult to feed such to a small child. It is very difficult to explain to him that he cannot eat chocolate, because after it it is difficult to go to the toilet "for a big one". But zucchini and buckwheat are what you need. But you can eat deliciously, getting pleasure from it, while all the doctor's recommendations will be followed.

In this article we would like to offer you some wonderful recipes for a diet for constipation in children, which we are sure will appeal to the little rascals.

1. Fruit assortment. Soak dried fruits such as dried apricots and prunes in boiled water for a while, taking one part of each. If the child does not like prunes, you can leave them out or try to treat the baby anyway, the result may surprise the parents. In this puree, children eat prunes calmly. Take three parts of an apple. Grind all the ingredients using a blender, grater or, if you do not have one, finely chop with a knife. Give the baby in an amount corresponding to his age, or 10 - 20 grams more.
2. Sweet paste. Take equal amounts (ten pieces each) of dried apricots, prunes, walnut kernels, and figs. Mince all ingredients. Add one tablespoon of freshly squeezed aloe juice and the same amount of natural honey to the resulting mixture. Mix everything well. Give the child one teaspoon several times a day (40 minutes before meals). You can prepare such a paste for future use, storing it in the refrigerator. You can make candies from this mixture. It is better to prepare them together with the baby. After that, they eat “their” candies with great enthusiasm.
3. The same candies can be prepared by taking ten berries of dried apricots, prunes, and buckthorn (zhester). Grind all the ingredients in a meat grinder. Add one teaspoon of honey to the mixture. Mix everything well and form candies from the resulting paste. Give to the baby when he asks for something sweet.
4. A vegetable salad that can be eaten every day and in unlimited quantities. Take equal parts of fresh beets, carrots, and pumpkin and grate them on a grater. You can choose any hole, but a small section will suit your baby better. Dress the salad with a small amount of vegetable oil (olive, sunflower, etc.). Instead of oil, you can sprinkle the salad with apple cider vinegar and add salt to taste.
5. A fairly real quick effect is obtained when introducing wheat bran into the baby's menu. Their use allows you to empty the intestines already on the first day of introducing into the diet. First, pour two tablespoons of the product with half a glass of boiling water and let it stand for about 20 minutes. Pre-steamed bran in boiling water (in the amount of one to two tablespoons) can be introduced into main dishes (porridge, kefir, soups).
6. Wheat bran can be added to the already prepared liquid dough and then baked pancakes, or added at the end of cooking to the porridge being prepared. This product, today, can easily be bought in any drugstore or found on the shelves of a modern supermarket in the section - dietary food. It is advisable to buy this product without any additives.

To help a small stomach cope with food and overcome the problem, you can offer the following decoctions and infusions:

1. In case of constipation accompanied by painful abdominal cramps, the baby should be offered this tea. First, prepare a mixture of six parts of chamomile flowers, two proportions of peppermint and one proportion of valerian root and fennel fruits. Grind all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour two tablespoons of the mixture with half a liter of boiling water and boil over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside on the side for half an hour to an hour to brew. Strain the broth and give the child half or 2/3 of a glass (depending on age) three times during the day.
2. If the baby has a "sluggish bowel" (the so-called anatomical constipation), you can give the child the following composition for some time: mix well two portions of marshmallow roots, two portions of flax seeds, one part of licorice root, one part of buckthorn bark, and the same amount of fennel fruits. Pour two tablespoons of the mixture with a glass of cold clean water. Let it stand for half an hour. Then put it on a low fire and boil for a quarter of an hour. Set it aside and let it cool, then strain it. Give the resulting decoction to the baby half a glass twice a day after the main meal.
3. If the child suffers from chronic constipation, then taking one to two teaspoons of aloe juice, taken two to three times a day half an hour before meals, is suitable. If the child categorically refuses to drink the "medicine", try adding a little honey to the juice. The duration of such therapy is not less than one to two months.
4. You can loosen the child's intestines with acute constipation by "treating" them with this composition. Take an egg yolk, add a tablespoon of castor oil and the same amount of honey. Mix well, dilute with 150 ml of boiled water at a temperature of about 37 - 39 ° C. Take the resulting composition one tablespoon at a time at intervals of two hours. Stop taking it after achieving a laxative effect.
5. Quite often, constipation is accompanied by dysbacteriosis. This problem can be solved by introducing mineral water into the diet in addition to dietary products. It is better to drink it on an empty stomach. In such a situation, biopreparations that allow you to restore the balance of microflora in the intestines will not be superfluous.

It is worth remembering that any menu and diet recipes for constipation in children should correspond to the child's age and the characteristics of his body. When compiling a menu, it is necessary to maintain the required caloric content of dishes, the menu should be rich in vitamins, microelements and minerals. The diet should be balanced with the required amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

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Diet menu for constipation in children

It is worth considering an example of a diet menu for constipation in children. In its image and likeness, it will be easier to make your own selection of dishes, which should not only be balanced, consisting of the "right" products, but also be varied. Only in this case, parents will not have a problem feeding their baby.

For one day, the following list of dishes can be offered in the diet.

First breakfast:

1. Oatmeal.
2. Not very strong tea.
3. Slightly dry bread.
4. A couple of spoons of jam or honey.

Second morning meal:

1. Bran bread.
2. Yogurt, preferably homemade.

Dinner:

1. Lenten borscht.
2. Salad of boiled beets with prunes and walnuts.
3. Rye bread (not soft).
4. Mashed potatoes.
5. Steamed beef cutlet.

Afternoon snack:

1. Bagel.
2. Juice with pulp. Any will do: both fruit and vegetable.

Dinner:

1. Fish fillet baked with stewed vegetables.
2. Dried fruit compote.
3. Fresh carrot salad.
4. Bran bread.

Just before going to bed, it is advisable to give your baby a glass of kefir, yogurt or curdled milk.

Fresh berries and fruits, as well as dried fruits, can be used as snacks between main meals.

If the child has already formed his own food preferences. It will be quite problematic to transfer him to the right diet right away. The baby may even resort to a hunger rebellion. To prevent such a situation, the "wrong" products should be removed from the diet of a small child gradually, without focusing on this.

If a child suffers from spastic constipation, which is accompanied by attacks of painful spasms, the transition to a diet should be done in two stages. First, remove from the diet foods that irritate the intestinal mucosa. In this situation, you should focus on vegetable and fruit juices and fresh peeled fruits. Potato juice works great in this situation. It loosens the stool well and relieves intestinal spasms. A quarter of a glass on an empty stomach brings an excellent effect. It is worth remembering that potato juice has a rather unpleasant taste. You should not force the child to drink it - this can provoke a vomiting response in the baby. Try to persuade him to drink medicine, but it is “always tasteless”. After the painful symptoms have gone away and bowel movements have become relatively regular, you can connect the diet described above.

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What can children eat when they are constipated?

So what should you give your child for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what can you eat for constipation in children? It is very good if the baby greets his morning with freshly squeezed juice. Having drunk apple, plum or apricot juice on an empty stomach, the child will feel much better throughout the day. If the child is already of school age, he is shown to drink mineral water immediately after sleep.

Nutritionists divide foods that exhibit laxative properties into three categories.

1. Foods that stimulate intestinal peristalsis:
   • Dried apricots and figs.
   • Dried banana.
   • Apples (preferably baked) and plums.
   • Seaweed.
   • Broccoli and cauliflower.
   • Salt and salty dishes.
   • Cabbage and tomatoes.
   • Bran.
   • Crude fiber:
     • Vegetables.
     • Rye bread.
     • Fruits with skin.
     • Buckwheat and dishes made from it.
     • Porridge made from brown rice and crushed wheat.
   • Cold drinks.
   • Fermented milk products: kefir, ryazhenka, sour milk. Fermented milk products containing active biomicrobes are useful: Bifidok, Activia, Narine, Biokefir. Immunele.
   • Non-flour sweet products.
   • Currant.
   • Honey and molasses.
2. Enveloping characteristics:
   • Oils of vegetable origin.
   • Fish oil.
3. Foods that irritate the intestinal mucosa:
   • Aloe juice.
   • Buckthorn berries.
   • Rhubarb dishes.

If the baby is diagnosed with sluggish peristalsis, his menu should mainly consist of products of the first and third groups. If hard stool is observed with spasmodic pain symptoms, products of the first and second groups should prevail in the baby's diet.

You can start treating hard stools by introducing more different fruits and berries into your child's diet. It is advisable to start the morning with a cup of juice or kefir, and before going to bed you can please your little one with prunes that have been soaked in water.

If a child gets buckwheat or oatmeal porridge for breakfast every day, then there is no need to worry about normal bowel movements.

One should not forget about liquids – a person should drink a lot of clean water. It is also necessary to introduce sufficient volumes of various liquids into the body.

It is quite possible that the body receives a small daily volume of liquid and there is simply nothing to soften solid food with? If the child often has constipation, he must be given a little clean water to drink in the morning on an empty stomach. It is very useful when a little honey is added to the water (if the baby is not allergic to bee products). It is very good if such a diet remains with the future adult for life.

Freshly squeezed carrot juice is a “quick anti-constipation aid” for a baby!

To protect defecation from the high density of the outgoing masses, the volume of feces should be increased. This can be done by ballast substances, which swell somewhat in the digestive tract, making the feces a little looser.

If a very young child on artificial feeding suffers from constipation, it is necessary to introduce mixtures with fermented milk characteristics into the diet. They should make up about half of the baby's entire daily diet. Such mixtures include: Agusha 1, NAN-fermented milk, Lactofidus, Biolact, which can be introduced from seven months.

Parents whose children suffer from frequent hard stools and belching should pay attention to mixtures containing carob gum. The shelves of modern pharmacies and specialized stores are ready to offer a wide selection of such products. This includes Nutrilon antireflux and Frisovom. Mixtures based on lactulose and Semper bifidus as a food product for the baby are also suitable.

If the baby is breastfed and suffers from constipation, the young mother should adjust her diet by introducing more fresh fermented milk products, as well as fruits and vegetables.

When a baby with a tendency to hard stool reaches the age when the first complementary feeding is introduced, it is recommended to start it with vegetable puree. It is better if it is a seasonal vegetable: carrots, zucchini, beets, pumpkin, cabbage. If the baby is given fruit puree, you can add a little pre-soaked dried apricots or prunes to it. A compote made from prunes will also loosen the stool well.

What should not be eaten if children are constipated?

For the diet to be truly effective, some products must either be completely excluded from the child's diet or their quantity must be minimized. So what should not be eaten with constipation in children? What products can provoke poor functioning of the digestive tract and cause problematic defecation.

It is necessary to reduce the amount of products in the child's diet that cause increased gas formation, as well as those that tend to "fix" fecal matter. This category includes:

• White cabbage, both pickled and fresh.
• Fresh apples and pears.
• For a baby who suffers from frequent constipation, exclude cocoa, strong coffee and black tea.
• Eggplants and cucumbers.
• Fruits and berries such as blueberries, dogwood, grapes, lingonberries.
• Fresh, recently baked bread and other flour products, especially those made from dough kneaded with white wheat flour, have a very negative effect on the digestive system. For example, yeast pies, kalachi, loaf, vareniki, donuts, pelmeni.
• The baby's menu should contain a minimum amount of legumes: lentils, beans, soybeans, beans, peas.
• Whole milk is not recommended. In such a situation, it is better to offer children juices, compotes, fermented milk products, or, at the very least, a little pasteurized low-fat milk.
• You should not give a problem child pearl barley porridge, semolina, or white polished rice.
• Pasta is also not recommended for babies.
• Limit fat intake.
• Remove fatty types of fish and meat.
• Eliminate “heavy” meat from waterfowl such as geese and ducks.
• Limit consumption of hard cheeses and cottage cheese.
• Exclude fast food products.
• Remove fried, pickled and smoked foods from the menu.
• Eliminate "dry food" eating.

If the baby's diet is adjusted correctly, in most cases the problem with defecation will go away on its own. It is advisable to instill in the child a correct diet for the rest of his life.

Reviews of diet for constipation in children

Unfortunately, the modern pace of life has left its mark on nutrition. This has not bypassed children either. Improper nutrition leads to the fact that the baby has problems with normal bowel movements. Every parent has probably encountered such a situation. If you have been affected by this problem, do not panic, you are not alone. The problem is solvable, and it does not require much to overcome it, only the organization of the mother, a little patience and a balanced diet for the baby. To make sure that everything is feasible and you are on the right track, we advise you to read reviews about the diet for constipation in children, those parents who have coped with this situation perfectly.

When a baby has health problems, he becomes capricious - this does not improve the mood of the parents. Communicating in all sorts of chats, young parents bring their problems with the upbringing and illnesses of their baby to public discussion or, on the contrary, having been in a certain situation, or having encountered a problem, share their experience of solving it.

Therefore, on the Internet, you can find numerous reviews about the diet for constipation in children. Parents, sometimes reservedly, and sometimes enthusiastically, speak about how it was worth listening to the advice of a pediatrician or a pediatric nutritionist, changing their attitude to food, making their children's nutrition healthier, as they forgot about the problems with the child's stool, which haunted them almost from the birth of the baby.

Having instilled in their child the habit of rational nutrition with “the right products” since childhood, parents sometimes do not even realize that they are protecting their child from many problems and pathological diseases that may develop later.

Dietary nutrition is one of the basic directions in the therapy of many different diseases. It is also effective when children have problems with stool. In most cases, a therapeutic diet for constipation in children gives excellent results almost immediately after its introduction. If a child is prone to difficult defecation from an early age, he will have to adhere to dietary restrictions for the rest of his life. But in such a situation there are also its "pluses" - a balanced diet is a healthy diet. By adhering to its key rules, the baby will subsequently be able to avoid multiple health problems that can be caused by: eating dry food, eating fatty, fried and spicy food, eating fast food. Remember: "You need to take care of your health from a young age!"

Take care of yourself and your children! Teach them the culture of nutrition! And they will thank you with their ringing laughter and sincere childish love.

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