What to eat if baby has hard stool

Because children are still very young, their gastrointestinal functions are not yet mature. Plus, they only eat milk powder and breast milk, so their stools will not become very hard, because the food has not yet been broken down and it does not contain any dietary fiber and other vitamins. However, some children will gradually become very hard stools after a few months due to some of the food their mothers eat and the milk powder they drink. They have to strain when defecating. What can babies eat to relieve hard stools?

Causes and solutions for constipation in babies aged 0 to 6 months

Some newborn babies are exclusively breastfed, while others are bottle-fed. If constipation occurs, one cannot help but think that it is related to breast milk or formula.

1. Constipation even after breastfeeding

It is rare for babies to be constipated when breastfeeding, but it can still happen. The main reasons are as follows:

Cause: Insufficient breast milk

If the mother's milk is insufficient, the baby will always be in a semi-hungry state, and the baby may only defecate once every two or three days. In addition to infrequent bowel movements, there are also signs of insufficient breast milk, such as feeding time longer than 20 minutes, no sense of satisfaction after feeding, slow weight gain, restless sleep, etc.

Countermeasure: Add formula milk in time and the baby's condition will improve immediately.

Cause: Breast milk protein content is too high

The mother's diet directly affects the quality of breast milk. If the mother drinks protein-rich soups such as pig's trotter soup and chicken soup at every meal, there will be too much protein in the breast milk. After the baby eats it, the stool will be alkaline, hard and dry, and not easy to excrete.

Countermeasures: Mothers should ensure a balanced diet, eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, drink more water or porridge, drink an appropriate amount of soup, and avoid eating too greasy food.

2. Artificial feeding can cause constipation

Babies fed with formula milk are particularly prone to constipation. The main reasons are as follows:

Reason: Milk powder is not easy to digest

The raw material of milk powder is milk, which contains a lot of casein and a high content of calcium salt. It is easy to clump under the action of stomach acid and is difficult to digest.

Countermeasures: Formula milk should be prepared according to the instructions, and do not make it too concentrated; give your baby some water or juice (such as juice from half an orange and an equal amount of warm water) between meals; adding a spoonful of sugar to the milk can also effectively relieve constipation.

Reason: Baby's gastrointestinal discomfort

Formula milk is made from milk and various nutrients are added to it. Some babies' stomachs are not adapted to certain milk powders, so they become constipated after drinking a specific brand of milk powder. This is generally related to the baby's stomach and intestines. Every baby's physique is different. Some babies cannot adapt to foreign brands of milk powder, but have no problem drinking domestic brands of milk powder.

Countermeasure: Try to change to other brands of milk powder; in addition, milk powder with added bifidobacteria can help prevent baby constipation. Mothers may wish to choose such milk powder when purchasing.

Causes and solutions for constipation in babies aged 6 to 12 months

At this time, the baby has already added various complementary foods, so problems arise.

Reason: Baby eats less

Some babies eat too little, and after the food is digested and absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, there is little food residue left, which does not produce much pressure in the colon, so there is no urge to defecate.